Turner Echoes Dettori On Minimum Weight

Dr Michael Turner, chief medical adviser to the Jockey Club, last night backed up Frankie Dettori's views on the minimum weight for riders.

The former champion is arguing the lowest threshold for Flat riders should be increased to stave off problems of dehydration, inadequate body fat and bone density, all of which were highlighted by a study from the University of Limerick.

The Irish authorities responded to that report by raising the minimum weight for their races last year and Dettori is calling for similar action from the authorities in Britain.

And so strongly does Dettori feel on the matter that he has threatened to quit the Jockeys' Association over what he sees as the lack of action on their part.

Dr Turner told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'We have a situation where we have a weight which less than half a percent of the male adult population can do and if you try and keep your weight down when you are growing in your teenage years, your bones don't get enough calcium.

'If your bones don't get enough calcium that leads to the possibility of getting osteoporosis in later life so you are consigning a whole generation of young jockeys, all of whom have to come in at the minimum weight, to the possibility of having fragile bones in later life.

'I think there are a number of issues here and what concerns the BHB is the handicap and the handicap is to do with the horse. I have always believed humans are more important than the handicap and I continue to do so.'

Dettori said: 'The BHB and the Jockey Club decided to raise the weights of some of the races but they didn't do it right throughout the sport.

'There has got to be an even spread throughout the industry and that is the argument I am trying to raise.

'It is a minority, and when I say minority I mean the guys who can have three meals a day and go racing without a problem, that are stopping the weights being risen.

'They held scientific tests in Ireland last year and they showed that we could have some serious health problems towards the end of our career.

'I am 5ft 4 inches and weigh 9st 9lb but I have to sometimes go down to 8st 6lb. I have been doing this for 18 years so I know how to handle myself but I am looking out for other people in the future.

'I am part of the Jockeys' Association, which has been going for many years and is meant to be an association to help everybody.

'I have decided to make a stand and if it doesn't get sorted I am willing to resign as it is not helping me, my colleagues or the young apprentices coming through the ranks who have a good future ahead.'

John Blake, chief executive of the Jockeys' Association, said: 'I haven't had a chance to speak to Frankie yet but I hope ? without being too forward ? that he won't quit.

'It is an issue the Association takes very, very seriously and we've been discussing and negotiating on the matter since September.'

BHB spokesman Will Lambe added: 'We certainly acknowledge the issue of a jockey's weight is a serious one but one which the British Horseracing Board is addressing.

'We have significantly narrowed the weight bands in handicap races and restructured allowances in maiden auction and claiming races.

'In any case, we are only talking about a small proportion of races that have weights under the level the HRA (Horseracing Regulatory Authority) would like the minimum raised to. We do not believe we should be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.'

? PA Sport