Incidence and risk factors for race-day jockey falls over fourteen years

Legg, Kylie A.; Cochrane, Darryl J.; Bolwell, Charlotte F.; Gee, Erica K.; Rogers, Christopher W.

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2020.05.015

Cited by 21 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Although falls occurring pre-and post-race, or during trackwork and training were not taken into account in the present study, falls occurring during a race are more likely to result in injury to the jockey [20,21] and account for approximately half of jockey race day falls in New Zealand [22]. In addition, despite having fewer racing opportunities, jumps racing jockeys fall during the race 50-100 times more often than flat racing jockeys (or once every 10-20 races) [10]. Thus, falling from a horse is a major risk, not only during a competitive race, but also during training activities.…”

Section: Long Career Cohort Jockeysmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…In the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA) a jockeys' workload can be greater, with races occurring up to 7 days a week [1,9]. Jockeys have the added risk of falling from the horse, with incidence rates (per 1000 starts) of 1.2 for flat and 53-100 for jumps racing [10], increasing the potential for injury and confidence loss for jockeys. The effects of a consistently high workload, maintaining a low body mass year-round and the high potential for injury on potential career length of jockeys are unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Jockey Career Length and Risk Factors for Loss from Thoroughbred Race Riding

et al. 2020

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Professional thoroughbred racing jockeys repeatedly work close to physiological capacity during races, whilst maintaining low body weights, on a daily basis with no off-season. The effects of this on their career length is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the career lengths and reasons for loss from the industry of 674 jockeys and apprentices who rode over 14 racing seasons and 421,596 race day starts in New Zealand. Descriptors were compared between jockeys in short (1–2 years), middle (3–9 years) and long (>10 years) career cohorts with descriptive statistics and Kaplan–Meier survival curves. The median career length for jockeys was 2 years (IQR 1–6). Long career cohort jockeys (11%) had lower carried weights (IQR 56–57 kg, p = 0.03), 40 times the median number of rides per season (248, IQR 61–434, p < 0.001), half the rate per 1000 rides of falling (1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.2, p = 0.009) and 1.3 times the rate of winning (100, 95% CI 99–101, p < 0.01) than jockeys in the short career cohort. Jockeys who rode over 200 races per season had careers three times longer than jockeys with fewer races per season (p < 0.001). Half of the 40% of jockeys who failed to complete their apprenticeship were lost from the industry in their first year of race riding. In conclusion, most jockeys had short careers where the workload of a jockey and their ability to obtain rides had greater impact on career longevity than their performance.

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Section: Long Career Cohort Jockeysmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jockey Career Length and Risk Factors for Loss from Thoroughbred Race Riding

et al. 2020

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“…Jockeys have the responsibility of controlling both their individual riding performance as well as the performance of the horse, racing at speeds exceeding 60 kmh −1 on race day [8][9][10]. Added to this is the risk of falling from the horse, with incidence rates (per 1000 starts) of 1.2 for flat and 53-100 for jumps racing [4]. Jockeys must comply with the weight allocation of each horse they ride, with minimum riding weights of 52 and 63 kg in operation for flat and jumps jockeys, respectively.…”

Section: Of 10mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lack of conditioning may not only be an obstacle to a jockey's progression in the industry but an important factor in their risk of falling from the horse and thus potentially sustaining career ending injuries [4,28,29]. This observational study provides an initial external workload from which further research is required to understand the current level of training (internal and external workloads) undertaken by apprentices and jockeys and to determine whether it is sufficient to meet the demands of the sport.…”

Section: High Workload Cohort Jockeysmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The External Workload of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Jockeys

et al. 2020

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The objectives of this study were to quantify the external workload of thoroughbred racing jockeys in relation to their experience and racing performance. The number of rides of 786 jockeys and apprentices who rode in 407,948 flat and 13,648 jumps racing starts over 14 seasons were examined. Jockey work (ride numbers, seasons riding) and performance characteristics (race falls or wins) between cohorts with low (1–10), middle (10–200) and high (>200) numbers of rides per season were compared. Flat racing apprentices had more rides per season (25, interquartile range [IQR] 7–97 vs. 14, IQR 3–222, p < 0.001) but fewer rides per race day (2, IQR 1–4 vs. 4, IQR 2–6, p < 0.001) than flat racing jockeys. Flat racing jockeys in the high workload cohort (23%) were responsible for 83% of the race-day rides, riding in a median of 375 (IQR 283–520) races per season. These jockeys had half the fall rate (Incidence rate [IR] 1.0, 95% CI 0.9–1.1) and 1.4 times the success rates per 1000 rides (IR 98, 95% CI 97–99) than jockeys in the low and middle workload cohorts (p < 0.05). Most jockeys had light workloads, greater risk of injury and lower winning rates than the smaller cohort of jockeys with heavier workloads. This disparity in opportunity and success between cohorts indicates inefficiencies within the industry in recruitment and retention of jockeys. These data provide a foundation to further studies investigating jockey competition-specific fitness and its effect on both riding success and reducing injury risk.

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Physical Fitness of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Jockeys

Legg,

Cochrane,

Gee

et al. 2023

J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

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Purpose Thoroughbred racing jockeys compete at maximum physiological capacity in a sport with a high risk of falls and injury. A greater understanding of the physical capacities determining jockey performance may lead to minimum physical performance parameters and corrective interventions to improve jockey fitness and performance and reduce jockey and horse injury. The aim of this study was to develop appropriate physical testing procedures for jockeys and a physical fitness profile for different licence levels. Methods Fifty-eight jockeys (n = 24 females, n = 34 males), representing all apprentice jockeys licenced in New Zealand in 2021 (100%, n = 8 probationers and n = 39 apprentices) and eleven professional jockeys (14%) were assessed to determine baseline physiological and fitness data. Descriptive statistics and boxplots were used to compare aerobic fitness, abdominal (core), upper and lower body strength, muscular power, reaction time, flexibility and a novel ‘saddle’ test targeting lower body strength, balance, and endurance between licencing levels. Effect Size (ES) was used to determine magnitude of differences between groups. Results More experienced jockeys had greater relative lower body strength (ES = 0.2–0.7) and better balance (ES = 0.5–0.9) compared to the less experienced groups. Jockeys who were in the top 20 of the premiership table (jockey rankings) had faster reaction times (ES = 0.7) and greater core extensor strength (ES = 0.7) than other cohorts. Most tests showed little differentiation between jockey licence levels, however the ‘saddle test’ showed greater variability in the less experienced race riders. This test may be an effective measure of jockey baseline performance. Conclusions These data could be used to inform minimum jockey licencing requirements and future physical fitness training programmes to increase jockey physiological fitness, thereby minimising risk of falls or injury due to physiological deficits and performance.

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Incidence and risk factors for race-day jockey falls over fourteen years

Cited by 21 publications

References 28 publications

Jockey Career Length and Risk Factors for Loss from Thoroughbred Race Riding

Jockey Career Length and Risk Factors for Loss from Thoroughbred Race Riding

The External Workload of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Jockeys

Physical Fitness of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Jockeys

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