A solution must be found in the simmering dispute between racing’s rulers and jockeys over the removal of track saunasBattle lines have been drawn and trenches dug in the latest dispute between the British Horseracing Authority and Britain’s Flat jockeys, and the two sides seem set for a protracted struggle.At issue is the racecourse sauna, which was, for generations of riders, a daily point of call until Covid-19 prompted to their closure, as a measure to prevent spread of the virus when racing went behind closed doors. The Professional Jockeys’ Association insists that a majority of its members now want the saunas back, while the BHA is equally adamant that it is not going to happen. Continue reading...
Leading jockeys fear the run-up to the Cheltenham Festival will be littered with bans over new riding restrictions“As a collective of jockeys, we’re all together,” Nico de Boinville said after winning the first race on Friday, a clear sign that, despite general delight that the card had beaten the frost, there is a storm brewing ahead of the introduction of new whip rules by the British Horseracing Authority in the run-up to Cheltenham’s Festival meeting in March.De Boinville was echoing the view of Harry Cobden, the No 1 jockey to Paul Nicholls, the champion trainer, who described the new rules as “bloody ridiculous” after riding a winner at Taunton on Thursday. Under the new regime, riders will be banned from...
New structure to run the sport could end the factionalism and squabbling that has dogged the Turf for decadesBritish racing took a significant step towards what it hopes will be a brighter and more harmonious future on Monday, as the British Horseracing Authority unveiled a new governance structure for the sport which Julie Harrington, the BHA’s chief executive, insists will “enshrine the BHA board as the ultimate authority for the sport as a whole.” If the new structure works as planned – which, of course, remains to be seen – it could finally end, or at the very least significantly reduce, the factionalism and squabbling that has dogged the sport for decades.The new regime, which was finalised when the Racecourse...
Although disqualification for excessive whip use is now on the table, its enforcement is likely to be vanishingly rareDavid Jones, the chair of the British Horseracing Authority’s whip consultation steering group, was keen to stress on Tuesday that its 20 recommendations on one of the most vexed issues in the sport should be seen as “a package” of measures, and one that all of its members – including those opposed to use of the whip for encouragement – could support.None the less, two proposed changes in particular inevitably leapt off the page when the group’s report was published on Tuesday: disqualification of horses when riders commit an “egregious” breach of the rules, and a ban on using the whip in...
If jockeys accept the flaws in the long-standing practice of self-policing disputes behind closed doors the sport can move onNearly three days on from its astonishingly ill-judged response to the finding that Robbie Dunne had bullied and harassed his fellow rider Bryony Frost over seven months in 2020, the Professional Jockeys’ Association finally stopped digging on Sunday. Frost, it accepted, really had been bullied: on the racecourse, in the weighing room and online. It wasn’t just a feeling after all.The PJA’s splenetic statement ran to nearly 1,000 words, most of which had apparently been written for the benefit of any or every jump jockey bar the one it should have been doing its utmost to support. Continue reading...