The debate around temporary exercise facilities for jockeys in weighing rooms has taken a new turn after Tom Marquand shared a video showing him riding an exercise bike in the valets’ laundry at the back of the Redcar weighing room.
Marquand had driven straight to Redcar on Monday after returning from Hong Kong, and had planned to shake off some of the stiffness from his 14-hour flight, but discovered that the bike was “in the toilet”, while the stretching mat was in a confined space between rows of lockers.
Redcar clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson pointed out that the jockeys or valets habitually moved the bike next to the washing machines, while highlighting that the instruction from the BHA to provide separate exercise facilities had only been received last Wednesday and carried a deadline of the end of July.
Following several shocking exposés of the conditions faced by jockeys in some weighing rooms, the BHA issued an accelerated schedule for the national programme of upgrades – described by the Professional Jockeys Association as “extremely disappointing” – while at the same time adding a directive to provide space for exercise and stretching, using temporary structures if necessary.
Marquand, who is a member of the PJA board, said: “I got there and found the bike in the toilet, stinking of everything that toilets do. The valets were all setting up and the Redcar weighing room is tiny, the canteen is tiny, and the only place to put the bike that was out of the way was by the backdoor in the wash room.
“That has an open gutter running underneath it from the washing machines so it wasn’t the most hygienic or professional place to be sat on a bike for an hour, trying to lose a bit of weight.”
Tom Marquand: “We’ve been asking for proper facilities for years”Credit: Alan Crowhurst
While accepting that the specific instruction regarding exercise areas had only been issued last week, Marquand described Sanderson’s comments as “insulting”.
“The weighing room improvements have been on the cards for two years plus and it’s a nonsense argument that it was only presented to them on Wednesday,” said Marquand. “A specific area for stretching and exercise, yes. But they know what the targets are, they know what they should be providing and they haven’t done it.
“Other racecourses have done a really good job and for Redcar to turn around and use that as their excuse is insulting. Is it too much to ask just for somewhere at least clean to be doing a bit of exercise? While technically it’s a correct statement, we’ve been asking for proper facilities for years.”
Redcar has had its plans for permanent weighing room upgrades approved and has pledged to carry out the work over the winter in order to have the new facility ready for the opening day of its 2026 season.
The stretching mat in the Redcar weighing room
“Tom decided that’s where he wanted to position the bike,” said Sanderson. “The bike began the day in the male jockeys’ changing rooms, where it starts every raceday, and it gets moved every raceday by the jockeys or the valets.
“The national weighing room project has been ongoing for a while and we’ve all been trying to get it resolved. Within the recent revised deadline is the instruction to provide a dedicated warm-up area for those courses which are under interim measures, which Redcar is.
“We only got that letter from the BHA last Wednesday and the deadline is the end of July 2025.”
Sanderson added: “There isn’t a spare room at Redcar within the weighing room area but we are working to resolve it. A temporary structure [as has been installed at Bangor] is possible, and we also have private hospitality boxes we could use.
“But we haven’t discussed that yet with the course inspectorate or the weighing room project manager Dan Wilkinson. That will be dealt with as soon as it can be but it wasn’t in place for yesterday and nor is it today. Nobody else has raised the issue since the interim measures have been in place.”
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