Leading British trainer Andrew Balding, the original master of star jockeys Oisin Murphy and William Buick, has decided to stop accepting apprentices into his stable, reports racing.com.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) have imposed new rules granting apprentice jockeys a greater slice of earnings and riding fees from March next year.
The BHA decision has been supported by the Professional Jockeys Association but not the National Trainers Federation, with other leading British trainers such as Richard Fahey, Richard Hannon and Mark Johnston against the move.
“I can safely predict that under your new amendments, the young jockeys of the future will almost all be related to trainers as nepotism will be the only reason that trainers are incentivised to give young inexperienced jockeys rides,” Balding wrote in an open letter to BHA CEO Nick Rust.