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Plus 7.5 leaving Taunton last night. 

I was in the drivers seat again. Matt refuses to drive anywhere at the moment, I think his Ford ranger only does 10 mpg’s .

Maya has asked me to do a blog, I think she thought it was a good idea to get the boring, chippy Jockey to do one and get it out the way!!

 I’m extremely disappointed this morning, I didn’t get a job in Rishi Sunaks cabinet reshuffle yesterday…. apparently I paid too much tax last year and I’m too snowflakery to work in the same party as JR-M.  

 I hope Kim is recovering well and likes his new knee. There’s no excuses when it comes to walking the course now! I’m sure he’s being a good patient...poor Clare!

There’s two subjects I won’t be talking about today. The whip and the weather!! Enough said on those issues at the moment!

Since working with the PJA I have been involved in the issue of Weighing room facilities.

Some of the conditions jockeys have been working in have not been good enough for a long time. Part of the reason for this is that we haven’t made enough noise about it in the past. Unfortunately there’s still too many outdated views about facilities, I often hear “why are you moaning about facilities, you’re here to ride a horse just get on with it, don’t you remember riding in point to points and getting changed in a tent!” This attitude is exactly why we’re in this situation of average standards. For too long Jockeys have had a lack of self respect, it’s almost as if we don’t think we deserve decent facilities. We’re stuck in the past, and I won’t listen to the “that’s just racing” excuse anymore.

This has been another issue where racing has lacked vision ( like many other issues, I’ll save them for another blog!) .

This is about the next generation of jockeys!!. I don’t want them to drive 3 hours to the races have a couple of rides to then get in a cold shower ( a racecourse this season had cold showers for 4 meetings in a row) unacceptable. Toilets not flushing half way through a meeting, toilets falling apart, showers with no pressure, worrying about a roof falling on your head whilst having a shave, and a general lack of space at quite a few.

We’re supposed to be professional athletes, and it’s time we were treated like them.

Racecourses have now got to have new layouts with a gender neutral area for valets. Only 4 have been completed, we need some urgency on this.

We have made progress in some areas, the food at most racecourses has improved greatly. We appreciate racecourses working with us on this but there’s so much to be improved.

 Back to Kim Bailey racing.. it’s been a frustrating time recently. The cold snaps have stopped us in our tracks a little bit but the horses seem very fresh and well now. All the staff have been working hard in testing weather conditions and hopefully the team will be rewarded with good results very soon. I’m determined to finish the season strongly and ride plenty of winners!

 I hope to see you in the yard or on a racecourse soon!

Money speaks for money, the devil for his own. Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone? What comfort to the widow. A light to the child. There is power in a....

David

Back to Maya...

-5 when driving into Thorndale this morning. It's too cold to work any of the horses today. I spoke to Kim plenty yesterday and he seemed in good order! 

Southwell passed it's morning inspection so racing goes ahead today. We have two runners...Galaxy Moon and Design Icon. Read our thoughts on them here. 

Matt takes over tomorrows blog...

To finish. A big happy birthday to Mikey Elliot ..