JUMPS racing is on death row again. It was the same story this time last year. It was the same story in May this year.
Still the sport's future lies in the hands of Racing Victoria's board members. In May they unanimously voted for the sport's survival after three horses died at Warrnambool's May Racing Carnival. They announced several changes to the sport including jockeys pulling their horses up when tiring and out of contention. The changes were a success, with fewer falls and horse fatalities post-May.
But in an era of political correctness, the board had no choice but to "review" the sport again at the end of the season. At least then if it kept the sport going, it could argue it had considered all the issues anti-jumps campaigners had thrown up. If the board decided to deliver the knock-out punch, it could argue it had reached the decision after careful consideration.
Keeping a sport going where there is a chance a horse could be fatally injured is, of course, not politically correct in this day of banning Santa from saying "Ho, Ho, Ho" because some say it refers to prostitutes.
Racing Victoria's board has known it was going to review the sport since May. It has been getting regular updates from the jumps review panel, including reports on the circumstances surrounding any injuries. These reports have never been made public, despite requests from The Standard. So when the season finished early last month, the board would have had a fair idea where it was heading. Then why are we still waiting for an announcement?
Those in the industry are fretting. To them each day that passes without an announcement is one day closer to the end of a spectacular and culturally-rich era in our history. They are reluctant to put horses into work (which normally happens at this time) in case there are no races. Owners aren't flocking to the sport either, because they don't know if there is a future.
Anti-jumps protestors have a different view, believing they have never been so close to getting rid of the sport. In their eyes it is cruel.
But here's where Racing Victoria faces a major dilemma. If it bans jumps racing, it knows the anti-jumps campaigners won't stop there. They have said as much, saying their next challenge is to get two-year-old racing on the flat banned. These people are not anti-jumps campaigners, they are ANTI-RACING CAMPAIGNERS.
Racing Victoria has already made changes to the whip rules governing the sport and what a spectacular disaster that was.
In a bid to be politically correct, the number of times a jockey could use the whip (which is now padded anyway) was cut. Jockeys walked off the job in disgust.
So what are Racing Victoria's board members thinking now?
None are talking. One view is that they and some senior staff within racing headquarters see jumps racing as casting a bad light on the entire industry, which is not good for the sport's image.
If that notion is in the frame, they should think again.
The whip walk-out was bad for the sport's image, the promotion of dwarf racing at Cranbourne last month was hardly a hall of fame moment for the sport and the drunken, thuggish behaviour at the Spring Carnival this month was definitely not good for the industry's image.
Being politically incorrect, let the jumps racing industry sort itself out. It knows how grave the future is and the steps taken since May underline its willingness to improve. Give the sport some certainty, give it the four years it wants to prove itself so this time next week, or next month or next year, we are not having the same debate.
It was like the Australian Taxation Office telling accountants they could no longer use a computer when they neared the end of a client's tax return or a company's audit.
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