‘Racing folk are great at sticking together... but it won’t make it any easier’

“I’m feeling the same as everyone else, it’s very disappointing this had to happen. They’ve called it off and that’s just the way it is,” said Mania, who rode Sue and Harvey Smith’s Auroras Encore to victory at Aintree in 2013.

“One minute I was on the phone to my agent sorting a couple of rides out and the next I got a text message saying it was all 
off.”

Like many in racing, Mania is waiting clarity on any financial assistance that the Professional Jockeys Association can obtain from the Government for a sport where riders are self-employed.

“I know the Government are doing their best, but there’s just not going to be enough money –let’s be realistic, you are talking about every single industry being on its knees,” he said.

“I was hoping to make some money riding out for a Flat trainer at the end of the season, but now that is unlikely to happen so how do I make money? There are so many of us on the same page.”

Mania is also fearful of the wider impact on the sport.

“The horses still need exercising, but how are the trainers going to pay them as why will the owners want to pay full fees when they can’t run their horses,” he went on.

“I dread to think what shape we’ll be in when we return. It’s not just me going through it, it’s all of us, everyone and everything so we’re all going to have find ways and means of getting through this crisis – but it’s not easy at all.

“Racing folk are great at sticking together and I’m sure we all will, but it won’t make it any easier. These are interesting times, shall we say.”