THE Flat Jockeys’ championship in Britain is to start on Guineas weekend at Newmarket and run through to Qipco Champions’ Day at Ascot in October.

The new schedule, devised by Great British Racing, rules out March, much of April and November, so the Lincoln, the Greenham, the Craven Meeting and late-season highlights such as the Racing Post Trophy and the November Handicap will not be included.

On the other hand, it might be argued that everything will climax at Ascot, making Champions’ Day even more of a ‘headline’ occasion.

It seems the jockeys themselves are quite happy with the change, though that may well be because the vast majority of them will be left well behind by defending champion Richard Hughes in his final year and Ryan Moore in any case.

If anything, the new dates slightly favour Moore, who is generally off in search of Group 1 glory around the world before the season ends.

A calendar year title, January to December, would obviously favour the likes of Luke Morris and Adam Kirby but that was never under consideration, though the jockey riding the most winners in the calendar year will receive a £15,000 prize, with £10,000 going to the leading rider during the All-weather Championships.

Under the new arrangements, £25,000 goes to the flat champion, £10,000 to the runner-up and £5,000 to the top apprentice.

Some flat trainers came out strongly against the move.