Amateurs a key part of the fabric of jump racing

THIS is a racing paper and not the latest edition of Snooker Scene but hear me out.

I like Shaun Murphy. He is one of the genuine good guys on the snooker circuit and as courteous in defeat as when victorious. Until last week that is when The Magician turned into The Grump.

He had barely closed his cue case after crashing out of the UK Championship at the hands of unknown Chinese player Si Jiahui and was letting rip on how amateurs had no right to be in the same building as professionals. He claimed that his opponent held an unfair advantage by playing carefree without pressure. Yes, Shaun.

Forget all the financial implications. Unlike most sports, amateurs are entitled to prizemoney in snooker and in beating Murphy in a final-frame decider, the underdog pocketed himself a very handy £6,500, a sum the former world champion could carry around in his waistcoat.

Every bit as galling as Murphy’s comments were those of other leading professionals so willing to back him up. Talk about snooker loopy.

Thankfully, racing welcomes amateur involvement and always has. Indeed, it benefits enormously from amateur participation both in races confined to them and, as is a daily occurrence, when embroiled in a battle with professionals.

Now, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. It would be fair to say that some amateurs are a bit rough at the edges and look as though they’re doing it for a bet. Fair play to them. They have no pretensions to be the next Ruby Walsh, after all. But the really good ones are a match for anyone.

The strength in depth in the amateur scene in Britain and Ireland never ceases to amaze. In Ireland, Patrick Mullins, Jamie Codd and Derek O’Connor have long ruled the roost and whose names would not put an ounce of doubt in the mind of any sound-thinking punter, no matter who they’re competing against. Clearly, they would easily make it pay as pros.

In Britain, Sam Waley-Cohen springs to mind over jumps. He has a successful job away from racing and riding racehorses is nothing more than a passion. A passion that has taken him to places many professionals can merely dream about courtesy of a long association with Gold Cup winner Long Run and his ability to ride the famous fences at Aintree as well as anyone.

Amateur participation has long been ingrained in the tapestry of jumps racing and how the Cheltenham Festival reminds us of that. No festival race has been staged more times than the National Hunt Chase and even the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup has been knocking about since 1946.

An early commitment from one of the big boys or girls for either of those races is forever a tell-tale sign of a long-term masterplan. The festival wouldn’t be the same without them. Both the races and those who ride in them.

Earlier this year, some highprofile figure off the box suggested that amateur races were an anachronism of the 21st century and should be abolished. And I thought Murphy came out with some rubbish.