Ireland’s jockeys are still struggling to secure indemnity insurance cover almost eight months after the landmark Freddy Tylicki case in Britain.
Tylicki’s successful £6 million case for damages against his former colleague Graham Gibbons concluded in London in December.
The ex-jockey was left paralysed from the waist down after a fall at Kempton in 2016 and Gibbons was found liable for the incident.
It was a case that highlighted how, unlike their British-based colleagues, jockeys in Ireland are not covered for personal liability.
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Original optimism about fixing that has faded with the Irish Jockey Association (IJA) confirming they have failed to even come up with a quote.
The IJA is now trying to find insurance outside Ireland but are looking for help from both Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) for what it describes as an “industry issue”.
Amid renewed focus on racing’s interference rules and how they are interpreted, the IJA’s secretary Andrew Coonan said the absence of indemnity cover is a matter of considerable concern.
“In effect, there is now case law which is very clear in defining the issues of liability, albeit on a case-by-case basis. There is the very real possibility that jurisprudence could be followed in this jurisdiction were the same thing to happen.
“Presently, unlike the UK, no Irish rider is insured for this. Not only is no Irish rider insured for this, but also presently, and despite our best efforts, we cannot get a quote even on this insurance.
“There is very limited access to insurers in this country. We’ve been obliged through a broker to look at internationally based insurance companies,” Coonan said on Tuesday.
The IJA official, a solicitor and former amateur jockey, has described the Tylicki case as a ‘game-changer’ in terms of how interference rules are implemented. He has also said racing’s authorities have failed to appreciate its broader implications for the sport.
“It’s like a lot of those problems you can foresee: you hope it won’t become an issue but it would be naive of me, as secretary of the jockeys’ association, and it would be naive of not just the riders but other industry participants such as IHRB and HRI to think it won’t happen. And when it does happen, we do not have insurance in place for this.
“We are looking at a rider to rider claim which could be very significant and from that point of view we have to be proactive about this. It’s not something we can just leave sitting there and say let’s hope it never happens here. Because as sure as night follows day it will,” Coonan said.
“When you look at the last short while, and the emphasis now being placed on careless riding, dangerous riding, interference, whatever, someone gets injured, someone gets a bad fall as a result of a manoeuvre by another rider, and feels that shouldn’t have happened. The situation will arise here when that rider will potentially claim against another rider and we have to be ready for that,” he added.
Coonan said he remains optimistic some sort of cover can eventually be found but warned about the potential cost to jockeys.
“What I am concerned about is the jockey’s ability to pay for that, it’s affordability, and what role HRI and IHRB will play in this. This is not exclusively a jockey’s problem. This is an industry issue. There is HRI, the IHRB, and the riders themselves. We all need to work together on this and come up with a solution,” he commented.
A subsidy from the authorities to help pay for cover could be one solution or any policy being taken over by HRI with jockeys paying contributions may be another according to the IJA.
“There are a number of ways we could be looking at this. But the most important factor is getting a quote and getting a policy in place,” Coonan said.
