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The turf

When jockeys earn so little, temptation is not surprising

Away from the top few, the economics of this career are grim

20 September 2014

9:00 AM

20 September 2014

9:00 AM

While Mrs Oakley was patrolling the aisles in Waitrose one day recently, I slipped off into my local betting shop. There, too, fresh from the pub, was Mr Knowall on the day that we learned that the former champion jockey Jamie Spencer, at only 34, intended to retire. ‘Effing retiring at 34,’ Mr Knowall told the Coral clientele.

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