Racing: Inquiry into stable lads' pay

William Hayler
Saturday 05 July 2003 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Peter Savill, the chairman of the British Horseracing Board, admitted yesterday that moves had to be made quickly to deal with the problem of staffing and low pay in the industry.

The BHB "should probably have got more centrally involved than it has most recently done", said Savill, announcing the establishment of an independent commission into the recruitment, training and development of stable and stud staff. The commission will be under the chairmanship of the former government minister Lord Donoughue.

The National Trainers Federation and Stable Lads' Association will act as consultants to the commission. "We are all agreed that there is a problem and that we want to address it. After all, they [stable staff] are the industry," Savill said.

Lord Donoughue said that the Burnham Report, completed by an industry working party three years ago, would provide a very useful starting point.

The report found that many stable staff were dissatisfied with pay and conditions. It recommended immediate negotiations to improve salary and working hours, as well as consideration of a "blank day" for racing.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in