Tuesday starts the British Horseracing Authority's hearing into the weighing room bullying case brought by female jockey Bryony Frost against male rider Robbie Dunne. Racing broadcaster Nick Luck welcomed Daily Mirror journalist David Yates to his podcast, Nick Luck Daily, to discuss how this case could affect both the BHA and the industry as a whole, as well as the two jockeys.
Frost has been adamant that her reasoning for bringing this case is not a personal vendetta but rather a desire to change the weighing room culture for the generation that follows hers.
“If this case doesn't succeed, you can make your own judgement as to whether that culture is indeed going to change,” Yates said.
Dunne, who has been charged with three counts of alleged abusive or threatening behavior, faces a punishment ranging up to a three-year ban from the sport. Yates points out that since Dunne is 36 years old, that could effectively mean the end of his career.
As for the BHA, the way in which it has dealt with this case will be “held up to the light.” With leaks to the Sunday Times and the lengthy amount of time the process has taken, Yates suggests the organization will likely face judgement on its competency.
Perhaps the most wide-ranging consequences of this hearing are those that would touch the industry as a whole.
“Racing has quite rightly made much capital out of the fact that men and women in the sport compete on equal terms,” said Yates. “It rightly points out the progress that it feels has been made in leveling out what I think we would all agree was a very unlevel playing field to start off with. It's not just people who are interested in racing who are looking at this case. Again, it's very likely that were this case to show that there is a culture of bullying in the weighing room, for horse racing, all the work it's tried to do to level up between the genders over the last decade or so, it would be seen I think publicly that a lot of that work had either been undone or had fallen a long way short.”
Listen to the entire discussion on Nick Luck Daily.
The post ‘Fallen A Long Way Short’? BHA’s Jockey Bullying Case Could Have Wide-Ranging Consequences appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
