Jockeys should be paid more - without them there would be no show in town

Raheem Sterling earned around £175,000 last week and could pocket double that next week if he signs on the dotted line of a colossal new contract. lain Cawley made a 472-mile round trip on his own to Carlisle on Sunday for just over a hundred quid There is something seriously wrong there. Jockeys deserve to be paid more. Without jockeys there would be no show in any town. They're our entertainers.

I'm using 'Squeaky' as an example purely because he had one ride on the Carlisle card – Valadom finished sixth in the 3m2f handicap chase. The basic riding fee is £164.74 in Britain, but that's before an agent is paid, or valets and physios, or contributions to the Professional Jockeys Association are made and there are insurance costs as well. About a hundred quid would have reached Cawley's account for his Sunday shift. And he had to fill his car with diesel at a cost of £60.

About 60 per cent of jockeys have just one ride a day. I was one of the very, very lucky ones who usually had more than one ride at a meeting and I rode for more than two decades, but I still have a mortgage. What does that tell you about the 60 per cent who aren't so lucky?