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As I said cider he admitted to being wrong , can I ask you if you were a jockey there that day , you knew Bryony was using the same facilities , would you have done as he did or made sure you were covered up ? , you argue he was upset with her riding , did he speak to the stewards ?, did the stewards speak to Bryony ? , Dunne is a jockey but he’s not judge and Jury , the rules apply to him
It is probably unwise to go into this minefield but here I go.
As any point which deviates from the Team Bryony position is usually seized upon, let me make it clear from the outset that Dunne was in the wrong.
As HDLG says above, if he had an issue with Frost’s riding (not a totally unreasonable point of view) then he should have pursued it with the stewards, not launch some one man vendetta.
His conduct and language were unacceptable and he was rightly penalised. However, he has served his time and is it is right that he is now free to ride and make a living (I get the impression a few people here wanted him banned for life, which in my opinion would have been a disproportionate penalty).
As for Frost, I think she and her legal team made a mistake. She should have focused on winning her argument with Dunne. Instead, they tried to turn it into a wider issue about the culture within racing as a whole. I believe that is what caused her to lose goodwill.
In its report into the case, the BHA described the weighing room culture as “rancid”. This clearly irked a lot of people. I remember seeing David Bass, then head of the jockeys union, interviewed on RTV. He was furious at the description and was clearly speaking for his colleagues.
Maybe Frost did not directly use the word “rancid” herself but she seemed in agreement with that conclusion. That was a mistake. Whether she liked it or not, she was still going to have to work with these people every day. Did she honestly expect to be welcomed with open arms after criticising the entire sport?
Perhaps there was a rancid culture in racing. I don’t know – but I find it difficult to believe it was a fair description of everyone. And maybe racing has been unfair to give Frost the cold shoulder. But people are people. They are ruled by emotions, not by logic. No one really likes being criticised.
Frost went too far. You have to pick the battles you can win. She should have focused on getting justice against Dunne, not launching a one woman crusade to change racing.
Before anyone turns it into a men v women issue, it is worth remembering that no prominent female individual within racing gave Frost support. I remember seeing Leonna Mayor interview Hayley Turner on SSR on the day of the verdict. Both said they did not recognise the view of racing taken by Frost and her legal team. Neither seemed to have much time for her.
More pertinently perhaps, Megan Nicholls – someone you might have thought would be more sympathetic – didn’t exactly go out of her way to speak up for her on ITV.
I am glad that Frost appears to be doing well in France and seems happy in her professional and personal life now. Maybe there is a route back into British racing for her at some point, although I am not sure why she would be bothered given she is racing for far better prize money now.
I hope none of the above is misinterpreted. I reiterate that Dunne was wrong and Frost was right, even courageous, to call him out. But I think she went too far in trying to make it into a wider point about racing.
Thanks for that CAS. A well thought out analysis of what happened. The only thing I will add is that I once called out someone I worked for for bullying. I was the only person who ever did so and none of the other staff ( apart from one of his colleagues who supported me throughout because he knew what he was like) backed me up even though he bullied everyone and (worst of all) also didn’t do his job properly ( I worked for the NHS). Someone outside of work took him on for negligence and lying and, even though it took ten years to achieve managed to sue him for a lot of money ( although it wasn’t the money that was important, it was justice that she was after). All I got was a handshake; still no apology of any kind. It was as if most people just wanted to ignore what he was like. Although I’m someone that will go to great lengths to avoid any sort of conflict I won’t stand bullying even if the confrontation upsets me greatly, physically and mentally. I must admit to taking the Bryony situation too personally.
Do I think the weighing room had a rancid culture…..no but do I think there was some sort of culture within it then the answer is clearly yes, I think there was (saying was because hopefully it has been cleaned up now).
I seem to recall it being mentioned that the weighing room polices itself (or words to that effect) and if that is true then that would indicate that there were things going on that didn’t make it out of the weighing room and probably for good reason in so far as it wouldn’t be viewed in a positive light if the public heard about it, especially given the times we now live in.
Just because nobody else came forward in support of her doesn’t necessarily mean nobody else was or had been on the receiving end of inappropriate comments/behaviour/bullying…..it could mean that some didn’t want to rock the boat and be seen to be breaking the ‘what happens in the weighing room stays in the weighing room’ menatality or some may have been intimidated to the point that they may have been scared into not raising any issues (even with a senior jockey).
Comments could easily have been made but done out of earshot of other jockeys and that might explain why some tooks umbridge at the ‘culture’ being called into question as personally they may not have seen or heard anything untoward happening and therefore can only speak from that perspective. Sadly, seeing the way some of her colleagues treated Bryony after it all came out and the PJA’s lask of empathy and tone deafness to her and her situation at the outset is not setting a very good example of a safe environment that encourages individuals to speak up if something is wrong.
Dunne has served his sentence and is fully entitled to return back to his profession of race riding – clearly he will have lost opportunities due to his actions but there will also be other people who will have no issue in employing him to ride their horses and both those points of view are vaild and it is something Dunne will (I assume) already have accept and moved on from.
As some have said, he is the definition of a journeyman jockey but he is now also one that will forever be known for having that stain on his record.
There was an interesting piece in the RP on Frost today and this particular sentence on coming back to ride in Britain was rather intriguing:
“However, I come back and ride for the people whom I love to ride for. A few of my old owners asked me to come back and ride a few of their horses. So, if I’m not out here for double green, then yes, I’ll drop back in.”
Moehat: I am very sorry to hear that you had that type of experience in your workplace – it took a lot of courage to stand up to your bully in the way that you did and you clearly have a greater understanding of this subject matter than the vast majority (if not all of us here), so I don’t see it as you taking the situation “too personally” at all.
Thank you for sharing some of your story for context.
A reflection on my experience of working in the racing industry. One yard in particular. Really nice yard except for one incredibly toxic / abusive individual. What surprised me is how reluctant colleagues were to challenge abusive / bullying behaviour.
During a career break, from a sector where women have parity with men in terms of numbers and respect/ treatment, I spent six months working full time on a racing yard. It was a male dominated environment. Although I appreciate that many yards are female dominated. In fact, I strongly believe that the backbone of the British horseracing industry is young women working on yards for minimum wage. Anyway, I digress from the main point.
After a few weeks/ months a middle aged ex jockey who was also working on the yard started screaming abuse at me every day. It was usually about something he perceived I was doing wrong. For example, I had to lunge three or four youngsters per day. As some were skittish and prone to running off, I lunged them in a bridle. This is something I had done many many times in my life as an equestrian. He took a strong aversion to me lungeing in a bridle and would shout at me that I was going to “f***ing ruin” these horses. I had a lot of experience working with horses and knew exactly what I was doing. There was no risk to these horses. And the trainer had no problem with my approach.
So far as I could tell, nobody on the yard challenged him on this behaviour. In fact they would say to me “[x] is just like that, you have to ignore him”. Ignoring the odd offhand remark is one thing. Ignoring someone who is bellowing in your face is quite another. I was initially conflict avoidant, and stopped interacting with him entirely. That made him even more angry. He would shout at me for not saying anything. After this went on for about a week I finally reached my limit. I told him in front of most of the lads on the yard that he couldn’t speak to people like that. In fact, I matched his energy and shouted this at him. He reacted by storming off and muttering under his breath “I’m [x], nobody is going to change me”.
A thoroughly obnoxious / unpleasant individual. Thankfully the bullying behaviour stopped after that. But, I couldn’t help thinking that if I had been a young person who (understandably) didn’t feel able to stand up for themselves, that the bullying would have continued / escalated.
Well done! Such bullying is very disturbing and upsetting, entirely unacceptable and those responsible must be brought to book by the management. My two decades of experience as a trade union officer included many occasions when a person who was taking out a case against the management found that witnesses to an event melted away, ran for cover, etc. It is no different from the lack of courage shown in groups by apparently decent people when something unacceptable is said and no-one speaks out to the perpetrator.
You are absolutely right that a younger person might well have been seriously affected, their life made a misery, etc, by such bullying.
Social cultures which are discriminatory are very hard to change and there is a great deal of personal courage needed to take them on.
Well done, Moehat. (See my response to Archipenko below). You are right. You did exceptionally well to take on the bully at your workplace. In general, these people know that they can get away with their appalling behaviour. I remember a case in my employment where a line manager followed a member of staff into the women’s toilet, where this person had sought refuge. They were brought close to breakdown by the interminable harrassment.
On Bryony Frost, she was the victim of wrong and unacceptable practices. I think the reports at the time are well worth reading again.
Louis Weston successful in BHA disciplinary case against Robbie Dunne. Reasons now published.
It took immense courage for Bryony Frost to take on the covert establishment. I think it is likely that she knew the consequences for her future career would be harmed, which only makes her determination all the more laudable.
It is very good to hear that she has found a better environment in French racing and is thriving.
Bryony’s booked to ride
Intense Raffles in the Welsh Grand National.Simon Munir, one of the owners, said: “Bryony will ride Intense Raffles at Chepstow. It’s great to have our retained jockeys help each other out from across the borders.
“Bryony knows Intense Raffles well having previously ridden him at Navan and we’re really looking forward to it.”
If Chepstow’s ground is as hock deep as it usually is for this race then he has a great chance given he won the Irish National on heavy ground – considering the ground was on the quick side for him at Newbury he ran a respectable race in the Coral Gold Cup.
I fancied him for the GN but he just couldn’t handle the ground , this should be right up his street
Bryony should be heartily congratulated for taking on an obnoxious bully. Some men take a delight in embarrassing and humiliating women.
As an accountant, I was in charge of a site which included an office made up of mainly young women. A male outside my office kept asking each women in turn if they would sleep with him. The women complained to me and I told him to stop. I told him the next time would result in a verbal warning, followed by three written warnings if necessary. A day later he was at it again. This time my employee said ‘Fine, where are you going to take me’. We never saw him again.
It takes a lot of courage for women to stand up for themselves. The response Bryony got from the weighing room in the UK was disgraceful. I am pleased she is doing so well in France.
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