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Australia’s most famous jumps races, the Grand Annual Steeplechase at the Warrnambool racecourse, has been run and won by Sir Pentire for trainer Robbie Laing – a masterful performance by the horseman, since his mount was reappearing on a racetrack for the first time since 2007.
However, the news is grim outside of the result.
Racing Victoria CEO Rob Hines announced what is effectively a suspension of all jumps racing in that state, with an emergency review of all incidents taken place this season. The findings will be addressed to the RVL board next week.
Alas, it is highly likely the RVL will decide on a complete phasing out of jumps racing in Victoria, which effectively kills off jumps racing in Australia.
Sounds like really sad news Myles but what is your opinion on jump racing in Australia?
The only races I’ve seen in your country have been run on quick jumping ground on flat tracks over brush hurdles and bore no resemblance to the sort of jumping we have here.
As a jumps lover I wonder if you’d be better off following the US model of having smaller jumps-only bush meetings on watered ground (I know there is a huge issue with watering in Oz).
The Australian hurdles/fences I’ve seen look flimsy to say the least. The US model looks good provided they use more solid obstacles ala timber racing and courses like Fair Hills, that said some of the biggest US races are run at Saratoga (New York Turf Writers Steeplechase for example).
The fences are insignificant – countless investigations into race falls over the years have seen them watered down to just a voluntary speed bump.
The reality is – the tracks are too firm, and instead of a hard ‘n’ tough slog to the winning post, a sprint home usually occurs and this leads to a large portion of race falls.
We’d be better off without jumps racing entirely. That’s the harsh truth.
Must admit to not knowing they even had jumps racing in Australia – perhaps if the obstacles were bigger/tougher, then more emphasis would be put on jumping instead of sprinting to the line.
It’s a collection of necessary fixes, not just a renovation of the fences.
FCS they’ve made them "safer" by lowering their height!
It’s fixing what is simply unfixable.
We’d be better off without jumps racing entirely. That’s the harsh truth.
Are you refering to Australia, Myles, or in general?
Just tell the officials to come over here and look at our jumps preparation so they can pick up hints and tips for the future.
I know in your part of the world that jumps racing is more of a novelty event as opposed to the flat but it can still be done right.
I’m afraid it’s curtains for jump racing in Australia.
I saw a stat somewhere about there being one death every 8 races in Victoria over the past year, a figure which, if true, is totally unacceptable.
The racing authorities in Victoria have been struggling to find solutions to this problem for some years now, but have failed to come up with anything that has worked.
With the number of jump races run every year in Australia now well under 200, there is hardly anything left to preserve anyway.
It wouldn’t at all surprise me if New Zealand were to ban it as well in the not-too-distant future.
The race is actually on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5RWGKfm-9w
I really can’t work out what the fences are made of (maybe Myles could enlighten us on that one), and there certainly were a few casualties (most seem to be unseated), and looking at the YouTube tag title, it would appear that sadly one horse, Clearview Bay, died in the race. Have to say though that for Sir Pentire and Al Garhood, read Red Rum and Crisp!
As someone who is a fan of steeplechasing pretty much the world over, I found the race to be really exciting and a great spectacle, but it does worry me as to what those fences are made of – I’ve never seen bright yellow hedges before!!
Darren – AngloGerman
________________________________________‘The Hungarian’s going hell for leather’ – Jim McGrath
If New Zealand banned jump racing, would we have an influx of NZ jumping bloodstock emigrating to Europe?
I know that there are a few NZ-bred jumpers over here, but I don’t know in general how good the Kiwi ones are, or in what numbers.
I guess the main supply line of New Zealand-bred animals into Britain is still the Oliver family, whose imports have run for the likes of Graham McCourt, John Spearing, Richard Guest, Venetia Williams and others.
I think what few they’re bringing into the country at present are set to run for Rachel Hobbs (if they haven’t already), as Mrs Hobbs’ website indicates Nick Oliver works fairly closely with them.
The Cheekster will likely know the minor details here better than me, and also whether it was also the Olivers who acquired all those New Zealand-breds that David Barons enjoyed success with in the 80s and early 90s (most notably Seagram and Playschool).
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Many thanks for the link most interesting (although the camera work after the last was shockingly bad).
It looks a smashing racecourse – much more suitable for jumps racing than any others I’ve seen in Australia. Obviously quick ground but that is to be expected.
Brave front running performance and I like the Crisp/Red Rum analogy – very apt.
However the jumps look grim. How come they haven’t used portable fences which are most like ours? I particularly didn’t like the gap between the side of the fences and the flimsly wings. Just encourage horse to try and duck out (having been hunting for years I appreciate that most horses will try to avoid jumping whereeer possible!).
It would be a real shame if this spectacle was the end of jumps racing in Oz.
The race itself was very good to watch and had shades of the Red Rum and Crisp National finish.
Fence wise they are ok for Schooling an introductory horse to jumps but they are not worth anything in a proper jumps race.
Australia should use proper fences with some give in them to allow horses to use their hocks and jump proper as these fences would not last 5 mins on a UK jumps or P2P track.
Been following this story as – like a number of other people on here – I’m intreged at how other nations "do" jump racing.
Apparently the latest compromise being suggested is scrapping hurdle races. If you’ve seen an Oz hurdle (and thanks to some early starts I’ve seen some of these jump races on ATR), they appear to be about the same height as a road hump, but with some curious bright yellow brush on top.
The ‘chase "fences" look like upturned dustpan brushes! They also look quite upright on the take-off side which is not condusive to good rounded jumping.
If Jumping is to survive, a rethink of the obstacles is crucial. Like others have already said, an apotion of more British/Irish style fences, which encourage horses to make a rounded shape should be used.
Hurdles should either adopt an Easyfix style, or if not a larger Brush style hurdle – like those at Haydock.
Courses should have the facility to have seperate running tracks for jump races and be able to water. There should be minimum ground conditions of no worse then good to firm otherwise racing is cancelled.
However, it sounds like the guillotine is already starting to drop…
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