October
MayChanges partly to blame
With jumps racing back in the spotlight after another eventful Warrnambool Carnival I thought it best to give an unbiased view of jumps racing rather than the one-sided views presented by Lawrence Pope (Your Say 7/5).
While I’m neither for nor against jumps racing I have witnessed some outstanding jumpers and jumps jockeys over some 35 years.
The unfortunate Banna Strand incident last week at Warrnambool was a freakish occurrence. I believe more should be made of the fact that only two horses finished the Grand Annual Steeple.
Jumps racing has had a spate of falls in recent years, more so than 20 or 30 years ago. I believe animal welfare groups, who have called for many of the changes made over the last 10 years, are partly to blame for the increase in falls.
Racing Victoria’s attempts to address the protesters’ concerns have had the reverse effect and have only increased the number of falls. Banna Strand proved this when he jumped a two-metre-high fence, where other horses clipped lower fences in the Grand Annual Steeple.
Our breeding industry hasn’t helped either, focusing more on shuttling overseas stallions geared more for speed than staying. Before the 1990s there were more NZ stayers and tough locally bred horses than there are today.
Programming of races has also hurt jumps racing, as some 30 years ago trainers had more options to run their horses over a distance. These days the majority of staying races are run during the summer months at Moonee Valley Friday night meetings. Therefore the horses competing in today’s jump races do not have the mileage or race fitness they did in years past.
Many horses in the 1980s would successfully mix running on the flat and over jumps. One that comes to mind was Kaimoto, who won seven races in a row including the Grand Annual and Grand National steeplechases and three flat races.
And we should never forget the deeds and skill of such great jumps jockeys as Hall, Bourke, Londregan, Harnett and Durden.
Jumps racing has a long history, taking in Melbourne Cup winners Banker and Malua as well as the great Mosstrooper, who won the Grand National once and placed in it three times from 1929 to 1933. In the 1980s, those who saw it will never forget Gogong winning back-to-back Grand National Steeples. No sign of animal welfare groups then.
It should not be forgotten that owners, trainers, strappers and jumps jockeys, who do not have the opportunities that flat jockeys have, love and look after these horses like they were family pets.
If jumps racing has run its course, more highweight flat races should be introduced through the winter months to allow jumps jockeys a source of income and to continue riding.
No one likes to see falls in racing, but even the most ardent supporter of jumps racing, must be wondering in light of recent events how much longer it will continue.
Padstow (NSW)