 He still looks progressive and his Royal Ascot form is rock solid. The galloping track will be up his street. Jockeys were given a multiple choice of seven answers. Of the 190 who took part, only 27 answered yes. That's just over 14 per cent. The majority, 71, said yes if the Covid weight allowance of 3lb continued. And 65 said yes if the Covid weight allowance continued and there was warm up equipment and improved food. In other words, 136 of the 190 jockeys who took part in that survey did not vote for saunas to be removed without a caveat. A further 15 gave a straight 'no'. Yet immediately afterwards the PJA sent its members the following: 'The results were overwhelmingly in favour of the permanent removal of saunas – 88 per cent voted for their removal.' No they did not! What will surprise many is that members of the PJA were also not given much time to gather their thoughts. It appears to have been a rushed job. The survey began on 10 November 2021, and closed on 15 November 2021. Jocke){kind=link}
THE results of a jockeys’ survey over the closure of saunas on British racetracks have been twisted by racing’s power brokers to justify their removal.
But what is equally disturbing for members of the Professional Jockeys’ Association is that its own board – or at least some of them – appear at some stage to have done exactly the same.
Indeed, my investigations suggest that in recent times PJA hierarchy, rather than its members, had already decided saunas would go prior to the survey even being dished out. Only they know why.
I had to dig deep, but I have eventually found a crucial questionnaire sent to riders in November 2021.
Among a number of questions, the seventh read: “Do you support the permanent removal of saunas from racecourses?”