Future for young riders lies in hope and opportunity

I was sad to hear the news in the Racing Post (December 11) that Andrew Balding is to drop his use of apprentices. I know nothing about the facts of this particular matter, but when the Baldings turn their back on these young hopefuls then something must be seriously wrong.

I was apprenticed to Major Dick Hern in the late 60s and early 70s along with many, many other boys, but it wasn’t long before we all realised that when we entered West Ilsley stables as apprentice jockeys we had left hope and opportunity of achieving this goal outside the door.

We worked seven days a week with a half-day on Sunday every third week. All this for a wage commencing at around £75 for the first year to approximately £290 for the fifth year, and absolutely no hope of becoming what we were supposed to be trained for.