BHA Chair Responds to Critics of Recent Rule Change

British Horseracing Authority chair Annamarie Phelps defended the controversial changes to apprentice pay and said "a significant number" of trainers were not paying expenses on behalf of their apprentices.

Trainers are angry the current system, under which flat handlers retain up to 50% of an apprentice's riding fee and prize-money yield in return for paying towards their expenses, is to end next March.

Andrew Balding is among those to have criticized the authority, telling four aspiring jockeys he can no longer offer them employment due to the new rules on claimers' pay.

In a letter to chief executive Nick Rust, which he shared with the Racing Post, he accused the BHA of taking trainers for "fools."

Richard Hannon and Richard Fahey also voiced dissatisfaction at the new rules, believing they underestimate the role trainers play in advancing the career of apprentices and the cost to them financially, but Phelps, speaking on Racing TV's Luck on Sunday, said: "I think it's really disappointing from the BHA perspective that they feel the way they do.

"The media has focused a lot on the people who have a problem with it and less so on the number of trainers who have actually been supportive of this move, he continued. "We have to look, not necessarily at this reaction, but go back to why we wanted to make this change—the (Professional Jockeys Association) came to us, explaining they had an awful lot of people raising this issue. The agreement wasn't being followed.

"There were a significant number of trainers who were not paying their apprentice jockeys expenses. I know people have said they're not vulnerable but actually they are. There is very much a power relationship between their trainer and these young people coming into the sport at that age."

The dispute comes at the end of a year when there has been tension between trainers and the BHA over issues such as equine influenza and equine welfare.

Phelps made a vigorous defense of the BHA's role as an honest broker in a dispute between the jockeys' and trainers' organizations.

"The negotiations between the (National Trainers Federation) and the PJA went on for a very long time, neither of them could come to a compromise or an agreement, so finally what was nearest to the compromise was sent to the board of the BHA to arbitrate on because no decision could be made," she said. "We made the best decision. We discussed it for a long time, we pushed back very much on both sides of the argument and decided to approve this. 

"I can see there are some people who have built their business models on this and they do give an awful lot to the apprentice jockeys they've got, but likewise there are a significant number who are not looking after them in the same way and it's always a shame when that happens. Those are the people we should be focusing on, not on the BHA trying to make sure we are looking after our young people coming in to the sport."

Phelps also stressed the forward-looking nature of the change, which brings the rules for apprentices closer to those that apply for conditional jockeys over jumps.

"We have to move towards 21st century employment practices," she said. "We can't live always in the past. There is a power imbalance always between young people coming in and powerful trainers. The fact is very few people have come forward openly to say 'my trainer isn't giving me this money,' they are going through the PJA, they don't feel able to fight it through the trainers.

"We need to make it a bit more simple and make the agreement more transparent."

Mick Appleby: Trainers Overreacting to Apprentice Pay Changes 

All-weather champion trainer Mick Appleby believes his colleagues have overreacted to the impending changes to apprentice jockey pay and said he has little sympathy with the arguments put forward in favor of keeping the status quo.

A number of trainers have reacted angrily to the changes, which will result in apprentices keeping more of their earnings, with the NTF failing to sign up alongside the BHA and PJA to the new agreement.

From March apprentices will keep at least 80% of their riding fee and prize-money but handle their own expenses, something that had previously been partially covered by their employer who would get up to 50% of the jockeys' earning in return.

"I think it's about time they made the change really, and I don't see why they shouldn't get more of the riding fees—they deserve it," Appleby said. "They're putting their necks on the line and riding the same as any other jockey in a race, so why does a trainer then get half of it?

"There isn't that much of a cost with them. You pay their expenses and when they're out riding at the races you pay them as well, but then it's the same as any other jockey in any other job. I don't see what the problem is with the changes coming in."

Major apprentice employers Richard Fahey and Andrew Balding have declared their intentions not to take on any new apprentices as a result of the rule change, while Mick Easterby and Richard Hannon have highlighted what they feel will be the difficulties for young riders under the new system.

However, Appleby, who employs apprentices Theo Ladd and Erika Parkinson, and is a regular supporter of up-and-coming riders, said his focus has always been on what they can add to his team rather than any potential financial impact on the yard.

"You use the good (apprentices) for their claim, that's what they bring," he said. "Most don't get a very good wage so getting a few rides gives them a bit more money, which has got to be good for them. I think the trainers have overreacted about it, to be fair. I've not spoken to anyone about it too much but I did speak to Andrew Balding briefly to try and understand his view but it didn't really wash with me that much."

He added: "A lot of the bigger yards who have the most apprentices charge a lot more training fees than someone like me and will be making a bit on that, so why do they need to make anything from the lads as well?"