The jockeys’ union says “prolonged delays” to the upgrades of weighing room services is “prolonging discrimination” to feminine jockeys.
In December, it emerged that 80% of British racecourses had missed a deadline to modernise services.
These included offering further personal altering and bathe services, communal consuming areas and warm-up areas and new communal working areas for valets.
The Skilled Jockeys Affiliation (PJA) wrote to its members this week saying it had acquired studies of “sub-standard race day services”, together with mould, flooding and overcrowded altering rooms.
Its criticism got here because the horse racing business launched a new workforce strategy, , externalacknowledging the necessity for a change in “tradition” and “a extra skilled working surroundings”.
One of many targets of the Horseracing Trade Folks Board (HIPB)’s technique is to “prioritise gender equality” and to “encourage and assist our feminine workforce by eradicating limitations to remaining within the sport”.
Different actions will embrace an anti-sexual misconduct marketing campaign, supporting employers with drug and alcohol testing, and the introduction of an employer high quality normal.
In 2021, racecourses have been set targets to enhance weighing room services. However simply 13 of Britain’s 59 racecourses met final October’s deadline.
The PJA mentioned it had been informed that “a number of Jockey Membership venues won’t begin work till 2028 on the earliest and is probably not accomplished till 2030”.
It mentioned: “These prolonged delays, which can extend the continued discrimination confronted by our feminine members, are unacceptable. Your persistence and ours is working out and we’ll proceed to combat to carry ahead change.
“We proceed to obtain studies, movies and pictures of sub-standard race day services, together with flooded bathe and valet areas, mould, feminine overcrowding, electrical issues of safety and failure to stick to BHA (British Horseracing Authority) common directions.”
The Racecourse Affiliation (RCA) mentioned it didn’t recognise 2027 as a brand new “agreed deadline”, and mentioned there have been weekly conferences being held by the Weighing Room Growth mission group to “focus on, and finally progress, the event of weighing rooms at racecourses”.
Caroline Davies, RCA Racecourse Providers Director: “The mission group’s data present that 20 racecourses may have accomplished the work by the top of 2025, with an additional 12 by 2026.
“As has beforehand been acknowledged, this multi-million pound improvement is a big expenditure for racecourses at a time when assets are stretched over different important programmes equivalent to enhancing prize cash and masking Nationwide Insurance coverage will increase. As such, a phased method have to be adopted.”
