Weighing room culture allowed a poisonous situation to fester - it must change

Over the past two weeks, we have read at length the disturbing details of a hearing concerning the harassment and bullying of a young female jockey. On Thursday, the independent disciplinary panel delivered its verdict, finding Robbie Dunne guilty of all four charges of conduct prejudicial to horseracing and banning him from the sport for 18 months.

While the case concerned charges against Dunne, it became abundantly clear through the course of the hearing it was not just him in the dock. This was also about the culture of the jumps weighing room, a culture which permitted Dunne's abuse of Bryony Frost to take place and defended him to the hilt when the charges emerged and throughout the hearing.

In his closing statement, the BHA's barrister Louis Weston described that culture as "sour, rancid and one that we say should be thrown out and discarded". Brian Barker, the panel chair, said in his verdict summary that he and his colleagues had "real concern" the weighing room culture is "deep-rooted and coercive".

Judging by the social media response to the case, letters to the Racing Post and the love with which the Sandown crowd showered Frost last Saturday, it is clear the overwhelming majority of the racing public shares similar concerns. Many have been appalled by what they have read.

Yet if you speak to most jockeys past or present, they will tell you the weighing room is the finest workplace a person could hope for. It is a place where shared participation in a dangerous activity forges close bonds, where support, camaraderie and friendship is given freely, where a band of brothers (yes, and sisters) is forged.

This description is too common, too unanimous, to seriously dispute. So how can we account for the fact jockeys did not just fail to stop or condemn Dunne's behaviour, they lined up in defence of him when the charges were made public, shunned his accuser and, through their trade body the Professional Jockeys Association, attempted to get the case dismissed before it could come before a judicial panel?

The answer can only be that the virtues of the weighing room, although real, have become distorted to the extent they have allowed something awful to take place. A preoccupation with self-sufficiency has allowed a poisonous relationship to fester like an untreated wound; an earthy and unaffected approach to banter has failed to distinguish between bickering and bullying; unwavering support for one's colleagues has become an inability to call out or even recognise wrongdoing.

Robbie Dunne: 'subjected Bryony Frost to spiteful mockery'Credit: Edward Whitaker

It is worth reiterating the behaviour we are talking about. During the case, we heard Dunne subjected Frost to spiteful mockery over her post-race interview style, including in public via social media. He was witnessed calling her a "f***ing slut", and is accused of even worse. He threatened her with physical violence.

It is alarming this was not regarded as especially problematic by many in the weighing room. In fact, it was so unproblematic that jump jockeys have sided en masse with Dunne.

This is a man who, on even the most generous reading of the evidence, is an immature individual who over a prolonged period subjected a junior colleague to intimidation and mockery. He is unworthy of the support he has received.

We must hope this sad chapter proves a turning point for the sport and the jumps weighing room. While the BHA will no doubt now consider what levers it can deploy to change the culture and ensure the safeguarding of all jockeys, real change can only come from within.

It is understandable that those who treasure the weighing room feel defensive of it, but we must hope senior riders past and present can find the perspective to recognise that whatever their affection for the man, Dunne's behaviour was indefensible and the culture that permitted it was unhealthy. They should recognise that participating in a dangerous sport does not give licence to ignore modern standards of behaviour. They should make amends with Frost. And the code of silence must be replaced by a robust and respected code of conduct.

As for the PJA, its leadership ought to consider their positions. In October, chief executive Paul Struthers and chairman Jon Holmes both put their names to a press release calling for the case against Dunne to be dropped, arguing, on spurious grounds inevitably rejected by the panel, that a "fair hearing" was impossible. This shameful attempt to deny Frost recourse to justice was a calamitous error of judgement.

The final word, however, must be about Frost. In bringing and persevering with this case she has shown remarkable resilience and courage. She dared to break the omerta of the weighing room, she refused to be cowed by her tormentor or the closed ranks of her colleagues, and she put herself in the firing line when it would have been simpler, and so much easier, to keep her head down.

Should this case bring about the change it ought to, Britain's most successful female jump jockey will have, at considerable cost to herself, done her sport a tremendous service.

Read more on this subject:

Robbie Dunne banned for 18 months for bullying and harassing Bryony Frost

BHA chief rejects 'rancid' picture of weighing room but says racing must change

'Absolute disgrace' – jockeys' body slams BHA over weighing room claims

Read panel's damning verdict on Robbie Dunne's bullying of Bryony Frost

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