ORIGINAL ARTICLE

An analysis of injuries resulting from professional horse racing in France during 1991–2001: a comparison with injuries resulting from professional horse racing in Great Britain during 1992–2001

P McCrory¹, M Turner², B LeMasson³, C Bodere⁴, A Allemandou⁴

¹ Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
² Jockey Club, London WC2H 8AL, UK
³ France Gallop, Paris, France
⁴ Association de Formation et d’Action Sociale des Ecuries de Courses, Maisons-Lafitte, France

Correspondence to:
Associate Professor McCrory
Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine and Brain Research Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052; paulmccr{at}bigpond.net.au

Background: It has been previously shown that professional jockeys suffer high rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the pursuit of their occupation. Little is known, however, about differences in injury rates between countries.

Aim: To determine the rate of fatal and non-fatal injuries in flat and jump jockeys in France and to compare the injury rates with those in Great Britain and Ireland

Method: Prospectively collected injury data on professional jockeys were used as the basis of the analysis.

Results: Limb fractures occur four times more often in both flat and jump racing in France than in Great Britain. Similarly dislocations are diagnosed 20 times more often in flat and three times more often in jump racing. This difference is surprising given that French jockeys have fewer falls per ride than their British counterparts in flat racing, although they do have more falls than the British in jump racing. Similarly concussion rates seem to be higher in French jockeys, although there may be a difference in the diagnostic methods used in the different countries. By contrast, soft tissue injuries account for a far smaller percentage of injuries than in Great Britain.

Conclusion: There are striking differences in injury rates between countries which may be explained in part by a difference in track conditions—for example, harder tracks in France—or different styles of racing—for example, larger fields of horses per race in France.

Keywords: horse racing; injuries; fractures; dislocations; concussion

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Turner, M, Balendra, G, McCrory, P (2008). Payments to injured professional jockeys in British horse racing (1996-2006). Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 763-766 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Balendra, G, Turner, M, McCrory, P (2008). Career-ending injuries to professional jockeys in British horse racing (1991 2005). Br. J. Sports. Med. 42: 22-24 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Cowley, S, Bowman, B, Lawrance, M (2007). Injuries in the Victorian thoroughbred racing industry. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 639-643 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Balendra, G., Turner, M., McCrory, P., Halley, W. (2007). Injuries in amateur horse racing (point to point racing) in Great Britain and Ireland during 1993-2006. Br. J. Sports. Med. 41: 162-166 [Abstract] [Full Text]