RACING
RCI Model Rule StandaRdS Helmets
The helmet must comply with one of the following minimum safety standards or later revisions: l American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM 1163) l UK Standards (EN-1384 and PAS015) l Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZ 3838)
Vests
The safety vest must comply with one of the following minimum standards or later revisions: l British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA):2000 Level 1 l Euro Norm (EN) 13158:2000 Level 1 l American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F2681-08 or F1937 l Shoe and Allied Trade Research Association (SATRA) Jockey Vest Document M6 Issue 3 l Australian Racing Board (ARB) Standard 1.1998 race riding was to get to the fence and ride it all the way if he could. Asked about his penchant for picking the most dangerous path on the racetrack, Borel said, “The rail, it doesn’t bother me. It’s the shortest way around, you know. I mean I was brought up that way and I kept going.” When you make that many trips along the rail, mishaps are bound to happen, and Borel said he’s had his share. “I’ve had quite a few. But I don’t think about that,” he said. “The day I’m going to think about falling or having something
happen on the rail, I’ll just retire, because you cannot go there and ride and think about that. The best thing you can do is just not ride.” Borel gave high marks to the current rail at Keeneland—the Rider Protection System. “Actually the safety rail, especially the one at Keeneland, most probably saved me from breaking my ribs a couple of times instead of just getting a pinch,” he said. “The one at Keeneland is very, very safe. It will stop you. It’s got a little wall and it bounces back and forth. It helps you a lot.” Borel, who hasn’t ridden at tracks with flexible plastic rails, isn’t sure if that should be the next step for American tracks. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “You’d have to have it up and ride it and figure it out. Until it’s up and you figure it out or maybe bump it or whatever, you really can’t tell.” Racing Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has ridden more than 32,000 races here and abroad for earnings in excess of $261 million. His most recent tour de force was aboard the magnificent Zenyatta during the crowdpleasing mare’s 19-for-20 career. Smith said it would be difficult for him to say which rail he thought would be the safest: the flexible rail used in Europe or the safety rails used in the U.S. “In Europe, the rail gives a lot,” he said. “You can actually hit it and it will bend and come back to you, which I think is probably one of the safest ones. I have to mention the safety rail we have, because it has a top that you can actually slide on it, if you had to, which is kind of neat, other than just the regular old rail that doesn’t give at all.” Smith is concerned about the proposal to allow rails to increase in height—from the current 42” to 50” high. “I’d have to see some sort of studies,”
The state-of-the-art Best Pad Safety Padding was first used in Keeneland’s starting gate 54
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Luis Jauregui was the CHRB’s assistant steward in 2006 who helped set up a program for jockeys, exercise and pony riders to wear new safety helmets and vests
he said. “I understand the logic somewhat. You’d want it high enough that a horse wouldn’t flip over it, but you have to be careful about where it hits you on your leg, because it could pop an ankle pretty easy if you hit it.” Overall, Smith believes racing is doing a good job to improve safety. In particular, he praised California for coming up with the idea of a safety steward. “As far as safety, there are just so many elements of danger out there. You just really have to keep an eye on everything,” he said. “We have out here in California a safety steward that goes over every single thing, because there are just so many different things that can happen. They certainly should have someone out there that you can talk to and run things by all the time, because there’s always something popping up.”