Falls and Injuries in Professional Horseracing in JRA, JAPAN (2014)

Akihiro ItoDepartment of NeurosurgeryTeikyo University Hospital

Kenkichi SanoJRA (Japan Racing Association)

It is well-known that professional jockeys suffer a high incidence of falls and injuries as a consequence of their profession. Jockeys’ safety is a very important issue in horse-racing society.

From the horse-racing database of JRA (Japan Racing Association)and JRA compensation system, we extracted all cases of falls/injuriesin 2014 and present a detailed breakdown of them.

In addition, we introduce JRA’s efforts to improve Jockeys’ safety on racecourses.

Introduction

Falls/Rides Ratio in Professional Horseracing (JRA, 2014)

Racing Type Rides Falls Falls/ride

(%)

Flat

Turf 24,228 20 0.08%

Dirt 24,332 46 0.19%

Subtotal 48,560 66 0.14%

Jump Turf 1,584 69 4.36%

Total 50,144 135 0.27%

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

Flat Jump

0.14%

4.36%Falls / Rides

JRA held 3,451 races in 2014

Injuries/Rides Ratio in Professional Horseracing (JRA, 2014)

Racing Type Rides ※Total

injuriesinjuries/r

ide(%)

Flat

Turf 24,228 9 0.04%

Dirt 24,332 4 0.02%

Subtotal 48,560 13 0.03%

Jump Turf 1,584 9 0.57%

Total 50,144 22 0.04% 0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

Flat Jump

0.03%

0.57%Injuries / Rides

※ We define “injury” as falls which lead to an absence from work.

The ratio of injuries in JRA was lower than previous reports.

Injuries / Rides JRA Previous reportsFlat 0.03% 0.15-0.17% Jump 0.57% 0.60-1.71%

Injuries / Falls JRA Previous reportsFlat 19.7% 39.9-58.7%Jump 13.0% 12.3-20.0%

Br J Sports Med. 2002 Dec;36(6):403-9.Br J Sports Med. 2008 Jan;42(1):22-4. Injury. 2010 May;41(5):533-9.

Injuries/Rides Ratio in Professional Horseracing (JRA, 2014)

Starting1st turn

2nd turnBack straight

3rd turnFinal turn

Home straight to Goal

Barrier (Jump)

0

20

40

60

Falls w/o Injury

Injuries Falls w/o Injury

Injuries

1 0

38

20 0 1 0

0 0 1 00 2 0

0 0 2 00 0

1040

127

59

9

Location of Falls and Injuries

FlatJump

(CASE)

13＝=603/37=58km/h

Most injuries tend to occur in the final turn and home straight of the racecourseIn flat racing.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Falls w/o Injury

Injuries

68.5%

15.4%

1.9%

0.0%

1.9%

0.0%

3.7%

0.0%

3.7%

0.0%

11.1%

30.8%

9.3%

53.8%

Home straight to Goal

Final turn

3rd turn

Back straight

2nd turn

1st turn

Starting

Location of Falls/Injuries in Flat Racing

Classification of Injuries by Diagnostic Categories

0

5

10

15

0

8

3

0 0 00

11

0

2 21

JumpFlat

(CASE)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

G MD SD D

113

220 0

Cases

Outcome and Period of Temporary Retirement after Injuries

G, Good recoveryMD, Moderate Disability

(Transient Symptom, Absence from Work) SD, Severe Disability (Career-Ending Injuries) D, Death

(CASE)

(CASE)

0

2

4

6

1

32

33 34

3

JumpFlat

(Period)

Summary

We presented the fall / injury ratio and its details for professional horse racing jockeys in JRA (2014).

The result is comparably better and seems to be acceptable, considering previous reports.

We are currently researching why the JRA fall / injury rate has improved and hope to present on this topic at the 2016 conference.