Talking Horses: listen to jockeys in battle of the scales with racing’s rulers

Another week, another war of words between the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA): two bodies which seem to be, for the moment at least, in a state of perpetual antipathy.

The latest dispute concerns the BHA’s announcement last week that the 3lb Covid allowance for riders, which has been in place since June 2020, will be replaced by a general 2lb rise in the weights from 26 March. The allowance was introduced when racing emerged from lockdown in June 2020, but with weighing-room saunas off-limits to maintain social distancing. Jockeys – or the 250 or so that responded to a survey – subsequently voted to keep the saunas closed, but apparently in the expectation that the 3lb allowance would be retained.

Instead, the BHA – which also consulted with trainers as any rise in the weights has potential welfare implications at the other end of the scale – has opted for a general 2lb rise.

A pound – or 453 grams in new money – might not sound like very much, and for some riders at least, it is not. For others, though, the ones who are engaged in an eternal battle against their own bodies, it feels as if the BHA is, fairly literally, insisting on its pound of flesh.

Adam Kirby, last year’s Derby winner, is certainly in that group, and was one of the first to criticise the BHA’s plan last week. “I don’t get why the allowance was a problem in the first place,” Kirby told Sky Sports Racing. “Three pounds is a massive help to us. It’s no hindrance whatsoever to the horses. Track records have been broken and horse soundness is good.”

The BHA, on the other hand, would argue that it needs to see the issue more generally, and take the views of other stakeholders into account. That includes