Victorian racing needs to urgently review how its elite apprentice jockeys are guided in the wake of its two most talented riders currently finding themselves and their careers at the crossroads.

The leading apprentice jockey Jason Maskiell, has had the type of breakthrough season that should see him being labeled as the next Damien Oliver or Darren Gauci, such has been the level of high-class riding he has consistently displayed on Victoria's metropolitan tracks over the past 12 months.

Yet unlike the aforementioned duo whose maturity in attitude and dedication matched their wunderkind status, the son of legendary Tasmanian hoop Steve Maskiell, currently sees his career at the crossroads after being unceremoniously dumped and labeled a "drunk" and "in grave danger of being a wasted talent" by his now-former master, leading trainer Mick Price.

Sitting a clear second on the premiership table behind only Luke Nolen, Maskiel's 50 wins to date sees him directly ahead of gilt-edged stars Oliver, Glen Boss and Craig Williams, and a dominant 23 victories more than next best placed apprentice Brent Evans who is currently 12th on the table.

It is also a stratosphere away from the previous season when he won two races from 25 rides in his first stint on the mainland.

The latest development sees Evans return to his native Toowoomba, but it's for disciplinary rather than sentimental reasons, with his Master Mick Kent telling today's Herald Sun, "He's got talent, but not the application."

For this writer, the situation reflects as badly on an outdated system that has failed to move with the times, as much as the individuals concerned.

Consider that Maskiell has to deal with key players in the industry now questioning his work ethic and social decision making, and then compare that to an AFL player who could test positive to cocaine or methamphetamine on two separate occasions, and yet be publicly protected under the cloak of anonymity thanks to their sport's illicit drug policy.

Evans case is more interesting and possibly damning towards the system, as he did test positive to an illicit substance last spring,

(http://www.racingandsports.com.au/racing/rsNewsArt.asp?NID=163205&story=Brent_Evans_Suspended_For_Two_Months)

and due to racing's seven-day a week cycle and imperative safety factor, a positive test is never considered "out of competition" and as such the so-called luxury of a private and confidential rehabilitation is also out of the question.

The question is then entitled to be asked is would Evans situation been any different if "he got himself right" away from the spotlight?

Also keep in mind that neither of the hoops had been caught nor accused of acts such as;

urinating outside a police station nor a restaurant,

punching a cab driver,

leaving his car to run away from a breathalyzer or

Handcuffing himself to a fellow rider on a booze cruise.

So if the trainer Price's words (to the Herald Sun in two separate interviews) and actions are taken at face value, that "he has been mixing with the wrong people and drinking," and he was axed despite Price "personally liking the kid... it's just that I run a staff of 30 and I have certain expectations of all of them," then the public airing of dirty laundry was unfair, and in time as the Evans situation may prove, unhelpful.

This actually isn't a criticism of Price at all, but what the hell are jockeys who has reached the standard that Maskiell and Evans have doing on the staff of a trainer?

Riding trackwork yes - but on the payroll no.

Jason Maskiell is now at a level when he needs to be answerable to Jason Maskiell.

If he sleeps-in and misses a morning's trackwork or has a few nights out because he decides he needs a "chill-out" period towards the end of a very successful season, then it should cost him a ride or two, but it shouldn't see his "brand" trashed like it has.

And apart from the individual, it's the industry that would lose the most if such a talent derailed, so it's the industry that really needs to put in place structures that provides the best support possible for the needs and developmental requirements that an elite 19-year-old athlete faces.

Yes, 25 years ago Gauci still had to muck out boxes at (his Master's) Frank King's stables despite his superstar status, but we're talking about an era when the hoops would tell "Mr Hillier how they would be riding for Mr Hanlon & Mr Murphy," and the only ice a teenager would consume was in a pot of Island Cooler.

Times were different.

To lose weight for a key mount, extra hours in the sauna were far more prevalent than smart exercise. And instead of consuming small portioned, high-protein meals they'd think it's best to not eat at all and just puff through a couple of packets of Winfield Reds!

Despite having nine months to run on his apprenticeship, Maskiel needs to be preparing himself now to be the self-employed businessmen that senior jockeys effectively are. He needs to work out exactly what requirements suit him best from a mental, physical, financial and spiritual/happiness perspective, and like most 19 year olds - and older - he'll make mistakes along the way in his decision making.

However unlike most 19-year-olds, any poor choices he makes in his private life could quickly become public as his recent way of life has, but that comes with the territory of being a professional sportsman as he's quickly learning.

Equally Price who is as good an example of a hard-working, self-made, successful trainer as you could find in the sport, shouldn't be in a position of having to wet-nurse a 19 year old struggling with fame and the trappings of success.

It defies logic that someone with his workload - for example his horses have started 569 times this season to date in the seven-day-a-week cycle that horse racing now is - should be in a position to spend even one per cent of his work-time on anything other than getting the best out of his horses.

His dismissal of Maskiell suggests this thought crossed his mind.