Horsemen's Group offers to mediate further talks on whip rules

• BHA and PJA committed to further discussions
• William Buick calls for jockeys to stay united

Chris Cook
@claimsfive
guardian.co.uk,


The controversy over the new whip rules continues to be the nightmare from which the sport cannot awake. Just days after a raft of revisions was announced by the British Horseracing Authority in the hope of quelling the protests of jockeys, further discussions are so clearly necessary that a third body has offered to step in and mediate between the two sides.

The Horsemen's Group, formed to represent the collective interests of owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff, is making its personnel available in the hope of finding a way forward that might bring an end to the weeks of bad publicity which racing has already endured. "Like everyone else, we want to see a positive solution," said the Group's spokesman, Charlie Methven, "and so we decided to offer to step in and see if we could facilitate it rather quicker than if it was just fought out on the pages of the racing press."

A statement from the BHA last night said it is "fully committed to ongoing and constructive dialogue with the Professional Jockeys Association". It added ways are being sought "of formalising this engagement and all sides should agree that it is not best conducted in public".

Kevin Darley, the PJA chief executive, said he is still in discussions with the Horsemen's Group as to what form its involvement would take, but he insisted that the rules would need to change further. "Even with the amendments we had on Friday, we're concerned that they're still not working," he said.

Darley has particular concerns about the severity of the punishments for breaching the rules and was disappointed to hear that three more riders, Patrick Mathers, Iva Milickova and Shirley Teasdale, were banned on Monday. "There are a lot of jockeys out there who are living hand to mouth," Darley said. "They're trying to be competitive, trying to pinch the odd winner when they can and if they get long suspensions for doing that, it could do them out of business."

The worst fears of the weekend did not crystallise in a jockey's strike on Monday and no such action seems in immediate prospect, to judge from the comments of various riders, but the mood remains bleak. "Everyone's down in the dumps, to be honest," said Fergus Sweeney, winner of the first two races.

William Buick, who rode his 100th winner of the season, spoke of his fear that his colleagues cannot agree on the best course to take. "I'm a bit worried because it's a lot of different opinions," he said. "I don't think anybody's sitting on the fence, everybody's getting involved, but there are some more involved than others. I just hope that jockeys don't get split over this, that we don't get divisions in the weighing room. It's hard, we're all in different situations, we've all got different opinions but we've got to try to stick together.


"The British Horseracing Authority treat us like mushrooms, [kept] in the dark and not telling us anything. Horse racing can't go on without jockeys. I love the sport, I can make a living from what I love, so I'm very happy, but it would be nice to be informed of such a big rule change before you read it in the press.Buick was especially annoyed by the words of the BHA's Jamie Stier when announcing Friday's revisions and insisting that the regulatory body would do as it saw fit, rather than negotiating over the sport's rules with the participants. "That's harsh words and I think he's forgetting who's riding the horses, who's put in danger every day," Buick said.

"That quote sounded a bit desperate and unnecessary, so I hope he takes that back and that he works with Kevin Darley and the PJA and the trainers to come to a grown-up solution."

From Wednesday, Buick will have to serve his own five-day whip ban, earned during the first week of the new regime, when he used his whip eight times, one more than the new limit. He said that, as he pulled up after the race, he had no fear that he might have broken the rules. "Good jockeys ride on instinct and that's what makes good jockeys. They don't think about things.

"We do things because it feels right, feels right for us, in the moment. In this game, you've got to be decisive. You might be decisively wrong but you've got to be decisive, you can't just sit there, half thinking about it."

Asked if he would take part in a strike, Buick replied: "I don't want to comment on that because it's one of those things, we all have to stick together if it's going to happen. I know a lot of lads support it but I think if we can come to a grown-up solution with the BHA, that would be better, have talks behind closed doors and do it civilised rather than having a protest.

"Of course if that doesn't work, then, in fairness, it's the only thing us jockeys have in our favour."