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#1
09-10-2009, 06:55 AM
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NSW, Victorian and Queensland jockeys have walked out on race meetings at Hawkesbury, Ballarat and Ipswich after word filtered throught that the Australian Racing Board had rejected proposals to amend the contentious whip riding rules.
The move could bloom into larger industrial action and could lead to all race meetings across the country being cancelled. Jockeys riding at Ballarat were first to take strike action today, refusing to ride after the third event. At Hawkesbury, jockeys refused to ride after the fourth race, and at Ipswich jockeys stopped after the fifth race, causing all three meetings to be abandonded. The ARB met earlier today and refused to accept a compromise deal from jockeys that would allow a rider unrestricted use of the whip in the final 100m of a race if his or her mount was in contention to win. Jockeys nationwide are threatening further industrial action this Saturday with grave fears the Theo Marks Stakes Spring Carnival meeting at Rosehill Gardens and the feature Moonee Valley meeting in Melbourne may not go ahead. The ARB maintains its new rule - which restricts the number of times a jockey can use the whip in the final 200m of a race - should not be altered. Along with the new rule, the ARB introduced padded whips to lessen the impact on horses. Speaking on behalf of jockeys at Ballarat, Glen Boss said they had no alternative. "The owners' associations, the trainers' association the breeding association, everyone in the industry are supporting the jockeys. Unfortunately we've been pushed into a corner and we've had to react," Boss told TVN. "We certainly didn't want it to come to this but as a jockeys' association we have got to show our strength. "This is a rule that's been placed upon us which we rejected from the get-go. "We've tried to go to the ARB to explain the situation that we just need to tweak. We're not asking for a lot. We are asking for 100 metres where we can do our best and we've got the support of everyone in the industry." Corey Brown and Damien Oliver, who have both fallen foul of the rule in the past week, attended the ARB meeting. The Australian Jockeys' Association (AJA) issued a statement saying the ARB was out of touch with the rest of the industry. "With its decision today to ignore the call of all stakeholders to make a minor variation to the rules relating to the whip, the ARB has succeeded in unleashing a great bitterness and division between stakeholders and administrators," the AJA said. "It shows the ARB is completely out of touch with its constituents." 
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#3
09-10-2009, 10:58 AM
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Even the trainers are with the jocks on this one (a few apparently only wishing they hadn't chosen to stop mid-card, after owners/trainers vanned to the meets) Was wishing last night I could pick up SKY Racing to follow the day unfold.
__________________
"Have the clean racing people run any ads explaining that giving a horse a Starbucks and a chocolate poppyseed muffin for breakfast would likely result in a ten year suspension for the trainer?" - Dr. Andrew Roberts
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#4
09-10-2009, 12:11 PM
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The best part of the whole thing was Rick Hore-Lacy interrupting the interview with Glen Boss on TVN and getting angry with him.
I thought we might have a little action there.
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#5
09-22-2009, 12:10 AM
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Watching a little racing tonight from Warick Farm and the whipping issue came to my thoughts, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as the jockies seemed to be liberally using the stick to urge their mounts in the 1st race. Here are the new rules as ridiculous as they may sound: Get the picture of Glen Boss or Corey Brown counting lashes as they come down the straight in a big race, if this wasn't such a stupid rule it would be laughable.
Australian racing rule AR 137A(5) reads - In a race or trial a rider using the whip must give his horse time to respond and, other than on one occasion in the last 200 metres when the whip may be used in three consecutive strides, the whip shall not to be used in consecutive strides, other than in a slapping motion down the shoulder, with the whip hand remaining on the reins, or alternatively in a backhand manner.” Hit the fast forward button to Tuesday and the rules have changed. Now a jockey can hit their mount every second stride from the 200 metres to the 100-metre mark then they can whip their mount on seven further occasions to the winning post. So how many strides does a horse take in 100 metres? Paul Innes said in a release on Tuesday they take 12 so I was compelled to do my own count in a couple of races at the Warrnambool and Coffs Harbour on Tuesday. At Warrnambool it was 14 while at Coffs it was 13. Anyone interested in reading more here is the link: http://www.racenet.com.au/news/blogs...blog=BlogCraig
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#6
09-22-2009, 01:28 AM
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Quote:
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#7
09-22-2009, 10:07 AM
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Quote:
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#8
09-23-2009, 01:20 PM
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I was being sarcastic. Sorry.
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