Morris previews his Wolves rides and discusses the latest racing controversy

The AW Champ talks us through his Saturday rides and has his say on the recent news from France…

There’s only really been one topic of discussion this week in the weighing room which is the plans to bring in a 2kg weight allowance for female riders in France.

I have to say that if I was a female jockey then I’d find the situation a bit demeaning. Jockeys like Hayley Turner, Josephine Gordon and Cathy Gannon have proved themselves against the men and carved out good careers for themselves.

I don’t see any real logic in it. While male jockeys are stronger it’s not all about strength, sometimes it’s about finesse and a tactical brain. Strength is not the be all and end all.

Female riders have a similar stature to the male riders now, so to think that they need a weight allowance to succeed seems demeaning to me. You’d also have to say that if someone like Josephine or Cathy had a 2kg allowance, which is about 4.5lb, then they’d be pretty damn impossible to beat and would be winning a hell of a lot of races.

I can sort of understand that they’re trying to incentivise trainers in France to use female jockeys more. But the allowance does not apply at pattern level so it would seem to me they’ve put a ceiling on how high up the girls can go.

If you’re using a female jockey in a pattern race you’re going to be 4.5lb wrong essentially and that would suggest to me that they’re only really going to be competing at a lower level.

Saturday’s Rides