The horse racing industry is failing some of those who love it and depleting its own workforce through outdated working practices and attitudes towards motherhood, according to a report published this weekend. ‘Racing Home’ is the work of Women in Racing and concludes the industry is suffering from a “leaky pipeline” of employees who reluctantly leave on finding it impossible to continue their role after having children.
Poor treatment and lack of support are cited as factors in forcing those people to make a decision they hoped to avoid, while mothers who have found a way to remain in racing regard themselves as lucky to have achieved this. The report, which is the result of a collaboration with Oxford Brookes University, does not call out particular employers but insists the problem is a general one.
“Communication about the topic is key,” said Tallulah Lewis, chair of WiR, during an appearance on RacingTV on Sunday. “It’s not about naming and shaming people, it’s about getting employers and employees to feel comfortable having the conversation.”
While there is an obvious moral case for tackling the problem, WiR point out that it is also clearly in the industry’s own interest to do so. The potential workforce now graduating from racing’s colleges is reported to be almost 70% female. Meanwhile, 21% of roles in racing yards require annual recruitment and 50% of vacancies in the industry are regarded as “hard to fill”, compared to the 33% average for UK employers.
“We know we have a sustainability issue and a turnover issue, especially across racing yards and studs,” Lewis said. “We might be able to alleviate that by solving some of those problems.”
Today we have launched "Racing Home- a report highlighting the challenges faced by working mothers in the horseracing industry" by @oxford_brookes with the support of @SimplyRacingUK. Our thanks go to @RacingGrants & @KindredGroup for their sponsorship https://t.co/ZNsGwtfNtf pic.twitter.com/sCIkwvjRwU
— WomenInRacing (@WomenInRacing1) November 15, 2020
Following discussion with racing staffers, the report identies “a prevailing masculine and sometimes ‘old-school male’ culture, in an environment where, for example, women describe having to ‘act quite male if you wanted to ride good horses’. This can contribute to a tone of intolerance towards experiences such as pregnancy, maternity and childcare, which are considered wholly ‘feminine’ concerns.”
The report expresses sympathy for trainers, working hard to low margins and trying to keep many people happy, but deplores the general lack of willingness to explore new ways of working that would allow stable work to be combined with parenthood. One workshop participant described feelings of guilt following her decision to have a child, because of the consequences for her colleagues: “I have a kid, now you have to work every Saturday because I can’t? [You] can’t penalise people because I make a decision to have a family”.
Supportive practices have been adopted at some workplaces in racing, the report says, but they are not widely appreciated because the industry is divided into so many silos. “There’s so much opportunity for us as a sport to change that dynamic,” Lewis says. “We know there are solutions out there.”
The report closes with a long list of “solutions and next steps”, the short-terms answers being largely centred around communication, getting insiders talking to each other about improvements which can readily be made. One of the “longer term” suggestions is a hotline to advise employers and employees of their rights and obligations in this area, but that is a piece of work that ought to be addressed rather quickly, judging by some of the attitudes reported.
Monday’s best bets
Nothing says “wintery Monday” like having a strong fancy in a seller at Plumpton. Flanagans Field (1.50) is the beast in question, though I can understand if you would rather not take 9-4 about a low-quality 12-year-old.
But Flanagans Field is a reliable old stick in this grade, as he proved when landing this very race a year ago, and he went well for a long way on his recent reappearance. He’s trained by Bernard Llewellyn, so we can be sure this plan has been Caerphilly made.
There has been some market support for an interesting pair at Leicester. Secret Court (1.30) is a winning pointer making her debut for Sam Allwood, who has a fine record with chasers, so 6-1 appeals. There’s 11-1 about Well Smitten (3.00), who had no luck on his reappearance and can do better on this half-decent surface, with that run behind him.
Leicester
12.30 Falberto 1.00 When You're Ready 1.30 Secret Court 2.00 Hey Joe 2.30 Kobra 3.00 Well Smitten 3.30 Avoid De Master
Plumpton
12.45 Pride Of Pemberley 1.20 Francky Du Berlais 1.50 Flanagans Field (nap) 2.20 Court Duty 2.50 Reallyradical 3.20 Cyclop 3.50 Corrie Lake
Wolverhampton
2.10 My Law 2.40 Global Response 3.10 Visala 3.40 Batraan 4.10 Space Kid (nb) 4.40 Habit Rouge 5.10 Top Fox 5.40 Eltham Palace
Kempton
4.25 Carryonregardless 5.00 Sargasso Sea 5.30 Woke Media 6.00 Jonah Jones 6.30 Justified 7.00 Divine Consent 7.30 Mr Dib Dab 8.00 No Diggity 8.30 Ghepardo
Pick of the Wolverhampton card could be Space Kid (4.10) from the in-form Adrian Keatley yard. He showed ability on his recent handicap debut and the extra furlong plus cheekpieces can help him do better again at 9-1.
