'It's scary, there's no income coming in' - the jockey's view of racing shutdown

British racing's shutdown will have a serious impact on jockeys, with the prospect of no rides until May described as "scary" by recent Cheltenham Festival-winning rider Adam Wedge.

Wedge enjoyed the biggest success of his career when guiding 50-1 shot Lisnagar Oscar to victory in the Stayers' Hurdle last Thursday. But just six days later the 30-year-old is concerned, like many jockeys, about a source of income with racing cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"It's scary," said Wedge. "As jockeys we're all self-employed and there's no income from racing coming in.

"I'm quite lucky, I ride for Evan [Williams] and I've been going in there and he's said he'd pay me a wage while I'm working. But it's worrying not knowing how long we won't be racing for."

On Tuesday, trainer Eve Johnson Houghton described the BHA's decision to stop racing as "devastating", while Mick Appleby said if the shutdown lasted longer "a lot of people will be in trouble".

Wedge added: "It's going to hit everyone. With owners taking their horses home it'll mean the end of season for a lot of them, which means stable staff could be laid off.

"All we can do is hope we pass it as soon as we can. It's very hard to know what to do, you just try to keep busy. You can't sit there and think about it too much."

Luke Morris: the shutdown will be 'a burden'

Wedge has ridden a career-best 65 winners in the 2019-20 campaign, including two Grade 1 successes in a breakthrough season.

Leading Flat rider Luke Morris told the Racing Post on Tuesday: "It’s very frustrating but the main concern has to be public health. For me it wasn’t much of a surprise as you got the feeling something big was coming, but it’s a still a shock.

“I’m not going to have any income for six weeks now and it’s going to be a burden, and I know there are people who are worse off than me, so it’s a difficult time for everyone.”

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