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Interesting – I’m sure it will make Tom very happy
It would be too easy to say "it will never happen here" and if it did, what would the real impact be?
Would there still be enough owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff, etc, in the sport if all that was left was flat racing on polytrack?
Would the vast majority of income providing punters online and in bookies still gamble?
If there was no jumps racing and a similar amount of money generated by gambling does that mean the prize money would go up if the racing was halved?
Would we then end up with something similar to racing in America?
Simplistic I know, but you can never say never eh?
"However, members of the racing industry have reacted with anger, calling it "unbelievable" and "appalling"
"Appalling"? Maybe not appalling if one also take into account the pain and suffering a horse has to endure under when in a jump race.
"Racing’s governing body in Victoria had conceded that the sport was in decline because of mounting safety concerns"
So it is maybe only the old racing die-hards that are moaning. One could say that this sport was a dying sport anyway in Victoria and the authorities has just put it to sleep a little quicker.
"Animal rights campaigners have described racing over hurdles and fences as not only shameful and barbaric but "morally wrong".
They have a point.
"An official review of the industry last year recommended a raft of new safety measures, all of which were adopted by authorities in Victoria. Despite the changes, the fatalities have continued, with eight horses dying in races this season."
The raft of changes did not go far enough, so another move had to be made and the one eventually made would ensure that no horse would die in a Jump race in Victoria. That is called improvement. That is moving forward in making the world a more caring place for all creatures.
"Steeplechase events in Victoria will go on for another year in an attempt to soften the impact of their abolition on those involved"
So the authorities have not been draconian – they have softened the blow to owners, trainers and jockeys by giving a year’s grace. looks like one side in this argument is playing fair, and the other not.
"Neighbouring South Australia, the only other state in the country that allows jump racing, has said its programme will continue and hopes to attract trainers and horses from Victoria. However, officials in South Australia are not celebrating and have expressed deep concerns about the long-term viability of their steeplechasing industry."
Like everything throughout history, once change starts is grows like a snowball as it rolls on and on and on. No doubt its last port of call will be England and Ireland but the walls of NH racing will eventually fall in these countries. That is certain.
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"Appalling"? Maybe not appalling if one also take into account the pain and suffering a horse has to endure under when in a jump race.
That’s nothing to the pain and suffering induced on this Forum by your sermons on the subject. Self-righteous indignation is perhaps the most appalling sin of all. But I’m only fuelling the troll ….
Tom, honest question.
Do you know the testing which a lot of yards do in relation to see how the horses are before/after races? ? ? And the attention they recieve? ? ?
Is showjumping legal? How about paper chases and point-to-points? What I don’t get about this ruling is enforcement; how are they going to prevent anyone with enough land setting up some jumps? That’s how a good portion of our steeplechases are, no parimutuel betting and amatuer jockeys.
As for the claim that jumps racing is "appalling" and "cruelty", in this past American spring-summer chasing season I can recall but one equine death out of the 30 or so meets, and that was a HUGE deal. There are more instances of horses being pulled up, as the jocks will do so if they feel their horse tiring or jumping very badly-it’s not worth it to risk a fall.
I tuned into ATR, must have been a month or so ago, and when asked which code he preferred, Jim McGrath simply stated that we should appreciate the variety we have in this country and highlighted the threat facing jump racing in his native land.
After a series of reviews, several safety recommendations were implemented without success.
I’m unsure if this was recommended, and by whom (RVL and / or animal welfare campaigners), but McGrath stated that fences were reduced in size.
Apparently, this had an adverse effect. Reducing the size of the obstacles invited horses to jump at a greater speed, thus resulting in more fallers.
In my opinion, a healthy relationship with the RSPCA is important, but it’s paramount that we do not allow them a foothold in our sport.
Animal welfare campaigners have been allowed to exercise their views and this has contributed to the inevitable decline of jump racing ‘Down Under’.
Like everything throughout history, once change starts is grows like a snowball as it rolls on and on and on. No doubt its last port of call will be England and Ireland but the walls of NH racing will eventually fall in these countries. That is certain.
To my knowledge, the popularity of jump racing pales into insignificance beside flat racing in Australia.
One could argue that NH racing is more popular in this country and, with influential supporters from different walks of life involved in the sport, this will ensure the continuation of jump racing in this part of the world.
It’s survival is not even in question.
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20 deaths in two years? they havent seen Wetherby!
In all honesty, the Victorian racing authorities have only themselves to blame. They’ve made a real mess of trying to improve safety in the sport, and now they seem to have thrown in the towel.
It’s true that jump racing plays a very tiny role in the sport in Australia. Last year there were a total of only 146 such races, compared to 17065 flat and 13513 harness.
As for the "snowball" effect, jump racing was stopped in neighbouring New South Wales around 50 years ago, so more like a slow-moving glacier.
There is a wider issue here; Evolutionary Theory would argue that horse have become successful adapting to and filling a niche 1.e being used by humans for sport. A paralell would be with cows and wheat, succesful and plentiful species becuase they are used for food.
If there is no risk of injury ie. no racing, this is good news for the individual horse but bad news for the species.I’m sure that horses, if given a vote, would accept the occasional casualty in return for the perpetuation of their species.
I get the impression that while the decision was officially taken by Racing Victoria Limited, I think that there was a large influence made by the Local State Government in an effort to score political points.
They predict about 250-300 horses will be slaughtered as a result of this decision. What a result for the animal rights lobbyists.
Did they really think all these horses would go to good homes or live some utopian free life like New Forest Ponies?
BTW…I as much as anyone on this forum gets upset at equine deaths and while 1 is 1 too many, do we really want wholesale culls due to horses no longer being considered useful to their owners (horrible thought but probably true!)
Dene (I point blank refuse to use your social engineering pseudonym that you have adopted for this website)
You show your own and Animal Aid’s true colours – that despite all your protestations to the contrary you do indeed want to see jump racing banned in this country. I have to say I admire your bareface cheek of working for an organisation that ‘is against the use of animals for sport or leisure’ whilst owning ‘leisure’ horses yourself. And of course for that interview you did on BBC Radio York, where you said you knew more than our vets, our course inspectorate, the RSPCA, the trainers and the jockeys put together.
You are some piece of work.
I found it interesting that the day this story broke, the BBC News website had the story as their 7th or 8th major story of world news that day on their front page.
Was this really the 7th or 8th most important news story in the world that day?
And who is the person/animal rights activist at the BBC running their anti-horse racing campaign? Their social engineering of trying to turn the public psyche against horse racing gets more and more blatant.
Silvoir – ignore Tom and Animal Aid they’re a bunch of hypocritical idiots. Tom and his cronies have as yet failed to answer my question as to why they attempted to attack my friends horse at a hunt as asked to "Tom" on another thread on here.
I’ve found it illuminating that one of the main arguments of the people in favour of perpetuation of jump racing in Victoria is that its abolition will result in more horses being sent to the abattoir.
Given that only a small proportion of Australian thoroughbreds go jumping, it rather leads me to wonder how many aussie horses are sent to the abattoir already???
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