The trainers have had their say on hoops wanting jumpout payment

Senior Jockeys looking for jumpout payments

It is an issue that the Victorian Jockeys’ Association head Matt Hyland says has been rumbling on behind the scenes for years now. All season, Hyland has been discussing this matter with the bosses at Racing Victoria but it feels that as an industry, we are further than ever from a solution.

The jockey room clearly feels the same way. Senior hoops will be withdrawing their services for jumpouts from the start of December until the issue has been resolved. There are seven tracks which will be affected. They are Ballarat, Balnarring, Caulfield, Cranbourne, Flemington, Mornington and Pakenham.

Estimated figures are that 400 horses are having jumpouts across those seven training centres every week. More than 70 senior jockeys will be pulling their services leaving apprentices to pick up the slack.

A jockey is paid for every race they ride in as well as $110 for a trial. At present, they are not paid for giving a horse a jumpout, though the same risks are there as in a race or a trial.

Some jockeys will be getting money to ride in jumpouts as part of their retainer contracts already. Hyland has urged jockeys to keep their services open to their own particular stable from the start of December.

Trainers unhappy with jockey's request for more money

On Friday, it was left to Stephen Bell, the chief executive of the Australian Trainers Association to respond on behalf of the training ranks. Their counterclaim is that the fees that are paid to jockeys for races and trials more than make up for not being paid for jumpouts.

Jumpouts are seen by the training side of the industry as the jockeys proving they are hard-working and looking to win the chance to ride the same horses in upcoming races. Whether the senior jockeys need to do this given their reputation is up for debate.

The claim is that paying the jockeys for their jumpout work at the seven tracks would cost more than $2.2 million and more than $3.25 million if it were to make its way to every track in Victoria. 

How long will this withdrawal of services go on for?

That is the million dollar question. Hyland claims that these issues have been rumbling on for as long as eight years now. Withdrawing their services has been branded as heavy-handed by the training fraternity but after such a long time, jockeys feel that they have no other option.

Hyland has been quick to say that this is not a strike but to the trainers it will be hard to tell the difference. Senior jockey Damian Lane claims it is 10-20 hours of work a week that senior jockeys are not being paid for. Most workers would not do that much without financial gain. At present, the pair are stuck at an impasse with no quick end in sight.

There is little doubt that this is a difficult issue. A jockey takes a huge risk to their life every time they ride and are paid to take that risk in a race and a trial so it is easy to see their point of view. Where does the extra money come from to pay for jumpouts? Owners, it would appear.