27-11-2008
Make sure you are not disappointed by booking your tickets NOW (they are selling fast!) for our annual Champions Christmas Cracker to be held on Saturday 13th December in the Gold Cup Suite at Cheltenham Racecourse! TICKET HOTLINES: 01886 884488 OR 01933 304778
The Amateur Jockeys Association of Great Britain
request the pleasure of your company at their
champions christmas cracker
Saturday 13th December 2008
GOLD CUP SUITE
CHELTENHAM RACECOURSE
Amateur Champions Awards
Grand Auction
TICKETS @£20 EACH (WITH BUFFET).
COME AND CHEER YOUR CHAMPIONS AT THEIR NIGHT OF THE YEAR! LET’S PARTY! LET’S ROCK!
TICKET HOTLINE 01886 884488 OR CALL 01933 304778 NOW!! TABLES OF 10 AVAILABLE TO BOOK. HURRY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT (ROOM CAPACITY 350).
CHEQUES PLEASE TO BE MADE OUT TO AJA. TICKET APPLICATIONS CAN BE POSTED TOGETHER WITH PAYMENT PLEASE TO:
AJA, CREWS HILL HOUSE, ALFRICK, WORCESTER WR6 5HF
WE WILL DO ALL WE CAN TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!
20-11-2008
The second leg of the Hands and Heels Series proved to be a race to remember today at Wincanton. Congratulations to intrepid amateur jockey Anthony Knott on riding his first winner there after 28 years of trying!!
So thrilled was Anthony at the taste of success that he saluted the crowd yards before the finish on his way to passing the winning post. Riding Wise Men Say with extra long leathers, he made smooth headway to pass his rivals in the home straight and his emotions got the better of him after he found himself in the lead having jumped the final flight of hurdles.
Turning in the saddle to wave a fist at the crowd with delight, Anthony then rode a finish before crossing the line and receiving a rapturous reception in the winner’s enclosure where racegoers rushed to greet their new hero of the turf. Even though the Stewards had to give Anthony a 7 day ban for use of the whip in this Hands and Heels race, nothing could spoil this victorious day for the winning jockey. Many congratulations to Anthony on a day that he will never forget!
20-11-2008
The opening race of Cheltenham’s Paddy Power weekend – The Irish Times Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase – was packed with incident and caused much discussion amongst the media to bring an interesting start to the weekend.
Jason McKeown is a familiar name to many of us, having won last year’s Fegentri World Championship for Ireland only a few points ahead of our own David Turner. Always at the rear, he survived a bad blunder at the first ditch on Hoopy, losing both his whip and an iron in the process; in fact both legs were the same side of the saddle for a short while. Still in the rear at the third last, Jason managed to persuade Donal Devereux to lend him his whip (Donal having already decided to pull up King Harald at that stage). Once given a crack, Jason and Hoopy soon began to make good progress to stay on strongly and win going away.
Ian Chanin, rider of the second, was advised by connections to lodge an objection which was subsequently overruled and the places remained unalterred. As Alan Sweetman reported in The Racing Post: “There is no doubt that there are particular aspects of jockeyship that provide a special thrill for the spectator, such as a rider executing a gravity-defying recovery from a bad jumping mistake, or coping with a failure of equipment such as a slipped saddle or the loss of irons.
Sometimes, you see the genuinely unorthodox, and there was a case in point in Friday’s opener when Jason McKeown, who lost his whip when his mount Hoopy made a mistake early on, took a leaf out of the Lester Piggott manual by ‘borrowing’ another rider’s stick at a vital stage, helping to secure a victory against the odds.One could, of course, take a disapproving view of his action as irresponsible and possibly unfair, but the Cheltenham stewards adopted a more benign and sensible approach by giving him what was basically a token two-day suspension.It was an incident that added an extra bit of colour to an eventful day, and while one would not want this sort of thing to become commonplace, it was heartening to see there was no official overreaction.”
08-11-2008
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Amy Ryan and Simon Walker for their tremendous achievements in winning the Amateur Lady Flat Jockey and Amateur Gentleman Flat Jockey Championships for 2008.
Amy ended the season with 6 wins, 2 ahead of her nearest rivals – past dual winning Lady Amateur Flat Champion and this year’s Bathwick Champion Serena Brotherton, Alyson Deniel and Emily Jones – who all were on the 4 winner mark each and share the runner-up slot.
Simon’s season ended with a winners total of 4, one ahead of his nearest rival Joshua Moore (Bollinger Series winner 2008) with 3 wins, and Joshua has therefore secured himself the gentlemen’s runner-up slot for 2008. This is a great achievement for Simon Walker, being his 4th amateur Flat title in the last 5 years.
MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CHAMPIONS
AND TO EVERY AMATEUR JOCKEY WHO HAS RIDDEN A WINNER THIS SUMMER – WELL DONE TO YOU!!
