The 2021 jumps season trials commenced last week in Victoria, so what better time to highlight how the jumps fraternity is twisting research results to mislead both the media and the general public.
In a story which aired on ABC’s Landline in October last year, when speaking of horses used in jumps races, the host stated “A just released 2-year study shows that 95% are rehomed”.
We found this statement quite unbelievable so contacted Racing Victoria who confirmed:
1. that the media got it wrong and the report (available here) actually stated “95% of horses WHO ARE REHOMED out of jumps racing do not require a retraining period”
2. that they were aware of this inaccurate statement before the program aired.
We immediately asked Racing Victoria why the program was not corrected before going to air, to which we were told, they did not see it as necessary.
This is a pretty large mistake for the ABC program to make. So, we took a look at the industry’s own reporting of their findings, to realise the ABC could almost be forgiven for the inaccuracy, given this is exactly how the findings have been twisted in the Australian Jumps Racing Association (AJRA) media kit, and other reports and posts
Having said this, the ABC doing their own research rather than believing the very industry who has a vested interest in lying about these figures would be nice.
A quick read of what really is not a study, but a survey of the very people who profit from jumps racing, shows it does not cover how many horses were taken out of jumps racing over the two year period, how many were injured and subsequently killed both on and away from the racetrack, nor does it even give a figure of the number of horses who were successfully rehomed over the period and still survive today.
What is stated is that the AJRA will release an “even more demonstrative report at the end of 2021”. Well, that wouldn’t be hard. But will it actually include what people really want to know, or will it just be another promotional piece attempt to sell jumps racing back to a general public and even racing industry participants themselves who have long turned their backs on the barbaric business?
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