Horse Racing News: Professional jockeys lead a risky life - research
Australians researchers conducted a one of a kind study into the dangers of horse racing and found that one in 620 falls usually leads to fatal injuries. The findings are a result of a four year long study of 75,000 races over a period of 10,000 racing tournaments across Australia.
The study further found that an Australian jockey is expected to fall after every 240 races. Of course, one can’t count luck but the study showed that almost 27 percent of all falls usually result in an injury. If horse racing is indeed the sport of Kings, then the jockey is definitely not the one who is treated like royalty. The jockey is a hard working professional who is doing a dangerous job. According to Professor Leigh Blizzard, it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
The professor said that results of a U.S. study revealed similarly shocking conclusions. He said that being a jockey is far more dangerous, in terms of number of fatalities, than being a logging worker, a pilot, a sky diver or a boxer. There was only one profession, according to Professor Leigh, that was more dangerous than horse racing. “It is only (deep sea) fishing workers who have a higher fatality rate than jockeys,” he said.
There are various trends associated with jockey injuries; trends that if studied more closely could reveal certain ways of reducing these risks to horse riders. Something the Americans have realized only last week by initiating the most serious effort till date to understand and address the risks to jockeys at the Third Annual Equine Welfare and Safety Summit. The association has shown its commitment to create a database to track jockey injuries.
In another study, Australian researchers found that falls were most likely to occur in the first race of the day when a jockey is not properly warmed up. Injuries with younger horses further indicated that inexperience was another major factor in jockey injuries. As a result, inexperienced jockeys and horses increased the risk of fall and injury. There was however a counterintuitive finding that fewer horses in their maiden race increased injury risk for jockeys.
With all the research in place, what are the pre-requisites to become a jockey? For starters, one has to be small in figure and light in weight. A bigger built is a disadvantage because the horse would then have to carry more weight. Consequently, Jockey’s are not known for their physical strength. One of the finds of the study showed that female jockeys were at a greater risk, under certain circumstances, possibly because of their physical strength. There was an increased risk of falls in major races of the day for female jockeys. The research postulated that the horses are more agitated by the presence of large crowds and it could be necessary to have more strength to restrain the horses in such a condition. A situation that would put female jockeys at a disadvantage over their male counterparts.
Professor Leigh said that changes that could be made to address some issues might include various apprentice training programs to prepare jockeys for risks and tougher requirements on preparation of horses before they are allowed to race.
It was found that even though falls were more common in jump racing than thoroughbred racing, all 5 fatalities in the time span encompassing the research occurred in thoroughbred racing. Both forms of the sport can be dangerous but thoroughbred racing involves higher speeds and thus falls incurred in thoroughbred racing, though fewer, were still more dangerous.
Racing New South Wales’ Chief Steward Ray Murrihy said that the study showed Australian Horse Racing standards were better than the rest of the world. He said that there have been a number of advancements in terms of safety in recent years. Ray added that if there were more things that could be done to improve safety standards for jockeys, they would be open to them.
The study tracked over three thousand falls which resulted in over eight hundred injuries and five deaths. The researcher hoped that their finding, published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, would in time lead to appropriate changes being made to racing conditions to improve safety standards across the globe.
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