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And Hard Iron with the most horrible fall. Ridden by Brian Hughes, as was Getabeau. Truly awful fall.
Didn’t see your post, Bonanzaboy.
Sadly another fatality under Brian Hughes at Musselburgh today. Took a fatal fall at the last in the 3.55 handicap hurdle.
Just looking at the Brian Hughes fatality strike rate: according to one page he is on 50 (confirmed on the track) right now since 2007. Ruby for instance only had 16 and AP just 30, considering the high number of rides he took.
Rest in peace Hard Iron
Is there a case for stewards standing down a jockey for the day after a fatality earlier? They must surely be upset after such an incident, and every horse deserves their jockey being at 100%, which means mentally as well as physically.
Don’t flame me if you disagree – I’m just asking a question from a position of ignorance, never having been a jockey at all.
Should a nurse, doctor or paramedic stand down when a patient dies?
Should a vet do the same when they put down an animal?
I’m sure jockeys are affected in different ways and at the end of the day, it’s their job.
I suppose it would also depend on their relationship with the horse. For some it would have been their first association, where as others could have ridden them in every race of the horses career.
For some trainers they even make into a comfy couch.
QF, it’s a fair question to ask. I don’t think there should be an automatic standing down if a jockey has ridden a horse that suffers a fatal incident on the course though.
I am sure almost all jockeys would be upset when a horse was a fatality, but I think most of them would accept it as a professional risk and not go to pieces when it happens.
Where you make the comment about the horses deserving complete focus from their partner, I agree. As part of their career, Jumps jockeys regularly experience the kind of accidents that would leave most people shaken up for a long time afterwards. However, provided they remain fit to ride, they typically dust themselves down and focus on the next ride.
If we were to take the view that a jockey should be stood down due to a fatality, it could therefore be argued that the same is true if they’ve had any accident on the racecourse that day which could have shaken them up. Also what if the jockey has had a bereavement in their personal life or is having other personal problems that are playing on their mind. Should they be allowed to ride?
I’m not really a fan of any blanket rules here, or the general approach of trying to restrict people from doing their job. I’m generalising somewhat, but as a guiding principle I believe we need to regard the jockeys as professionals who can get on with their job despite whatever mental hardships they may be facing.
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