South Australian Jockey Club’s decision to abandon jumps racing at Adelaide’s only metropolitan venue has rightly caused a furore among jumps racing owners, trainers and supporters.
And not only in South Australia, but across the country.
While there is dismay at the decision itself, what has fuelled much of the fury is that the SAJC’s justification appears to not be based on jumps racing per se. Rather, the decision has been rationalised as a purely commercial one.
SAJC has claimed that holding a handful of jumps meetings at Morphetville is so monumentally detrimental to the SAJC “brand” that it warrants the abandonment of jumps racing altogether.
In an interview immediately following the announcement in August, CEO Brenton Wilkinson said that the SAJC Board “made a decision a couple of years ago that we don’t believe that it’s appropriate to hold jumps racing at Morphetville”.
Mr Wilkinson acknowledged that the “statistics from jumps racing have improved greatly, and the stewards over here do a good job managing the trainers and the jockeys and the horses,” but nevertheless he and SAJC continue to believe that jumps racing is “detrimental to our brand”.
What does this mean, in practical terms? According to Mr Wilkinson, corporate entities who were thinking of holding functions at the club for their staff and clients declined to continue “because we have jumps racing at Morphetville”.
No wonder the jumps racing fraternity is incensed. Those who work in the industry, devote their immense skill, expertise and entire working lives to it, along with the many passionate enthusiasts who support jumps racing throughout South Australia, are not considered as important as corporates. These are people who have no connection or interest in racing, but are simply looking for a room to hold a lunch.
But this part of the SAJC justification has not angered the jumps fraternity as much as Mr Wilkinson’s tacit admission that the club has essentially caved in to the efforts of a small but vocal minority of anti-jumps racing protestors.
This is especially galling because when a two-year moratorium was agreed between SAJC and Thoroughbred Racing South Australia [TRSA] over the future of jumps racing at the city venue in 2012, SAJC was adamant that it wasn’t, and wouldn’t be in any way, influenced by anti-racing lobby groups in its thinking. And yet it would appear to be the case, from Mr Wilkinson’s interview, that these very groups have won the day – at the expense of the many racing professionals and enthusiasts who are passionately committed to the industry.
Those involved in jumps racing at all levels quite justifiably feel abandoned by a body whose entire raison d’être is, after all, horse racing.
To remove jumps racing from Morphetville for the sake of a) turning our only city racing venue into yet another corporate function centre, and b) to placate groups who will not be placated until all horse racing is banned altogether, seems not only a betrayal but extremely short-sighted, and one that will have further ramifications not only for jumps racing, but all racing in the state.
ray ford
Guest
The fields often small, no value on the punt. Nothng stays the same. Jumps has died on the vine for years. Within 5 to 7 years it will be gone Australia wide. In 50 years theyll be saying, there used to jumps racing. But it wont be missed, just like NSW hasnt had it for many decades. They dont miss it
pat malone
Guest
im guessing jumps racing aint that popular for anyone to care
Fran Houlahan
Guest
Jumps racing runs from about March to September, about 7 months. Trialling, working and schooling these horses normally starts in November or December. So most of the year is tied to either getting the horses fit or racing them. Not dissimilar to footballers, whose off season is very short now. As for flat racing being under no threat, I advise you to look at horseracingkills.com
Mark Angus
Roar Rookie
My contention is that the commercial argument is being used so that SAJC can avoid admitting that anti-jumps protests have swayed their decision. This is because they explicitly informed SAJC members and the wider jumps racing fraternity that movements opposed to jumps racing did not and would not play a factor in their decision making process. That this has in actual fact been the case is clearly implied in the interview that CEO Brenton Wilkinson gave shortly after the SAJC announcement (https://soundcloud.com/rsn-racing/brenton-wilkinson-ceo-south-australian-jockey-club). The problem, as I see it, is that if you accept either of these justifications as being the reasons behind SAJC's decision, then a decision that crucially affects racing in SA has ultimately been made for non-racing reasons. Either it has been made to appease those who want to use the facilities at Morphettville as a function centre, but otherwise have no interest in supporting racing, or it has been made to appease those who wish to see the demise of jumps racing, and are therefore clearly not interested in the well-being of the industry. Both of these groups' interests are being placed above those who are actively involved in and support racing—a somewhat odd position for a racing club to find itself in. If the current board at SAJC simply does not like jumps racing in and of itself, it should say so. Or, if it has decided that the pressures brought to bear by anti-jumps protestors is too much, then it should likewise make this clear. However, as I say, much of the dismay at their decision is based on the fact that a part of the racing industry is being run down for non-racing reasons and for the sake of people who are not involved in racing. It is not unreasonable to expect that a racing club should put the interests of those who support racing above those who don't. As for training jumps horses being a job for only five months of the year, I shall elicit the opinions of those who make their living from so doing, as they are far better qualified than I to talk about what their jobs entail.
www.banjumpsracing.com
Guest
You're contradicting yourself. Either your'e saying that their decision is a commercial one, or they're caving to the demands of the protestors. I'm not sure what the problem is here. Morphettville made it clear two years ago that they no longer wanted to hold jumps racing, they were asked to give it two years. They've given it two years, and they still don't want to hold jumps racing. Jumps Racing is a winter sport. It runs 5 months a year. There is not one single jumps trainer in Australia who devotes their "entire working life to it" especially in South Australia.
Sam
Guest
If you think that the rest of the racing industry is safe, you're either very naive or ignorant to the long term goals of these terrorist activist groups. Ending jumps racing is just the beginning for them, next they'll move onto two year old racing, whips, and eventually racing in it's entirety. The SAJC weakening and admitting they're scared of these two bit activists with absolutely zero industry experience, and basing their decisions on that excuse is just the start of it, and the activists think they're winning and will try and press harder. Make no doubt about it, those activist organisations hold an all out anti racing stance, they are 100% abolitionists, despite their claims otherwise.
Corinna
Guest
Thia is only the start, the anti jumps protesters are anti ALL racing, this has been proven time and time again !
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Jumps racing, at Morphettville (to give the place its proper name) or anywhere else, is an anachronism. Flat racing is under no threat, nor should it be. But jumps racing has had its day.