Another week, another war of words between the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA): two bodies which seem to be, for the moment at least, in a state of perpetual antipathy.
The latest dispute concerns the BHA’s announcement last week that the 3lb Covid allowance for riders, which has been in place since June 2020, will be replaced by a general 2lb rise in the weights from 26 March. The allowance was introduced when racing emerged from lockdown in June 2020, but with weighing-room saunas off-limits to maintain social distancing. Jockeys – or the 250 or so who responded to a survey – subsequently voted to keep the saunas closed, but apparently in the expectation that the 3lb allowance would be retained.
Instead, the BHA – which also consulted with trainers as any rise in the weights has potential welfare implications at the other end of the scale – has opted for a general 2lb rise.
A pound – or 453g in new money – might not sound like very much, and for some riders at least, it is not. For others, though, the ones who are engaged in an eternal battle against their own bodies, it feels as if the BHA is, fairly literally, insisting on its pound of flesh.
Adam Kirby, last year’s Derby winner, is certainly in that group, and was one of the first to criticise the BHA’s plan last week. “I don’t get why the allowance was a problem in the first place,” Kirby told Sky Sports Racing. “Three pounds is a massive help to us. It’s no hindrance whatsoever to the horses. Track records have been broken and horse soundness is good.”
Catterick Bridge
1.00 Jaramillo
1.30 Here We Have It
2.05 Maliboo
2.35 Raddle And Hum
3.10 American Gerry
3.40 Da Vinci Hand
4.15 Nocte Volatus
Chepstow
1.20 Kingofthewest
1.55 Kyntara
2.25 De Young Warrior
3.00 Getmegold
3.30 Ashfield Paddy
4.00 Full Of Light
4.35 Sporting Ace
Lingfield Park
1.40 Always Fearless
2.15 Prince Rock
2.45 Cool Spirit
3.20 Fair And Square (nap)
3.50 Bearing Bob
4.24 No Flies On Me
Newcastle
4.10 Dragons Will Rise
4.45 Tell'Em Nowt
5.15 Sip And Smile
5.45 Atiyah (nb)
6.15 Tyrrhenian Sea
6.45 Murbih
7.15 Viva Voce
The BHA, on the other hand, would argue that it needs to see the issue more generally, and take the views of other stakeholders into account. That includes both trainers and owners, who would rightly be concerned about the effect of rising weights on young horses in particular – the great majority of Flat horses, after all, are still growing and developing throughout their careers – and also the sport’s other major source of funding: the punters.
In this respect, the BHA is rightly concerned about an increasing disparity in recent years between the published weights on the racecards and the actual weight in a horse’s saddle. Riders already get an allowance for their body protector, which was raised from 2lb to 3lb when the more effective Level Two protector became mandatory in 2018. Flat jockeys also get a further 1lb “warm clothing” allowance in the winter months.
With the Covid allowance too, this means that the rider of a horse set to carry top weight of 9st 12lb in a Flat handicap this afternoon will actually tip the scales at 10st 5lb without being flagged as “overweight”. There is, of course, an argument that the relative weight is what matters, and that Horse A is still be giving 2lb to B if that is what their respective handicap marks say it should. But this assumes, for instance, that the relationship between weight carried and a horse’s performance is linear, even as actual burdens increase well beyond 10st.
Dale Gibson, the acting chief executive of the PJA following the recent departure of Paul Struthers, has suggested that there is data – as yet unpublished – which shows that “the 3lb allowance was not affecting results”. Nor is it entirely clear how many jockeys will be seriously affected by the change. How many, for instance, were using saunas on a regular basis in the first place? Was it something that many jockeys resorted to occasionally, or a handful used almost daily?
Top weights in Flat handicaps in 2019 – the only full year in which the 3lb allowance was in place – actually had a better strike rate (19%) than in any of the five years from 2015 to 2019, when it was 17.25% overall and ranged from 16.86% to 17.91%, which does not suggest that the unpublished extra poundage has held them back.
Southwell 1.00 Love Your Work 1.30 Griffin Park 2.00 Sir Gregory 2.30 Western Music 3.00 Definitive Force 3.30 Salta Resta 4.00 Capricorn Prince 4.30 Batocchi
Wincanton 1.10 Alcala 1.40 Red Royalist 2.10 Siroco Jo 2.40 Plenty Of Time 3.10 Honneur D'Ajonc 3.40 Frere D'Armes 4.10 Faustinovick 4.40 Annie Wicks
Kelso 1.50 Milvale 2.20 Bella Bluesky 2.50 En Meme Temps 3.20 Lucky Flight 3.50 Pat's Pick 4.20 Famous Bridge
Chelmsford City 4.55 Soyounique 5.30 Trepidation 6.00 Durdle Door (nap) 6.30 Marnie James (nb) 7.00 Alia Choice 7.30 Al Qaasim 8.00 Carmela Soprano
In a general sense, though, it seems only fair and right that the gap between published and actual weights should be minimised as much as possible. On the other hand, riders have been getting taller, stronger and therefore heavier for decades and there is no reason to think the trend will stop any time soon. The sport needs several hundred healthy, professional and dedicated jockeys to maintain the punters’ supply of competitive races, many of whom, on the Flat in particular, will be maintaining a body weight from one year to the next that their genes have an issue with.
The latest 2lb is unlikely to be the last, in other words, and when a rider like Kirby – who is at the sharpest end of that daily struggle right now – speaks out, it is probably a good time to listen.
