NSW, Victorian and Queensland jockeys have walked out on race meetings at Hawkesbury, Ballarat and Ipswich after word filtered throught that the Australian Racing Board had rejected proposals to amend the contentious whip riding rules.
The move could bloom into larger industrial action and could lead to all race meetings across the country being cancelled.
Jockeys riding at Ballarat were first to take strike action today, refusing to ride after the third event. At Hawkesbury, jockeys refused to ride after the fourth race, and at Ipswich jockeys stopped after the fifth race, causing all three meetings to be abandonded.
The ARB met earlier today and refused to accept a compromise deal from jockeys that would allow a rider unrestricted use of the whip in the final 100m of a race if his or her mount was in contention to win.
Jockeys nationwide are threatening further industrial action this Saturday with grave fears the Theo Marks Stakes Spring Carnival meeting at Rosehill Gardens and the feature Moonee Valley meeting in Melbourne may not go ahead.
The ARB maintains its new rule - which restricts the number of times a jockey can use the whip in the final 200m of a race - should not be altered.
Along with the new rule, the ARB introduced padded whips to lessen the impact on horses.
Speaking on behalf of jockeys at Ballarat, Glen Boss said they had no alternative.
"The owners' associations, the trainers' association the breeding association, everyone in the industry are supporting the jockeys. Unfortunately we've been pushed into a corner and we've had to react," Boss told TVN.
"We certainly didn't want it to come to this but as a jockeys' association we have got to show our strength.
"This is a rule that's been placed upon us which we rejected from the get-go.
"We've tried to go to the ARB to explain the situation that we just need to tweak. We're not asking for a lot. We are asking for 100 metres where we can do our best and we've got the support of everyone in the industry."
Corey Brown and Damien Oliver, who have both fallen foul of the rule in the past week, attended the ARB meeting.
The Australian Jockeys' Association (AJA) issued a statement saying the ARB was out of touch with the rest of the industry.
"With its decision today to ignore the call of all stakeholders to make a minor variation to the rules relating to the whip, the ARB has succeeded in unleashing a great bitterness and division between stakeholders and administrators," the AJA said.
"It shows the ARB is completely out of touch with its constituents."
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