Eagle Farm faces uncertain future after jockeys declare they won’t ride until construction issue is fixed

Racing is unlikely to continue at Eagle Farm in the immediate future until jockeys are satisfied that an issue with a construction site at the point of the home turn has been fixed to stop horses dangerously shying midrace.

New construction on the home turn at Eagle Farm which caused the meeting to abandoned. Picture: News Corp Australia

Racing at Eagle Farm faces an uncertain future after a high-profile meeting on Sunday morning between the state’s top administrators, trainers and jockeys.

Riders pulled their support in unprecedented scenes on Saturday, causing the remaining two races on the card to be called off, after they claimed the construction of an apartment block on the point of the home turn is causing horses to shift out abruptly.

The issue, which was first raised in February, came to a head on Saturday after Robbie Dolan was involved in a fall when another horse veered out at the 600m mark and caused him to come off his horse, breaking his wrist in the process.

The Queensland Jockeys’ Association say there are more than a dozen separate instances of horses shying at the new construction site since January, and will not support racing at the venue until something is done to mitigate the risk.

They argue that inexperienced horses are seeing the building for the first time on the home turn and taking fright.

READ | Eagle Farm called off after jockeys refuse to ride

The construction of a sight screen, similar to what is seen in cricket, was raised as a potential solution, however it is expected to take several weeks, if not months to construct with the developer of the apartment block currently in a dispute with the construction union.

Representatives from the Brisbane Racing Club attempted to argue that the construction was not causing the issue, which was rejected by the jockeys association.

“We know it is the building,” Queensland Jockeys Association general manager Glen Prentice said.

Robbie Dolan was wiped out after a horse ducked out from inside him on Saturday. Picture: Sky Racing

“We are lucky that it is a high standard of rider that has been riding here otherwise it could have been a lot worse.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want to stop racing here, this is our premier racetrack, every jockey wants to come to Eagle Farm to ride, but they want to be able to go home to their family that night as well.

“We should be counting our lucky stars that Robbie (Dolan) is here today and walking around with only a broken wrist, it could have been a lot worse.”

Jockeys proposed cantering horses by the construction on the way to the barriers earlier this year, which was met with opposition by the BRC due to wear and tear on the track at the time.

As all of the incidents have involved horses not from Brisbane, BRC officials raised the possibility of not allowing horses who have not raced at Eagle Farm to nominate in the future.

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That was quickly rejected by all.

“We don’t know that what we are going to do will work 100 per cent,” Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott said.

“But it’s quite clear we have to try something, at the end of the day you guys (jockeys) are the ones being followed around by an ambulance.

“Money and time are secondary here, jockey safety is our number one priority and we need to try something to get racing back at Eagle Farm.”

Racing is due to return to Eagle Farm on August 3, however, that appears to be highly likely to be moved to Doomben as officials scramble to find a solution to the issue.

Originally published as Eagle Farm faces uncertain future after jockeys declare they won’t ride until construction issue is fixed