WARRNAMBOOL'S famous May Racing Carnival is unlikely to remain a three-day event beyond next year after jumps racing was killed off yesterday.Racing Victoria Limited's board yesterday decided that next year would be jumps racing's last and delivered the death-knell for the southern hemisphere's longest race, the 137-year-old Grand Annual Steeplechase, run over 5500-metres and 33 fences.It is offering Warr?nambool Racing Club a $1 million package to redevelop the jumps-themed May carnival into a flat-race program for 2011.The club said the loss of jumps racing, the carnival's point of difference, threatened the event's future. The carnival injects more than $15 million into the region's economy each year, creates 471 jobs at the course, 105 off-course and fills more than 2000 beds in Warrnambool each night, more than 600 in Port Fairy and more than 200 in Port Campbell.Racing Victoria chief executive officer Rob Hines conceded three-day flat racing carnivals were difficult to sustain."I am looking at the history of other carnivals around Australia and there are some three days but they tend to have two days and then a gap and then one day."That may be a possibility for Warrnambool but three days in a row, I think would be hard to sustain. "I would even suggest the first day at Warrnambool is not that exciting even in its current format, the second two days are good."Maybe there is something around all of that but I would like to leave that to the people who really understand this stuff, talk to the tourism people in Warrnambool and the local committee and see what do we really want to do with Warrnambool."Mr Hines described the $1 million fund as a "silver lining" and "we believe we can convert the Warrnambool carnival to one of the best flat race carnivals in Australia".Warrnambool Racing Club chairman Marg Lucas was seething."I am absolutely shocked," she said. "It has the potential to be absolutely horrendous for the carnival and change the whole landscape to what goes on. "I can't believe they think $1 million will buy us off."Ms Lucas said the jumps racing industry would meet in coming days but vowed to fight on."I don't think we are planning to roll over and let them scratch our tummy."State Opposition racing spokesman, South West Coast MP, Denis Napthine, said the Coalition would take immediate steps to have the decision overturned if it won government next year."This is a disgraceful decision," he said."If the Liberal National parties coalition is elected to government we would have immediate discussions with Racing Victoria with a view to reinstating jumps racing in Victoria."The decision came six days before Racing Victoria's annual general meeting where two new board members are to be elected.Jumps racing supporters are urging the industry to take a stand and pressure the new board to reverse the decision.But Mr Hines, who would only say "a substantial majority" of board members had voted to axe the sport, revealed two fresh faces would not be enough to change the outcome.Board chairman Michael Duffy yesterday faced the media shortly after 11am to announce the end of jumps racing after next year's season."The RVL board is duty bound to always act in the best interests of the long-term sustainability of Victorian thoroughbred racing and to protect the industry's image and reputation within the broader community."After careful consideration, it is the RVL board's view that there is an inevitability about the long-term future of jumps racing and consequently it is in the best interests of all to provide some certainty and an appropriate transition to a Victorian racing industry without jumps racing."The board could not allow jumps racing to wither on the vine or worse still became the victim of an immediate knee-jerk ban at some future point in time,'' he said. Every recommendation of last year's exhaustive, independent review had been introduced, but the number of falls and horse fatalities had not reduced, he said.The sport had recorded its worst year for "many, many years" in terms of falls and fatalities and jumps racing wasn't performing economically.But the number of deaths in 2009 was four fewer than 2008.The sport was suspended after the May Racing Carnival where three horses died.Mr Hines conceded a number of initiatives adopted after the carnival had seen a "marginal improvement" in the number of falls and fatalities. "But it wasn't sufficient to get it back to previous levels."Issues contributing to the sport's demise, included:. Falls increasing from 3.02 per cent in 2008 to 5.08 per cent of total starters in 2009;. Fatalities increasing from 1.17 per cent of starters to 1.27 per cent (with 8 fatalities in races);. Total falls rising despite 41 (33 per cent) less races being run last season;. Significant decline in horse numbers;. 44 per cent of all jumps races having less than eight starters;. Jumps racing receiving 2.2 per cent of total prizemoney, representing 2.0 per cent of the total racesand producing only 0.78 per cent of total wagering;. No consensus being reached on alternative obstacles despite an international search and. 65 per cent of Victorians surveyed believing jumps racing incidents were not acceptable.Duffy said jumps racing participants needed certainty and the board would not change its decision nor prematurely halt next season if there were a number of falls.He said it had been a tough decision and rejected suggestions the board had bowed to pressure. "We have agonised over it, we have discussed it for years."Everyone's been saying if you did this, this and this, it may improve it but there has been inquiry after inquiry after inquiry and recommendation after recommendation and what we have implemented hasn't made a difference."Mr Duffy said a series of highweight races on the flat would be run in 2011 so jumps jockeys and jumps horses had a future. He would not speculate on what would happen beyond 2011 but said the number of high-weight races would not be the same as jumps races.The organisation also revealed it would develop a re-homing strategy for horses for after their racing days .South Australia will stand alone as the only place in the nation with jumps racing, but officials fear for its long-term survival.The controlling body of horse racing in SA, Thoroughbred Racing SA, said Victoria's decision to phase out jumps racing was disappointing.Thoroughbred Racing SA chairman Philip Bentley said Victoria's move "will go down in history as the beginning of the end of a proud tradition".