‘Someone was going to have an accident,’ says PJA chief as riders appear content with not rushing to second venue
Jockeys’ representatives say a “silver lining” has emerged from
Coronavirus restrictions in the fact jockeys are limited to riding at a single race meeting per day. While that means some are certainly missing rides, it removes any question of having to travel at speed to a second meeting and limits the length of their working day, benefits considered by the Professional Jockeys Association to outweigh the cost.
“We’ve had a number of near misses on the motorways,” said Paul Struthers, the PJA chief executive. “Someone was going to have an accident if that way of working continued. We didn’t use Covid-19 to trial this, the restrictions came from Jerry Hill [at the
British Horseracing Authority] and they were based on not wanting people travelling between meetings and potentially increasing the risk.”