Trainers jump on race changes

By Stuart Teather
A SERIES of proposed changes to the jumps racing industry has seen a generally positive reaction from trainers.
A 200-page report into the future of jumps racing, released last Thursday, outlined a number of changes to improve the safety of the sport.
The changes included ensuring races were not held on tracks firmer than a Dead 4 rating, using modified hurdles to make the horse jump higher and restricting the number of tracks allowed to hold jumps races.
The report suggested just six Victorian tracks hold jumps races in 2009 – Sandown, Yarra Valley, Warrnambool, Casterton, Hamilton and Coleraine, but on Tuesday an extra three tracks were added – Pakenham, Moonee Valley and Moe.
The report also called for|jockeys to obtain a Certificate of Attainment before riding in jumps races.
Cranbourne trainer Eric Musgrove, who is also the vice-chairman of the Australian Jumps Racing Association (AJRA), said the AJRA would consider what changes were worth adopting.
We seem to be reviewing things all the time, but that’s the nature of the beast,” he said.
“What they have looked at is a new hurdle that everyone signed off on, which is a modification on the previous one which is a lot firmer, a fair bit taller and we believe horses will jump it a hell of a lot better – that’s a significant change.”
On the track rating, Musgrove said a Dead 4 was ideal.
“My belief is at the start of the day if they’re a Dead 4 and at the end it’s up to a Good 3, then that’s fine.
“For any horse, it’s advisable to have a bit of cushion in the ground. You can get away with a Good 3, but not a Good 2, it’s just too firm.”
His view puts him at odds with another leading trainer, John Leek Jnr, who said anything higher than a Dead 4 was too dangerous.
“I just think the biggest step forward is the Dead 4, horses can’t race confidently on Good 3, they don’t jump confidently and they feel it,” he said.
“It was almost cruel, horses should not be racing on a hard track.
“When a horse lands on a hard track, their knees buckle under them – their shock absorbers – and sometimes they fall.”
One of the major changes will be that Flemington no longer hosts any jumps races, meaning the Grand National will move, possibly to Sandown, in 2009.
Flemington was a scene of carnage in the 2008 Grand National Hurdle in June, when only four of the 13 horses finished the race, and two had to be put down.