Right: supporters and opponents of jumps racing have jostled each other and had heated verbal exchanges, with news media happy to publicise the clashes.
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Arguments against jumps racing's retention in Australia
1. Jumps racing is dangerous for horses, jockeys and spectators.
Opponents of jumps racing stress its dangers. Animals Australia claims, 'Jumps racing is a cruel and dangerous "sport" in which horses are forced to jump metre-high fences at high speed. It's 10 - 20 times more dangerous to horses than flat racing, and many of the injuries sustained during jumps races can be horrific.'
Critics have noted that three horses have already died in jumps races in Victoria since the 2011 jumps racing season commenced in April. An additional three horses have died in South Australia this year, the only other state where jumps racing continues.
The 2011 Grand Annual Steeplechase in Warrnambool saw only two of the race's eight starters actually finished the course. Many jockeys fell. A riderless horse leapt over a two-metre high brush fence and into a crowd of spectators standing just outside the boundary of the course. Seven people were left injured. Among the injured were a two-year-old boy and 80-year-old woman.
Glenys Oogjes, Executive Director of Animals Australia has stated, 'It is hard to fathom how the Baillieu Government cannot see the blindingly obvious: jumps racing is a deadly and dangerous blood sport. This preventable accident demonstrated again that jumps racing not only puts horses at unacceptable risk, but also jockeys and even spectators.'
Three horses died at the May 2009 Warrnambool racing carnival, leading to a temporary halt to jumps racing. Racing was later resumed, and one horse was killed at Warrnambool last May.
Racing Victoria has set fall rates (3% of starters) and death rates (0.65% of starters) as benchmarks for the continuance of jumps racing. Even prior to the latest deaths in the 2011 season statistics were triple those imposed limits.
2. The general community is opposed to jumps racing
Opponents of jumps racing argue that the sport no longer has popular support. They note that a series of recent polls has shown that a majority of people wish to see the sport banned.
On May 5, 2011, Daniel Clarke wrote on Pen and Paper, a leading Australian sports blog, 'The public also believe that the sport must end with recent statistics gathered by polling company AusPolls, showing that 65 per cent of Victorians believed that deaths and injuries to horses were not an acceptable price to pay for the continuation of jumps racing.'
Similarly, a Herald Sun online poll conducted in April, 2011, asking if jumps racing should be banned received more than 400 responses, with 68 per cent saying it should.
Lawrence Pope, a spokesperson for Victorian Advocates for Animals has noted in regard to these recent polls, 'The Victorian public wants this public cruelty to animals to be abolished.'
Opponents of jumps racing claim it is inappropriate that a sport which the majority of the electorate clearly opposes continues to receive government subsidies. The Greens have stated, 'Jumps racing, despite widespread community opposition, continues to receive substantial financial and other support from both the Liberal/National Coalition, and the Labor party.
The RSPCA's Internet site includes the following opinion, 'Our new government is wasting $2 million of tax payers money on this "sport". We consider this a poor investment, when this money could be put to better use, rather than funding more jumps racing horse deaths. If the government wants to look after the Warrnambool electorate, they could use this $2 million dollars to fund 50 grade two nurses, 38 graduate teachers or even seven CFA fire trucks.'
3. Horses are coerced into jumps racing
It has been claimed that it is unethical to require horses to race in hazardous circumstances. The argument put is that this is an unnatural activity that horses would not normally perform and that they only race because they are compelled to do so.
On May 5, 2011, Daniel Clarke wrote on Pen and Paper, a leading Australian sports blog, 'After viewing the footage [of the 2011 Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase], it's obvious that the stress which the horses are placed under is extreme and despite hours upon hours of training, the whip and hurdles to jump are simply not natural for the horses. It's easy to see why they bolt.
Just last year, Racing Victoria chief, Rob Hines, went on record and said that, "Jumps Racing was no more gruesome than Ultimate Fighting (UFC)"... Here in lies the problem. The two sports simply can not be compared due to the fundamental fact that humans have a choice and make a conscious decision to enter a ring, knowing full-well they are likely to get the daylights punched out of them, whilst these innocent horses have no say in the matter.'
The RSPCA's Internet site includes the following comment in relation to the views of Victorian Racing Minister, Denis Napthine, 'His personal opinions have led his interviews with quotes like some horses "smile when they see a jump". We doubt Shine the Amour was smiling as he was forced into the hurdle that ended his life.'
In a response to the issue published on the ABC's site on November 27, 2009, it was noted, 'Jumps racing, and, for that matter, equestrian jumping is totally unnatural for a horse, and places their lives at risk every time. Proponents will argue that a horse jumps naturally, but show me a horse in the wild that is running around jumping things by choice. For that matter, horses would all be jumping out of their paddocks if it was a natural thing for them to do.'
4. Jumps racing is inherently dangerous and the various attempted reforms have not altered this
Opponents of jumps racing claim that the sport is intrinsically hazardous and that attempts at reform will, therefore, not prevent horses being killed.
On October 10, 2009, Lawrence Pope, the president of Victorian Advocates for Animals wrote, 'The 2008 review by retired judge David Jones produced a 200-page slab with multiple reforms to "fix" jumps racing. The result? The 2009 season has so far seen 10 horses die on Victorian...
In December last year, Racing Minister Rob Hulls said: ''The industry has been put on notice that the events of 2008 jumps racing season cannot be repeated.'' Well, they have been repeated, so what now?'
On May 5, 2011, Daniel Clarke wrote on Pen and Paper, a leading Australian sports blog, 'In total, a staggering 39 horses have lost their lives since 2007 at Victorian jump racing meets and since 2001, there have been three separate reviews into jumps racing (2001, 2005 and 2008). Each review has seen several safety changes implemented which have made little or no difference to the fall and fatality rate. It appears that the real purpose of these reviews is to buy some time in a vain hope that either the deaths and falls will reduce to what they consider an acceptable level or to wear down the jumps racing opponents.'
5. There are other options for retired racehorses than jumps racing
Opponents of jumps racing say it is not a matter of retired racehorses being slaughtered for pet food if they are not able to go into jumps racing. These critics claim that there are other options for these horses.
Bill Saunders is a horse trainer who retrains racehorses, including jumpers, so they can be resold as riding horses. He sees this rather than jumps racing as the ethical way of extending a horse's career.
Mr Saunders has stated, 'In my mind the whole point of the exercise is to lift the horse's value well beyond its meat value. I'm talking in the thousands of dollars rather than the hundreds of dollars. And as soon as you get a horse that's considerably worth more alive than dead, then the chances are it is going to stay alive.'
6. The small-scale economic benefit of a minority is being put before animal welfare
It has been claimed that the Victorian Racing minister, Denis Napthine is not impartial. Critics assert that as Warrnambool is part of his electorate he is seeking to protect the economic benefits the jumps carnival brings to the town.
The RSPCA Victoria has stated, 'Our Racing Minister, Denis Napthine is biased. He is the MP for the Warrnambool electorate and despite having a veterinary background, he is pro jumps racing.'
Animals Australia has stated, 'There's clearly a conflict of interest here and what we really need is somebody independent to look at it.'
Critics have further claimed that the economic advantages gained through jumps racing are being over-estimated.
The RSPCA's Internet site claims, 'Research conducted by the RSPCA on the importance of jumps racing at Warrnambool tells a different story. Most people enjoy the carnival, but weren't particular interested in the actual jumps racing. Only one food and beverage venue in town seemed to be doing a busy trade and the crowds didn't show themselves until the local public holiday - indicating it is locals attending the event and not huge crowds of jumps supporters.'
The RSPCA has further commented, 'With our new government using tax-payer dollars to provide an additional $2 million dollars to the "sport", we are ashamed that our new leaders are focused on incentivising international competitors and boosting prize money.'
According to this line of argument, jumps racing is in economic decline and therefore it would be relatively easy to simply end it. Instead, the current government is seeking to boost it and thus increase Warrnambool's economic dependence upon it.