Geoffrey catches up on the latest racing news at him home in Hapton.

At the age of 16, Geoffrey Kenworthy has achieved his lifetime ambition - to be an apprentice jockey. Geoffrey, of Manchester Road, Hapton trains at the Richard Pitman Stables, near Swindon, Wiltshire, but on Monday he returned home for a few days to receive his five years' full attendance certificate from his old school, Gawthorpe.

When Geoffrey left school at the summer his career didn't look particularly hopeful. His parents Doreen and Norman Kenworthy knew nothing about racing and had no idea where to begin making their inquiries. Mrs Kenworthy said "The careers office gave us a few addresses of various stables, but they all refused a place, so our next try was the Jockey Club who said he was too heavy for flat racing, but could qualify as a jump jockey. They passed his name on to an agency and a few weeks later Richard Pitman phoned offering him a two-week trial period." That was in July, and now, almost four months later, Geoffrey is training in earnest, spending a tiring 13-hour day with five other apprentices. Geoffrey said: "The work is very hard, and we don't get very good money, but it's what I've always wanted to do, so I don't really mind."

The 1970 Whitbread Gold Cup winner, Richard Pitman retired from racing last year to concentrate on training young jockeys. It will be three years before Geoffrey is likely to ride in a race, but during that time he will have plenty of first-hand experience, and who knows, one day he may ride a Grand National winner.