Talks planned over stalls dispute

Handlers enjoy smooth start

Talks will take place later this week aimed at resolving the stall handlers' dispute which sparked a boycott by jockeys at Wolverhampton racecourse.

Top Flat jockeys refused to ride at the Arena Leisure-owned track on Monday.

And riders, concerned about safety after Arena replaced RaceTech stalls staff with an in-house team, indicated further action may take place.

Now Arena director of racing Ian Renton has said he will meet with Jockeys Assocation chief John Blake.

"I've arranged a meeting for the end of this week with John Blake and Mick Both of RaceTech to discuss the way forward for the racing industry," said Renton.

"The important thing was the stalls team we put in place proved themselves very capable and professional handlers and we certainly hope that the jockeys' boycott will be seen as a one-off and we can move forward from now on."

Arena's handlers will be in action throughout the winter at all-weather courses Lingfield, Southwell and Wolverhampton. The firm also owns turf tracks at Windsor, Folkestone and Worcester.

"We hope to have one large team looking after Southwell and Wolverhampton and a separate team looking after Lingfield," added Renton.

MAIN ISSUES Role: Handlers must get sometimes highly-strung thoroughbreds into the metal starting stalls Help: Many riders are grateful for the experience of RaceTech staff In-house: Arena opted to use its own team after facing increased charges from RaceTech Job losses: Some RaceTech staff have been served redundancy notices Safety: Arena has increased training and won Jockey Club backing. It has also recruited some ex-RaceTech staff

"The plans at the moment are just to be on the all-weather all the year round.

"At the moment we haven't looked at the situation on turf tracks yet.

"The team we have are made up generally of ex-RaceTech employees and we will give them further training so they work together as a team - they will be in action next on September 3 at Wolverhampton."

Earlier, some riders had indicated they were standing firm in the dispute.

Senior jockey Steve Drowne said: "We are still very concerned about the future, concerned about who racecourses will be using next year to put horses into the stalls.

"We hate doing this sort of thing. That's why we don't do it all the time but this is something that needs to be resolved and until it is, our position won't change."

Have Your Say What do you make of the dispute?

The new team enjoyed a relatively trouble-free start at Wolverhampton on Monday evening.

Jockeys' representative Blake is keen to work towards a mutually satisfactory conclusion.

"I am disappointed that it has come to this, disappointed that nothing has really been resolved," he said.

"But I have had a long discussion with Greg Nichols (British Horseracing Board chief executive) on Monday and I intend to talk to Ian Renton and I am still optimistic that agreement can be reached."