Former PJA chair Payne urges new jockeys' chief to embrace weighing room culture

Incoming Professional Jockeys Association chief executive Ian McMahon needs to embed himself into the weighing room to understand how jockeys work and interact in order to pull the organisation out of its current quagmire, according to the group's former chairman.

Nigel Payne, who was replaced by Jon Holmes in December 2020, oversaw the PJA for eight years up until his departure and stressed the importance of getting to know jockeys, their working environment and their requirements to ensure they were properly represented.

McMahon, a former professional footballer-turned-administrator, takes over from Paul Struthers, who left abruptly in December, as permanent chief executive next month. Josh Apiafi, himself a former PJA chief executive, said McMahon "has been passed the baton, but it's on fire".

Payne's comment came following a Racing Post investigation into recent troubles at the PJA following high-profile cases such as Robbie Dunne’s bullying of Bryony Frost and the planned weights rise, with Holmes stating he had inherited "a number of problems" and that there "wasn't really a strategy for where we were going".

"One of the things that really was useful to me in my years in the role was getting to know jockeys and weighing room culture," Payne said. "I used to spend a lot of time there to understand more about what made these brave men and women tick. I would urge the new chief executive to do the same – like me, he will be made welcome."

Nigel Payne: former PJA chairman said there were 'firm foundations' on which to buildCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

A breakdown in communication between the PJA and its members was highlighted as among the issues contributing to the recent turbulence, and Payne believes being face to face with riders at annual seminars, which have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic but are due to return next month, are vital alongside an up-close relationship with the members.

"These seminars presented an opportunity to really thrash out issues with jockeys and the BHA and they were crucial when I was at the PJA," he said. "WhatsApp messages and newsletters are great but members have little time to read them and respond, which was shown in the response to surveys that went out.

"I would hope that Jon and Julie Harrington [BHA chief executive] would give these seminars the same priority as [former BHA chief executive] Nick Rust, his senior team and I did."

Payne said the close correspondence with the BHA and the jockeys ensured the PJA was viewed as "the most stable ship in the industry, we never had any unrest or public discord" in contrast to the recent troubles and the public annoyance expressed by jockeys over the weights rise, when Flat president PJ McDonald stated riders had been "blindsided" by the plans when they were first announced.

Payne added he believed achievements such as winning "considerable media rights payments" to jockeys for interviews, reducing costs on insurance, the introduction of a non-runner fee and adjustments to apprentice payments during his time meant the new PJA leadership was building on what he described as "pretty firm foundations on which to go forward and return the PJA to where it was".

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