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Posted: 2024-07-23 21:23:43

In short:

Jockeys have boycotted the Eagle Farm Racecourse over a building site they say is spooking their horses.

The Queensland Jockey Association expect races will be suspended for about six weeks while scaffolding is removed.

What's next?

Scaffolding and meshing will be removed from the construction site in the coming weeks.

Queensland's largest racetrack will be out of action for at least a month due to a jockey boycott over a building site which they say is spooking their horses.

The industry held crisis talks over the weekend after jockey Robbie Dolan was thrown from his saddle at Eagle Farm Racecourse.

Queensland Jockey Association president Glen Prentice said some horses rounding that section of track were being spooked by the 13-storey apartment and its black colour.

"It's very imposing so when they come to that 600 metre mark some horses have taken quite a large fright at it," Mr Prentice said.

"They think they're going to run into it so their natural reaction is to shy away."

The association has compiled a list of 15 cases of erratic horse behaviour on that stretch of track which they attribute to the construction site.

All 15 cases involved horses which were not trained at Eagle Farm, and therefore unfamiliar with the building site.

One case on 23 March this year involved jockey Anthony Allen falling off his horse in a race.

The former Voice contestant fell and broke his wrist when another horse abruptly lurched around the 600 metre mark of the track.  

A building next to a racetrack

Eagle Farm runners see this at the 650-metre mark.(Supplied: Glen Prentice)

Mr Prentice said, in the coming weeks, the developer was going to remove the scaffolding and the big, black mesh.

Additionally, large signs will be installed to block the view of the construction site which, jockeys hope, will stop the horses from being spooked.

Mr Prentice said they would run some trials once these measures were in place, and if they worked, races could resume in about six weeks' time.

However, if the measures do not work, he said races could remain on hiatus for much longer. 

An image of a footpath next to a racecourse with green grass and a sign in the background that says 'Eagle Farm'.

The Eagle Farm racecourse on Brisbane's north side is more than 150-years-old.(ABC Radio Brisbane: Jack McKay)

The development is not due for completion for another six months. 

Australian Trainers Association state executive Cameron Partington said they had raised the problem with the Brisbane Racing Club over the past six months.

"Any time the welfare or the safety of our people or our horses are threatened we have to take them very, very seriously," Mr Partington said.

"We've had enough, we've warned and talked about these issues, we've now had another jockey on the ground, and we need something changed.

"This is not something that's happened overnight as a knee-jerk reaction."

Mr Partington said, in the meantime, races would be moved to other tracks such as the Doomben Racecourse, where construction sites are a green-blue colour that horses find safe.

The Brisbane Racing Club has been approached for comment.

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