Racing: Jumps get late reprieve

Jumps racing will continue in Victoria in a modified form in a decision which has outraged animal rights groups but delighted the state's racing industry.

Racing Victoria Limited chairman Michael Duffy said last night the board's decision to continue the jumps season was unanimous, but included several changes.

Duffy said the changed conditions were designed to make racing safer for horses and jockeys.

The changes include:

The removal of the final obstacle in all jumps racing.

A trial of strand barrier starts.

Horses will be given heart rate checks before their final jumping trial to ensure they are fit and must satisfy stewards that they are proficient.

Stricter qualifying conditions for horses in races with prizemoney of $70,000 or more.

The board acknowledged the concerns of animal rights lobbyists as legitimate, but the RSPCA condemned the continuation of jumps racing as a death sentence for horses.

"We're appalled and outraged at this decision," RSPCA state president Dr Hugh Wirth said.

"These changes are just window dressing.

"We've been there before in three reviews over the past seven years.

"This decision tacitly acknowledges that accidents and deaths will go on, and that's OK with the RVL board."

In other moves, penalties for riders who fail to retire fatigued horses from races will be increased, and all horses must be schooled in the presence of stewards before being allowed to participate in jumps trials.

And a series of longer races beyond 3600 metres are to be programmed to ensure horses have sufficient lead-up to feature jumps events.

The hurdle race scheduled for July 25 at Moonee Valley is to be increased from 3200 metres to 3700 metres and a new 4000 metre race is to be created in the lead-up to the Warrnambool Grand Annual.

"Jumps racing will be monitored on an ongoing basis and a full review will be conducted at the end of the 2009 jumps racing season," said Duffy.

"The board recognises that this issue divides some sections of the community and all these views are valid and respected. In making this decision, the RVL board is mindful of its primary obligation to the racing community and its stakeholders."

Warrnambool jumps-racing trainers last night celebrated the decision to preserve the sport with lagers and lobster at the town's racing pub, the Cally Hotel.

Publican Damian Gleeson, also a bookmaker, hoped it would be a permanent reprieve for the sport, which has long fought off protests that reared two weeks ago when three horses died at Warrnambool's Grand Annual Carnival.

Trainer Pat Ryan said the decision offered certainty for owners who had to invest up to $10,000 to train a horse for jumps racing.

Aaron Purcell, who has three to six jumps horses, said he could now plan for the future, which until yesterday had been impossible to predict.

Both trainers blamed the use of smaller hurdles, which horses could almost "skip" through, for the sport's accident rate.

Hurdle racing has been blamed by many industry insiders for jumps racing's latest malaise.

The carnage of last year's Grand National Hurdle, when only four of 13 runners finished, gave plenty of ammunition to the anti-jumps faction.

And of the five horses to die in falls in Victoria and South Australia this season, four were in hurdle races.

Industry figures said up to 500 horses unfit for any activity other than jumps racing would most likely be put down if a decision was made to end jumps racing, but the RSPCA says that cannot be proved.

Victoria and South Australia are the only states that continue jumps racing, an industry advocates say provides hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for rural areas.

- AAP