THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - RESPECT IS DUE NOT ON ISOLATED OCCASIONS BUT ON A DAILY BASIS

By Graham Potter | Sunday, August 11, 2013

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily

The death of a jockey following a race fall puts all of the industry’s petty squabbles in perspective.

For all those who think they are hard done by, last Monday provided a sober pause … a time to take a deep breath … as the events on Darwin Cup day moved from dramatic to tragic. In almost a blink of an eye a life was lost as the danger inherent in a jockey’s profession struck in a random but critical fashion.

Just two days before the Darwin incident the National Jockeys Celebration Day was held, as it is each annually on each first Saturday in August, at race-tracks throughout the country.

Jockeys stood side by side to observe a minute’s silence to commemorate those jockeys who have lost their lives in riding accidents. Little did they know that just forty-eight hours later another name … that of Simone Montgomerie … would be added to the list of the fallen.

And that is a long list!

The dangers of race-riding have been well documented, with some reports giving some descriptive but largely unnecessarily graphic details, while casualties with various levels of injury have lined the battlefield ever since the concept of racing horses, in whatever form, began.

The fact remains however that the worst case scenario is something that nobody gets used to no matter how many times that situation has been experienced before.

When an untimely death occurs there is real shock and real sorrow because we all know, even if we have pushed it into the back of our minds, that every rider takes his or her life in their hands every time they are legged up onto a horse.

In essence they do it to make a living but, on a wider scale, they do it so we can be entertained … we can have a punt … and their reward for that?

Well, more often than not we give them a bad review.

Of course all jockeys make some bad decisions in a race. Sometimes their judgement is off. Sometimes their vigour is questionable, but they are there having to split-second calls at fast pace, while we armchair ride from our safe seat in the grandstand or in front of the television and, for the most part at least, literally look down on their profession.

With this latest tragedy the spectator’s view of jockeys will change just a little bit for just a little while … and then we will revert back to type and jockeys will again no longer be allowed any leeway for error by punters.

That is all part of the game and it will never change. If you pay for your entertainment you are entitled to criticise.

In fact, I’m sure if everybody fell in love with jockeys and was nice to them all of the time the riders would become very insecure and wonder ‘what’s up.’

It’s far easier for them to keep up their ‘game-face’ when they know there is little sympathy coming for them from the other side of the running rail.

So, no, they don’t need love or to be treated nicely or to receive sympathy.

I just think a little bit more of general respect would be in order.

Their courage should not only be acknowledged when it is highlighted by a tragedy, it should be a common courtesy shown to them by all racegoers as the jockeys go about their business on a daily basis.

But then again, it is not a life and death matter that racegoers do so.

It is others that run that sort of risk.

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