BROWNIE'S BLOG: SAFETY IN THE STARTING GATES ... HOW CAN THE SITUATION BE IMPROVED?

By Damian Browne | Thursday, September 10, 2020

The incident involving Dwayne Dunn at the barriers at Moonee Valley on Saturday, where he came away with fractured vertebrae after his head smashed into the barriers when his horse reared at the start, has prompted plenty of food for thought in terms of how jockey’s safety can be improved in that situation.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it does happen quite often to various degrees. How many times do you hear a commentator say just before a race, ‘oh there is one going up’ and we think little of it … but it is a situation fraught with real danger as we saw on Saturday.

There are a lot of close shaves. I had quite a few myself in my time. I would go up and maybe the top of my helmet might hit the crossbar on the barriers.

I can’t say, because obviously I’m not certain what goes into building the starting stalls and the positioning of that crossbar might be there for a structural reason … but, if they could make that crossbar into a bit of an arch to allow that vital extra bit of room and clearance, that might be an idea.

You only have to be on a bigger horse for that safety buffer to be reduced.

In New Zealand, we didn’t even have tops to the starting stalls at one time. The argument against having ‘topless’ stalls was that, if a horse did go up and you had the top on the gates, the jockey could at least grab onto the bar instead of going down or being thrown out the back … so they are handy in that respect.

You are always going to have some incidents in the barriers. I mean you have got a 500kg animal in a small, confined space, so it doesn’t take a lot for an incident to happen.

So, yeah, as I say I don’t know the exact answer. All I can offer is the suggestion that they heighten that bar fractionally or use a softer material around it.

Nowadays, with all of the work, health and safety factors, people try to put things in place to prevent injuries if they are able to and this is probably an area that they should probably look at.

It is not like a race-fall … which can’t do much about that … but some of these barrier stall injuries might be preventable and, if so, we should explore those options.
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The often overly taxing demands of a jockey’s lifestyle has taken its toll on another rider with Group 1 winning rider James Winks being forced into premature retirement because of health issues.

I suffered my own misfortune in this regard so I can identify with James who has been diagnosed with syncope, a medical term for fainting, a condition which is exacerbated by the physical stress caused by fasting, sweating and dehydration which provide physical triggers that contribute to the fainting episodes.

That stress, fasting, sweating and dehydration situation is presently in pretty much ninety percent of jockey’s lives, I guess. Some do sweat and have some dehydration. Even those who don’t waste … on a hot day you will sweat and dehydrate and so you obviously can’t dodge that, but everybody will have a different physical response to the lifestyle when it comes to their own overall heath.

Jockeys, of course, choose their profession and most know the hardship they are letting themselves in for. People like to talk about the weight scale when we talk about this subject but, to be honest … and I was a jockey who obviously lost rides because of my weight … I think weights are at a level now where they don’t have to go any higher.
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While not every health outcome will have a happy ending, for jockeys, the ever-present challenge is for them is to manage their lifestyle … in terms of nutrition, exercise etc … in the healthiest possible way.

That is easier for some than others.

The jockeys are taller overall these days. You get a bloke like Baylee Nothdurft. Twenty or thirty years ago if a kid that tall walked into the stables looking be a jockey, they would have been told to keep walking. Most trainers that many years ago would have looked at your hands and feet and said, ‘oh, you’ve got no hope’ … but, today tall jockeys are making a good living.

Maybe a little more education for apprentices in terms of nutrition and the way they look after themselves can be undertaken … just so that they will know there are consequences if they do something stupid.

If you are able to give them that tool then it is up to them whether they use it or not … although, in general terms, I think, given the framework of the profession and the toll it can take on your body, you are always going to have some illnesses in the jockey ranks.
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There were a lot of people already happy to give Nature Strip the big Everest prize before his run in the Concorde Stakes last Saturday. So, with Nature Strip getting beaten there … does that open up The Everest a bit more?

There are a couple of Queensland stars running this Saturday and we’ll be able to get a line on where they stand.

If Alligator Blood goes no good and Rothfire goes no good are people going to drop them? How will it dent their respective reputations? If they both win their how much added momentum will that give to their cause? Tyzone is another one.

They are all trying to hold their position in the ever-changing racing landscape.

When the dust settles, let’s hope that these Queenslanders can still stands tall.

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