THE inquiry into the "jockeys' strike" at Haydock may have to be rescheduled from its December 18th date because of problems assembling the key participants.

When the Jockey Club's Disciplinary Committee set the date of the hearing for the week before Christmas it stressed that the 21 riders involved need not all attend.

But though Frankie Dettori has pledged to fly back from the Far East to appear before the panel, other senior riders involved such as Pat Eddery, John Carroll and Dean McKeown have commitments they are unable to break.

Jockey Club Director of Public Affairs David Pipe said yesterday: "It looks as though there are problems with the 18th. The normal procedure is for the Disciplinary Committee to select a likely looking date and then work round it and find another date if necessary. Not all the jockeys are required to attend but we need the attendance of a few of those which know most about what occurred."

That includes Walter Swinburn who, although not due to ride in the race which resulted in the rest of the October 16th Haydock meeting being abandoned, held strong views on the state of the ground. "A lot of other jockeys wanted to use him as a witness at the hearing," Pipe added.