Right call to ensure standards remain the highest

Fancy becoming a jockey? If it’s not hard enough already, it’s going to get tougher still. And that’s just the way it should be for a sport that wants elite-level riders.

It’s a jungle out there and some will argue that natural selection, determining who thrives and who struggles, should be allowed to take its course on the gallops and the racetrack without the need to make it harder to get a licence to ride in the first place.

But the natural selection process really begins at the recruitment stage which is why the BHA’s emphasis on becoming more discerning gatekeepers is the right move.