THE RSPCA yesterday declared war on Victorian racing officials after the Racing Victoria board announced a U-turn on its decision of just seven weeks ago to end jumps racing.
A furious RSPCA Victorian president, Hugh Wirth, said yesterday the push to ban jumps racing was now the No. 1 priority for the group.
''It's war, make no mistake about that,'' Dr Wirth said. ''This is a disgraceful decision from a spineless and weak-kneed board and we will not stop until jumps racing is banned once and for all.
''We already had a campaign in place for the final jumps season but we'll revise that and start protesting immediately. The Victorian community doesn't want jumps racing and we'll make sure racing officials are made fully aware of that at every opportunity.''
Last November the Racing Victoria board declared the 2010 season would be the final season in Victoria for the 140-year-old sport after a spate of fatalities in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
The board yesterday overturned that decision after a last-ditch appeal earlier this week by jumps-racing enthusiasts. The board, however, has applied stringent conditions that must be met this year if jumps racing was to continue in 2011 and beyond.
The board said the fatality rate of 1.27 per cent of starters last season must be reduced by half to no more than .65pc while the rate of horses falling in races must decrease from 5pc to 3pc. Also, more than 80pc of jumps races this season must have eight or more starters.
The final stipulation particularly incensed the RSPCA. ''This is farcical,'' Dr Wirth said. ''They want more starters and so that means more accidents, more injuries and more deaths.''
Racing Victoria Limited announced yesterday that modifications (funded by jumps-racing prizemoney) would be made to the existing obstacles to make them safer and there would be a more stringent approach to jockey supervision and horse qualification.
Leading jumps trainer Robbie Laing was relieved by the board's decision but said racing officials must take direction from leading jumps participants if the new conditions were to be met.
''None of the leading jumps stables have recruited as this was to be the final season, so numbers are down and that means we have to be very careful the way we program jumps races,'' Laing said.
The Australian Jumps Racing Association president, Rodney Rae, said: ''The new conditions are stringent and will require the highest level of co-operation between the jumps-racing community and RVL.
''We are confident in our ability to work together to meet the challenge.''
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