October
AprilLosing battle
Can someone explain why Australian jockeys have to race a couple of kilos lighter than in many other jurisdictions?
In 1991 jockey Peter Cook had a heart attack in the sauna at the Canberra track, so race club saunas were banned. Yet even after that $1.3 million payout, and the legal precedent it set, 26 years later Australian racing authorities still cling to a near world-lowest weight scale, and allow dehydration as a means for jockeys to lose weight.
Brains need water to function. Little wonder jockeys sometimes have brain fades under pressure.
Heavyweight jockeys tell us how they dress in a plastic bag, plus three layers of clothing, then go running, or drive to the races with the heater on maximum.
Aren’t they taught body overheating can be fatal?
Safety in races — and the car — is paramount. Dehydration is a temporary solution, which only works on race day.
On off days, besides risking their health, jockeys torture themselves for nought, as the body automatically saves moisture, regaining all that “lost” weight as soon as they drink.
Maybe some heavyweight jocks do need to look for another vocation, but a half-kilo rise every two years for 10 years would give male jocks a fighting chance to make their weight and live healthily.
If nothing is done, male jockeys may soon be the minority.
Wangaratta (Vic)