Jockey weight rule changes: PJA Jumps President David Bass hopeful of resolution to issue amid BHA talks | Racing News
David Bass, Jumps President of the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), is hopeful of resolving a dispute of new weight rule changes as talks continue with racing’s governing body.
Several leading jockeys were quick to criticise the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) following an announcement last month that there will be an increase in minimum riding weights, replacing a 3lb allowance introduced as racecourse saunas were closed at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Following extensive discussions, the BHA decided a 2lb rise in the minimum weight both Flat and Jumps jockeys can carry should be made with saunas now permanently out of use.
The BHA’s chief medical advisor Dr Jerry Hill called the move “a significant step forward for jockey wellbeing”, but a number of riders have voiced their concerns at losing the 3lb Covid allowance and have claimed they were ‘left in the dark’.
With discussions being held this week on the matter, Bass told Sky Sports Racing: “The question for the BHA is: Has it [the Covid weight allowance] made a massive difference to jockeys’ welfare? The answer is yes. Mentally and physically, it has changed a lot of people’s lives.
“For the next generation it is quite a good way forward, instead of using the crazy short-term weight-loss methods that I was using once, like sweating in the car or the sauna.
“Let’s hope we can resolve it and keep it.”
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Former jockeys Mick Fitzgerald and Seb Sanders had a lively debate after the BHA announced they would be raising the minimum weight a rider can carry, replacing a 3lb allowance put in place following the closure of racecourse saunas.
What is changing?
From Saturday, March 26 the minimum weight carried by Flat jockeys will be 8st 2lb while their jumping counterparts will ride from a minimum of 10st 2lb from Friday, April 29.
The 3lb Covid allowance will remain in place until the new revised weights structure is implemented.
A 3lb allowance for safety equipment, introduced following the requirement to wear a Level 2 body protector, will remain in place, as will a further 1lb allowance for all Flat jockeys during the winter months to account for an extra layer of warming clothing, a provision that has been in operation since 2013.
Dr Hill said: “The closure of saunas on our racecourses represents a significant step forward for jockey wellbeing and a permanent raising of the minimum weight, while protecting competitiveness by raising the maximum weight, is the correct response to that development.
“Our jockeys are athletes who should be primed to perform to the best of their ability like any other. Shedding pounds by dehydrating in a sauna minutes before being given the leg-up onto a horse is not the best way to ensure that is the case.”
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Former rider Jason Weaver says the BHA’s decision to raise the minimum weight for both flat and jump jockeys can carry is a ‘move forward’ following the closure of racecourse saunas.Â
What jockeys have said?
Jason Watson:
“I think the people that are making these decisions should come and live a day with us.
“We’re the ones living it and the people making the decisions are going home, having dinners every night and not doing the hours that we do and running out of hours to drop off the weight.
“I feel like we’ve been cheated out of something we agreed to do. People have been getting bigger and taller for decades now and we need to keep up with that.
“I’m disgusted really by what’s being said and totally against it.”
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Jockey Jason Watson has expressed his anger over the BHA’s decision to implement new minimum weights for jockeys of both codes, replacing the 3lb allowance that had been permitted when racecourse saunas closed.
Sean Levey:
“It was a great step forward when Covid hit that they took away the saunas.
“The [Covid] allowance has helped everyone, from Adam Kirby all the way down to the apprentices who have their claims.
“This now seems like one step forward and two steps back.
“The saunas were an easy way to make weight but we were all in agreement we were happy to get rid of them because of the 3lb filled that void.
“They’ve now made it twice as difficult to do the weights we still have to do. We’re losing out more than we’re ever gaining.”
Richard Kingscote:
“Collectively, everyone is not very happy. We were given a questionnaire vote, which everyone responded to and said we’re happy to get rid of the saunas if we keep our allowance.
“The 2lb may help on a maiden but it’s not going to help in a handicap. We’re back to square one.
“People feel as though they are giving with one hand and taking away with the other.
“It’s frustrating that we were kept in the dark. No one heard anything about it until today. Hopefully, people can open it back out, talk and figure something out.”
