Jockey's Union

Jockeys getting paid to work ride. Not a bad idea but the poor owner is going to end up forking the extra bill. Anyway nothing special happens during work riding where it would demand the skills of a professional jock. Obviously the jock gains the advantage of better understanding his mount come race day and if he or she is astute enough to give the trainer the correct feed back tactical decisions can be made. The main gripe is the "Oliver Syndrome" please sir may I have some more. The question is from all the entities involved in racing who deserves the extra helping. The breeder gets his settlement at the sales. The trainers have in place healthy fees. The jockeys receive their basic even if they ride in last. The owner on the other hand can invest for years to support all of the above and not see a single paycheck. There are many points we can debate on to solve this syndrome. The directors of all the institutions involved are clearly not grasping the fundamental grass roots issues of the industry.

kubenn Wrote:

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>most of the jocks outside
> the top 30 would ride in yesterdays
> conditions.they dont get opportunities and most
> of them will
> tell u it is safe to ride. the top jocs dont want
> to risk injury because of the top rides they get

G Wrogemann inspected the course on behalf of the jocks and the general feeling prior to a decision being made was once he had a say in the matter that the meeting was gone...Gunter is 28th in the log??

I support a jockeys union.
just who will this union be bargaining with?quite often when theres inclement weather,phrases like 'jockeys representative' is mentioned.

via the union most issues can reach some compromise.

invho

10 are seriously underpaid
20 are paid cirrectly
40 are seriously overpaid
the rest are in the wrong game

the jock that is currently in 50th position on the log is earning around 25k a month

Titch Wrote:

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> the jock that is currently in 50th position on the
> log is earning around 25k a month


and seriously seriously overpaid whom ever it is, i did not bother to check.

maybe the jocks should do away with agents bar one or 2 that travel a lot ..marcus does his own rides why cant the rest

The cake is getting smaller and everyone is clamouring for a bigger slice.

I think that pretty much sums up the racing 'game' as it is ingenuously known. Given its state it would be presumptious to call it a business.........

Correct me if I am wrong but did not most jockeys recently declare themselves to be 'independent service providers' and arbitrarily IMPOSE riding fees of 10% as opposed to the 7% that had previously been paid? If this is the case why do they not just notify all their patrons through their agents and trainers that they will be increasing their riding fees by x% and take it from there. Market forces would then come into play and those prepared to pay more for a supposedly better jockey could do so with the remainder using lesser skilled riders at lower cost. Gee - there should be a marketing angle in there for some riders.

There is no doubt in my mind that the industry definitely views owners in pretty much the same way as SARS views taxpayers - A Let Them Pay/ They Can Afford It approach. Those with this attitude might like to have a good look at the number of registered owners when compared to 5 years ago. There has been a massive decline.

I don't know whether I reflect the general mood but in mid-April I GAVE AWAY my shares in the 4 horses I owned and handed in my colours. I can actually afford to be in this sport but no longer wish to be. I stopped having fun years ago and took a three year break from 2004 - 2007 to refresh; having owned horses almost uninterruptedly since 1978. Truth is - I should have never returned. It's a circus with the only fact being - What sort of losses are you prepared to stomach and still keep smiling?

Happily I shall have about 200k+ more per annum ( leaving aside capital losses ) to spend on REALLY having fun. I can even have the odd punt on the July or Met if I wish. But horse ownership? Never again.

you make 100% sense Garrick. If I were a bottom rung rider I'd charge 5% to try to get winning rides?

mr hawaii

if i was an agent again and working for a bottom rung rider (this nearly happened but the person never got back to me) I was going to propose that she PAY 40% of her basic riding fee to the owners that gave her rides. currently she rides circa 3 rides per meeting and struggling, i was going to attempt to get her a FULL book of rides by "buying" rides. I think some owners would actually like a R350 rebate on their runner. Her earnings per meet would increase, her raceriding practice would increase, her confidence would increase....never heard from her again.

Any other struggling jocks out there head my advice, if you reading this and only getting 3 rides per meeting you better off "buying" another 6/7 rides and you will still finnish ahead

Easy,maybe you got too close when proposing the deal and she smelled a rat.....lol

Hmmmmm........ Easy you living abroad aren't you ?