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You punt with a fiver, jockeys gamble with their lives

Paul Innes

by Paul Innes

27 Aug 05:50am

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Filed under: Accidents, Disability, Horse Racing, Jockeys, Sport

19 comments

Having a punt on the gallopers is a great Australian pastime. But even on a losing streak, all most of us have at stake is money.

Jockey Nash Rawiller holds on for dear life at the San Dominico Stakes at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney.

The men, and increasingly women, who keep the industry going by saddling up at racetracks across the country day-in and day-out are gambling with much more.

Today is National Jockeys Celebration Day, the one day on the national racing calendar that is all about those people who risk their lives on the track.

Being a jockey is no easy ride. A jockey must be dedicated, disciplined and above all determined to get out there every day and ride a winner.

Sometimes they are successful, and on that first Tuesday in November one of them will ride to riches and glory in the Melbourne Cup. But too often jockeys leave the track with injuries that they may never fully recover from.

Since the Australian racing industry began, 311 jockeys have lost their lives, and in the last 12 months around 40 per cent of jockeys have had a fall that has prevented them from riding.

Today we’re celebrating the contribution all jockeys past and present have made to our sport. We also honour those jockeys who have given up so much to be a part of this industry.

Jockeys like young Reece Potter, who lost his life at age 23 after sustaining head injuries during a fall earlier this year.

We also honour the forgotten, those jockeys who have been so seriously injured on the track they can no longer ride, and for who conditions like quadriplegia, brain injury and chronic pain are common.

For these former jockeys, the adjustment to life after racing can be brutal. And for many the psychological scars never heal.

No matter how devastating the injuries, or how many lives have been lost, today jockeys and their families and friends will celebrate the joy that racing brings to their lives.

Because if you ask a jockey who’s had a career-ending fall, nine times out of 10 they will tell you they’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

However, that love for the sport doesn’t take away the harsh reality that many jockeys and their families face after an accident - serious physical injury is often accompanied by poverty, depression and family breakdown.

And that’s why today the National Jockeys’ Trust asks for donations to help injured riders and their families. The Trust is a charitable organisation, which aims to help as many jockeys and their families as possible that are struggling emotionally and financially as a result of an injury or death.

So if you’re heading to the races this today, say a little prayer for the jockeys out on the track. And if you’re lucky enough to pick the winning horse, why not get into the spirit of the day and give a little back to the jockey who risked their life to ride her home.

Most commented

19 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • acotrel says:

      06:04am | 27/08/11

      Some people will gamble on anything, even if the consequences might be that the rest of us are stuck with a totally self-obsessed leader.

      Reply

    • Erick says:

      07:34am | 27/08/11

      Why did you have to bring Julia Gillard into this, acotrel? It’s really quite irrelevant.

    • stopallfanaticsnow says:

      08:17am | 27/08/11

      acotrel, get off your high horse, you don’t like Julia and labour, we get it, bu really, you turn every punch article into a rant about politicis, some of us want to enjoy the articles for what they are really about not have it turned into another political punching fight by a totally self obsessed fanatical julia hater and before you accuse me of bein a leftie, I dont like her either). However, this article is about racing and jockeys and those who risk their lives to pursue a sport they love, if you don’t have a comment on that subject, then keep quiet, you rave as inanely and more often than gillard does

    • NicoleG says:

      09:43am | 27/08/11

      A day to celebrate jockeys and you just have to bring pollies in to it? My God you’re a dipshit!!!

    • Tin says:

      01:02pm | 27/08/11

      Although I agree, the irony of Erick complaining about someone bringing something irrelevant into a thread is delicious.

    • Flutz says:

      08:14pm | 27/08/11

      why don’t you all just ignore his comments then?  best way to stop these kinds of comments is not to respond to them

    • TChong says:

      08:20am | 27/08/11

      Where to begin ?
      1) great stuff that a charity day has been organised
      2) absolutely appalling that such a day is needed.
      3) even worse to think that whatever token amounts are collected, will actually make a difference - ie , whatever funds already exist must be a very small amount.
      4) Dickensian working conditions that are traditionally tolerated in the racing industry , ( except for the bookies), which probaly are even worse for strappers and stable hands , than they are for jockeys.
      5) the workforce-  in rural regional Oz, jockeys are / were often runty little blokes, often from “broken” ( not necessarily “bad"homes) , low socio - economic circumstances, often blokes too small , and not enough education for any other type of work.
      Strappers/ stable hands mostly same back ground, but people who grew too large to be a jockey, ,and have even less ability to improve their lot.
      6) hard , back braking, repetitive work, without any type of career path.
      7) the business is even harder on the nags - usually a galloper only gets half a dozen opportunities at the barrier trials ( perhaps) , and if no good, off to the knackery.
      BUT
      8) the racing industry has to be congratulated on the brilliance of the recent advertising campaign , that has seen the nags - possibly the least sentimental and most ruthless of industries, turned into something glamorous, where the god awful harsh realities of this industry, are so prettily swept behind a curtain of glamorous young fillies and dashing young colts ( the punters).
      As a wise old farrier told me many years ago, the only people who get rich out of races are some of the trainers, and the Bookies.

      Reply

    • John A Neve says:

      11:37am | 27/08/11

      TChong,
      Has the whole country gone mad?
      People choose to be jockeys, no one forces them. If they are very good at what they do, they make a lot of money,if they are good they make good money and if they are bad. They should look for another job.

      If the conditions are as bad as you paint? Tell us why they take it up?

      In the history of Australain racing 311 jockeys have lost their lives, small
      compared with other industries.

      I have read some sentimental crap in my time but this takes the biscuit.

    • Aitch B says:

      08:26am | 27/08/11

      @acotrel

      Gillard a “totally self-obsessed leader”????

      My God…. you’ve finally seen the light!! smile

      Reply

    • Kipling says:

      09:28am | 27/08/11

      Not to mention the cruel treatment of horses. Oh that’s right you didn’t…

      Reply

    • Steve Putnam says:

      01:22pm | 27/08/11

      A good friend of mine argues that the whip should be banned, that jockeys only be allowed to ride hands and heels. She argues that the best horse would win more often as a result. Hard to see this happening in practice but it would be interesting!

    • Kipling says:

      08:35am | 28/08/11

      That’s all well and good mate, but horses only run naturally when they are afraid….

      Is that a good state to have them in?

      Further, when they can no longer run, or are “duds” they are dumped and/or mistreated or destroyed in most cases.

      Shit industry with no redeeming features. Oh but it makes a lot of money I guess so that makes everything alright.

    • Tim says:

      02:19pm | 28/08/11

      Horses only run when they’re afraid?
      Bahahahaha.
      That’s got to be one of the most silly things ever written on this site.
      As for what happens to some horses after they retire, as long as they are killed humanely, what’s wrong with it?

    • Steve says:

      01:11pm | 27/08/11

      They could always give up and try out for basketball.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      06:52pm | 27/08/11

      Nah ... ice-hockey.
      The puck.

    • Robert Smissen of country SA says:

      12:51am | 28/08/11

      Jockeys, such wonderful people, NOT! ! ! They are the heartless bastards that when a horse is too old Y slow to flatrace, they ride them to death over jumps. The excuse that the horse had a heart attack or burst an Aorta is utter crap, if it wasn’t being forced over jumps these things wouldn’t happen. I reckon if a jockey cause a horse to be put down, then the jockey should be put down too. Along with banning pokies they should ban horse racing of all kinds

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      07:44am | 28/08/11

      I’m completely against animal cruelty but id make an exception for animal activists.

    • Steve Putnam says:

      10:07am | 28/08/11

      What’s going on here? People on this site have been complaining about the continuous incursions of the “nanny state” into people’s lives and now this. I’m normally not given to saying nice things about jockeys but decisions made concerning racehorse’s career are made by owners and trainers, not jockeys.

    • Robert Smissen of country SA says:

      05:29pm | 28/08/11

      @ Steve Putnam, yes & the jockies choose to ride the horse to death, As for the owners, once the horse ceases to be a money spinner it’s days tend to be short lived. The whole industry is run on greed

 
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