I was trying to figure out if there were any amateur races for steeplechasing and flat racing that do not requier you to have a jocky license. Are there any? And were are they usually located at?
Thanks
http://www.amateurjockeys.com/
http://www.amateurjockeys.org/pdf/Results_2009.pdf
http://www.fegentri.com/
Flat: not very common to see amateur races in the US and when they do happen they are almost exclusively in the mid-Atlantic region.
More common in Europe, even on big race days, for eg this race was on the undercard of the King George G1 last Sat at Ascot.
Very very rare to see an amateur jockey race against pros anywhere on the flat.
Jumps: quite common to see both amateur-only races and amateurs racing against pro jockeys. The Maryland Hunt Cup is restricted to amateur riders. There’s usually a couple of amateur jockeys in the Grand National every year.
Btw, you still need to be licenced.
Oh yeah, here in the great South of Texas there are amateur races every weekend. A place just a few miles from me runs a full card every Sunday. You can bet the races and bring your family if you are brave. The purse money is better than at the closest Class 1 track. No drug testing for the horses and most of the jockeys can’t pass a drug test at the real tracks. The horses are blocked from the ears down practically. Oh crap, nevermind :D, those are match races on the brush tracks…
Just Kidding (but they do run a full card every Sunday)
Really though it is cool to know that there are amateur races out there as per Drvmb1ggl3’s post. I was not aware that they existed.
Drum’s right, most of the flat and jump amateur races are in the Mid-Atlantic… I used to go and watch all the time when I lived in Northern VA. Great fun. 
And, yep, there are plenty of QH match races down south too… been to a few here in the Houston area. Quite the experience also, to be sure!
The Mexican match racing is pretty fascinating subculture that really flies under the radar. Some serious money changes hands at those things. Though as hinted at earlier, it has it’s dark side. There are some gruesome youtube videos of the unfortunate aftermath (in fairness those were filmed from just across the border in Coahuila… but it’s the same culture).
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;5007214]
The Mexican match racing is pretty fascinating subculture that really flies under the radar. Some serious money changes hands at those things. Though as hinted at earlier, it has it’s dark side. There are some gruesome youtube videos of the unfortunate aftermath (in fairness those were filmed from just across the border in Coahuila… but it’s the same culture).[/QUOTE]
You know, it amazes me that the match racing tracks don’t get shut down. The one near me is right off of a major interstate and you can clearly see it from the road. On Sundays the place is packed. They run 10-15 races per card and bet some big money; they even have a camera set up for photo finishes. We actually take horses to gallop there during the week sometimes; there are always riders hanging out looking to make some cash. Some of them are pretty good but can’t hold it together enough to have a career riding.
There used to be a QH filly around that they ran without a rider. She would match anything at 300 yards saddled with no jockey, and apparently ran straight and liked to win. I did hear that they trained her to break with hot shots, poor thing. Lots of TBs run at the brush tracks around here also. I try extremely hard (and so far successfully) to make sure none of mind end up with match racers because a lot of them are very unscrupulous.
The only thing that’s illegal about them is the gambling (well, that and probably a big chunk of the attendees 
), and it’s not like there is a toteboard with tellers, and that they are leaving a paper trail with the bets.
There was plenty of QH horse racing in Texas before parimutuel betting was legalised, albeit much better organised and AQHA sanctioned than Sunday match races. I’m sure money changed hands at those too.
I met a guy in Chihuahua one time that explained in detail the act of rubbing Peyote buds on the horses muscles before a race. Some of those horses must have been out of their minds.
An amateur is not someone who isn’t licensed. An amateur is just someone that doesn’t get paid to ride races.
In Maryland, there are several races restricted to amateurs. The Grand National and the Maryland Hunt Cup are amateur only races. There is also a Amateur highweight series that has races scattered throughout the NSA season. There are also amateur/novice jockey races at the local point to points over hurdles. There is also the big hurdle race at the Iroquois Races in Nashville that is open to amateur jockeys only.
I guess at the local point to points would qualify for your question. You don’t have to have a license, and there are amateur races. However, most of the event coordinators require you to have “references” and be approved by the organizers.
