The Australian state of Victoria will ban jump racing after 2010 following a series of horse deaths this season, the ruling body has said.
"Despite the implementation of all the safety recommendations of the Jones Report conducted in 2008, the incidence of falls and fatalities has continued to increase," Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) chairman Michael Duffy said today.
"The recommendations of six previous reviews had been implemented without any sustained reduction in incident rates," he told the RVL website.
Eight horses died following falls in 2009 after 12 were killed last year despite safely measures being put in place.
"The safety of riders and horses in all forms of racing is of paramount importance and we will continue to do whatever is reasonably practicable to make jumps racing less hazardous during its final year in 2010," Duffy said.
A programme of high-weight races would be held in the 2011 season to help in the transition for jump jockeys, trainers and horses to non-hurdle racing, RVL said.
The Grand Annual Steeplechase carnival in Warrnambool next May will be the last jump race in Victoria after 138 years.
Reuters