What’s the point

A race in which there is only one horse left in the race, and it is a formality for the rider to pass the judge's box to be declared the winner.

Only 5 jocks on duty today, the weigh in clerk will have the easiest day of his life and jockey Danny Brook could make himself world famous by riding the entire card.

Chicken,why are these jockeys and trainers not supporting the boycott?

From the Guardian........Greg Wood

@Greg_Wood_
Mon 4 Mar 2019 20.52 GMT



Danny Brock, who has six booked rides at Lingfield Park on Wednesday on a card with only 17 runners, said on Monday that, while he understands why some trainers and owners mounted an attempted boycott of the meeting, he “won’t be told by anyone what I should or shouldn’t do”.

Brock was speaking after the trainer Brian Barr, who has booked the jockey to ride Haats Off in a two-runner handicap on Wednesday, suggested that pressure had been applied to both the rider and his agent over the weekend to join the boycott and refuse to ride at courses owned by Arena Racing Company (ARC) later this week, in protest at a cut of nearly £3m in ARC’s prize money in 2019.


“It’s my decision and I feel it’s the right one for me,” Brock said. “It just happens that the trainers who entered their horses [on Wednesday] are the trainers that support me.

I’ve been loyal to the people who’ve been loyal to me since I’ve been riding and it just happened that they were running. That made my mind up, really. At the end of the day I’ve got a family to feed and bills to pay and the rides were there.

“I totally agree with what they’re doing and I know why they’re doing it and I’m not going against them and doing it to try to prove a point. I’m riding because, if I don’t turn up for the people who have supported me and I’m not loyal to them, I may as well not be riding at all because they’re not going to use me. The bigger trainers are not going to stand by me, so it’s a no-brainer for me, really.

“ I think there’s probably a lot of other jockeys in my situation that probably would have rode and should be riding, but have probably been tied down and haven’t gone with the position I’ve gone with.”

The Guardian understands that the Professional Jockeys’ Association contacted all its members on Monday making it clear that it is entirely their decision whether or not to ride at ARC-owned tracks.

The PJA’s letter says that, while it believes “the overwhelming majority” of riders support the action by trainers and owners, it “cannot and does not tell you not to ride [because] to do so would be inappropriate and, more importantly, potentially unlawful.”

It adds: “We appreciate this will place individuals in a very difficult position but there is unfortunately nothing we can do to prevent that.”

Entries for Wednesday’s meeting were made before news emerged of a temporary agreement between ARC and the National Trainers’ Federation to restore prize funds to 2018 levels until the end of March.

Nineteen horses were declared to run but two have since been scratched and it is certain to be the most poorly supported card in terms of runners since at least 2002, when the British Horseracing Authority started to compile data on field sizes. No meeting since then has attracted fewer than 20 runners.

question to be asked is , would this happen here ? , i think not . if jockeys refuse to ride in SA , they all just follow suit like sheep , at least some British jocks have the balls to take a stand and not join the Sheep

First off, the protest was a very valid one. Been reading loads from some trainers who broke down all the costs involved for owners and sometimes they're only covering their costs, sometimes not even by winning some of these lower grade races. Something had to be done.

Both Lingfield and Fontwell were poorly supported because the BHA didn't reopen entries after they had brokered an agreement between ARC and the trainers to end the impasse.

As for the handful of jocks taking the rides, well someone's got to sit on them after they're declared no? Danny Brook was repaying loyalty to some employers and has a family to feed. His show goes on. He likely won't have too many trainers knocking down his door for plum summer rides so needs to look after himself.

Rhain Ingram was apparently subjected to bullying when also opting to repay faith to trainers and owners who have supported. Even Nico de Boinville, who definitely doesn't need the riding fee from one at Fontwell, took a ride.

www.racingpost.com/news/latest/the-show-...-at-lingfield/369537