BHA denies 'two-tier' regulation between racecourses and participants in wake of weighing room expose

The BHA has denied that there is two-tier regulation between racecourses and participants as acting chief executive Brant Dunshea said the governing body's board could be asked to consider a deadline for work to be completed on jockeys' facilities.

The comments came in the aftermath of a Racing Post expose of weighing room conditions at some courses which have included damp and mould, dangerous placement of equipment and inadequate facilities for female jockeys.

There was even a case of jockeys being reduced to working out on an exercise bike placed next to a row of urinals at Bangor, although a new warm-up area has subsequently been introduced at the course. 

The Professional Jockeys Association wants the BHA to make it a condition of a course's licence that it meets agreed standards for jockeys' facilities by the end of 2026. 

The shocking image of Lorcan Williams using a warm-up bike in the toilet at Bangor

New warm-up facilities being installed at Bangor

The work was meant to be completed by a deadline of October 2024, but some tracks do not expect to be finished until 2030 and jockeys' patience has worn thin.

The situation has also raised comparisons with the way participants are treated compared to racecourses, with the now-retired jockey Hayley Turner telling the Racing Post that the BHA was letting tracks "get away with it", while PJA racing director Dale Gibson claimed: "There seems to be one rule for the racecourses and another rule for the participants."  

When that was put to Dunshea at a media briefing on Wednesday, he said that racecourses had to conform to the BHA's extensive general instructions (BHAGIs).

He added: "The narrative around a two-tier system is one that I have heard myself and I've had conversations with licensees about as well.

"At times I think that narrative is driven by a range of factors, but if you look at, for example, the judicial panel results it was only last week Sedgefield was fined £5,000 for a breach of the BHAGIs. 

"These things do happen quite regularly so the BHA is absolutely regulating racecourses and I would argue that there is not a two-tier system at all, it's just that they operate to two different rule books effectively."

Dunshea called on jockeys to inform BHA officials and racecourses on the day if there were issues with facilities.

"Our jockeys are world-leading professional athletes and they should have facilities available to them that support them in their role as professional athletes," he said. "The point I want to emphasise is that we need to be made aware."

Dunshea said the BHA had been "frustrated and disappointed" by the slow progress made by some racecourses but acknowledged it had been a challenging time for racecourses due to the financial impact of Covid and other economic headwinds.

He pointed out that some courses faced planning issues, such as weighing rooms being in Listed buildings, while they were also being asked to invest in other infrastructure including veterinary facilities.

Dunshea added: "In terms of what are we doing to accelerate it further, I updated the board on this in both September and November last year. Conditions were placed on some racecourses to ensure that all of them provided plans in accordance with the timetable and a phased approach that was adopted at the beginning of 2024, and those licence conditions mandated that they provided those plans by the end of October.

"The approvals group are working hard to get through all those plans and I intend to take another update to the BHA board at the May board meeting.

"What I would like to do is ask the board to consider an appropriate backstop deadline for when all the work must be completed."

James Sanderson could face disciplinary action over GoingStick commentsCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Dunshea also revealed that disciplinary action was an option that could be taken against Thirsk clerk of the course James Sanderson, who recently admitted manipulating GoingStick readings, arguing the device gives misleading results.

Sanderson also claimed that a number of other clerks of courses did the same.

Dunshea said he found the comments "troubling", adding that the BHA "very much value the use of the GoingStick" and expected its results to be reported accurately.

Asked if action could be taken against Sanderson, Dunshea said: "The matter is being considered by the disciplinary department at the moment. I don't want to go into any further detail about it, but yes we absolutely can."

Read these next:

'Once you’ve been in business class you want to stay there' - former jockeys' chief on the disparity in weighing room standards 

‘All you can think about is that smell’ - the shocking conditions inside Britain’s weighing rooms revealed 

Weighing rooms labelled 'inadequate' and 'discriminatory' for female jockeys as majority of British courses fail to update facilities 

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