THE days of amateur riders, in the mould of 1980s hero John Thorne, being lauded for their ‘enthusiastic’ commitment and efforts in the saddle are long gone. Now, it seems even an inexperienced amateur riding his own horse is usually subject to the same scrutiny and criticism as the top riders.

It’s worth noting too that some trainers can make use of an amateur’s abilities, or lack of same, and give a horse a quiet run, or a run to sweeten the horse up. Thus it was and thus it will be.