Victoria state bans jumps racing after 20 deaths November 27th, 2009
Steeplechase and hurdles racing in Australias Victoria state will end after the 2010 season following the deaths of 20 horses over the past two years.
Racing Victoria said Friday a program of weight races will be scheduled for the 2011 season to help steeplechase jockeys, trainers and horses go through the transition. It came after animal rights groups had led a recent campaign to have the racing stopped.
The decision means the three-day Grand Annual Steeplechase carnival in Warrnambool in southeast Victoria next May will be its last after 138 years.
Neighboring South Australia, the only other state in Australia to conduct jumps racing, said it would continue with such racing events in March 2010 and hoped to attract trainers and horses from Victoria for its program.
Racing Victoria chairman Michael Duffy said it was an extremely tough decision for the board.
The board could not allow jumps racing to wither on the vine or, worse still, become the victim of an immediate knee-jerk ban at some future point in time, Duffy said.
Racing Victoria adopted all the essential safety recommendations made by Judge David Jones in his 200-page Jumps Racing Review, which was delivered in December of last year. Despite the changes, eight horses died in jumps races this season, after 12 were killed last year.
Country Racing Victoria chief Scott Whiteman said the decision was unbelievable.
We are absolutely gutted by the decision and we cant believe it, Whiteman said.
RSPCA Victorian president Hugh Wirth said the animal rights group had battled against jumps racing since 1980.
Its taken a long time, but this couldnt be better news, he said. Despite large numbers of reviews which have always backed jumps racing, the writing has been on the wall for some time now.
Wirth said the RSPCA would prefer jumps racing to end immediately instead of being allowed to continue next year, but it agreed those involved should be given a years notice.
The difficulty for us is its another year of jumps racing and there will be horses injured and horses killed, Wirth said.