Jockeys in Victoria will be automatically stood down for 12 days from race riding if they suffer a concussion in a fall.
Racing Victoria is following the lead of the AFL having introduced a mandatory 12-day stand-down period for jockeys that suffer a concussion.
Jockeys previously were forced from the saddle for seven days before undergoing a concussion test to enable them back to race riding.
Matthew Hyland, chief executive of the Victorian Jockeys’ Association, said on Thursday that had been increased to 12 days on the advice of RV doctor Gary Zimmerman.
Hyland said RV was leading the country as far as stand-down periods were concerned and while not all jockeys may like the idea of the extended time out, it was done for their health.
“We have to take the advice of the chief medical officer and that won’t be music to a lot of rider’s ears,” Hyland told RSN.
“We have seen a lot of athletes in the AFL, they want to avoid being diagnosed with concussion because they know there will be an automatic stand-down and they can’t play a game the following week.
“But you have to hold the athlete in one hand and then you have to hold the medical advice in the other and you have to try and bring it together and arrive at a satisfactory outcome.
“Sometimes you have to take that out of the athlete’s hands.”
Hyland said once a jockey was diagnosed with a concussion, they could undergo a test on the final day of their stand-down period, either with Dr Zimmerman or their local GP, which would then be ticked off by Dr Zimmerman to enable them to return to race riding.
Senior rider Dwayne Dunn is still suffering the effects of a knock when he hit his head leaving the barriers in a race at The Valley last September in which he narrowly avoided being left a quadriplegic.
