All the hard work worth it for days like this

INTERVIEW ROBBIE McNAMARA:WHEN ROBBIE McNamara admits there isn't much fat on him, he is not kidding. When you're a 6ft 2in jockey, it can't be any other way. But it means a daily grind of hard work and discipline, fuelled by little more than fresh air and thin slices of boiled chicken. And then come days like this that make it all worthwhile.

Ruby Walsh has Master Minded to look forward to but even he might agree that 21-year-old McNamara is anticipating St Patrick’s Day 2010 more than him. With Rite Of Passage in the Neptune Investments Hurdle and Elegant Concorde in the Bumper, the young amateur rider has a pair of rides every professional in the weighroom will envy.

McNamara is an amateur for the simple reason being able to do a minimum of 11st is not a viable option for a pro. His older brother Andrew shares a build that makes their whips look flabby but he has made it to the top of the pro ranks by being a crucial couple of inches shorter.

That both are able to compete at this level at all is something of a physical miracle, much more striking than any suspicion there might be about an amateur taking on the professionals today. It is after all a curious reality of Irish racing life that being an amateur is a full-time job. And Dermot Weld hasn’t hesitated in handing McNamara a “big ask” that the jockey appreciates only too well.

“I was a bit surprised to keep the ride on Rite Of Passage, but delighted. I was on him for his two hurdle starts and I would have been fine if the boss had gone for someone else,” he says, before rejecting any notion that Weld, himself a top amateur in his riding day, might be a tough man to ride for.

“Any criticism he might have is constructive. He’d never give a bollocking. It’s always advice, never giving out. He’s very sound like that,” McNamara declares. “He’s also very lenient when it comes to instructions. He gives them, but he doesn’t pin you down. He rode himself, so he knows.”

With 71 winners on the track and a further 35 in point-to-points, McNamara is no vague Corinthian when it comes to the job. A notably stylish rider, he also boasts a Cheltenham pedigree with his father Andrew having trained Boreen Prince to win the 1985 Arkle and his brother notched a Champion Chase success on Newmill four years ago.

Neither of those were verging on the hotpot territory that Rite Of Passage has leaned towards in recent weeks. The horse bred to win a classic, and who Weld believes, could yet land a major prize on the flat, does bring an unmistakable aura of quality to today’s race. What he also brings is a lack of experience, less than proven stamina credentials and a possible preference for a flatter track. “He is a lovely actioned horse, and maybe he will be better on a level track like Leopardstown,” McNamara admits. “I don’t believe the trip will be a problem. He galloped all the way to the line in the bumper last year and he is a lot stronger now. Over two miles and five, he’ll be able to lob away whereas over two miles he might have been running with the choke out.”

As for Elegant Concorde, along with Hidden Universe (Pat Smullen) he represents a major Weld Grade One challenge and the current ground conditions will play to his strengths. Along with Rite Of Passage he is a festival opportunity that makes the daily weight grind seem a fair trade.

“I never let the weight go. I’d pay for it if I did,” says their towering jockey. He might end up making an exception in Cheltenham tonight.