What are apprentice and conditional jockeys?

Apprentice and conditional jockeys are professional jockeys, in full-time, paid employment with licensed trainers, but are licensed as such because of their age and, particularly, because of their inexperience when compared to their senior weighing room colleagues. The terms ‘apprentice’ and ‘conditional’ are similar, but not interchangeable. Both types of licence are available to riders aged between 16 and 26 years, but apprentices are licensed to ride on the Flat and conditional jockeys under National Hunt Rules. To compensate for their lack of experience, when riding against fully-fledged professionals, apprentice and conditional jockeys receive a weight allowance commensurate with the number of winners they have ridden.

Apprentice jockeys receive a weight allowance of 7lb until they have won 20 races, 5lb until they have won 50 races and 3lb until they have won 95 races. Conditional jockeys likewise receive 7lb until they have won 20 races, 5lb until they have won 40 races and 3lb until they have won 75 races. Highly inexperienced conditional jockeys, who have ridden fewer than five winners, receive an additional 3lb when, and only when, riding for their own stable, thereby increasing their total weight allowance to 10lb. On a standard racecard, apprentice and conditional jockeys can easily be identified by the denotation ‘(10)’, ‘(7)’, ‘(5)’ or ‘(3)’ immediately to the right of their names. In any case, once jockeys have ridden the requisite number of winners, they are said to have ‘ridden out their claim’, no longer receive any weight allowance and are considered full-blown professionals.