New strike threat by jockeys

Racing at Sandown this Sunday looks sure to be abandoned later today as the Jockey Club hinted that they would see Britain's jockeys in court rather than relax the mobile phone restrictions which are threatening to tear the sport apart.

The breakdown of further compromise talks yesterday is also threatening to wipe out Britain's entire racing programme on Tuesday 23 September when jockeys may refuse to ride at Newmarket, Beverley and Fontwell.

Top jump jockey Tony McCoy slammed the "incredibly stubborn approach of the Jockey Club," but senior steward Julian Richmond-Watson mounted a strong defence of the phone ban and suggested that the Jockey Club are ready to "let the law decide whether what we are trying to do is unlawful."

The Jockey Club are relying on support for a strike crumbling over time and signs that certain jockeys may already be beginning to feel the pressure of refusing to ride are already appearing.