Pakenham Racing Club manager Michael Hodge said Racing Victoria's decision to ban jumps racing at the end of this season had been met with a lot of disappointment from the club and local racing community.

The MJBourke Hurdle has been run in Pakenham for more than 50 years.

Caulfield Cup-winning trainer Colin Alderson, president of the Australian Trainer's Association, warned of more horse deaths as a result of the decision.

"The only people happy about this will be the knackery and petfood people.

"Not many people like to take their family pet to the vet for the last trip - that's how thoroughbred people are going to be with their jumpers."

Racing Victoria ended months of speculation last Friday by announcing the end of the 150-year-old tradition.

The board's decision comes after a series of reviews starting in 1991 and submissions from the Australian Jumps Racing Association and RSPCA.

Racing Victoria Limited chairman Michael Duffy said the "tough decision" was in the best interest of the long-term sustainability of Victorian thoroughbred racing.

"The board could not allow jumps racing to wither on the vine or, worse still, become the victim of an immediate knee-jerk ban at some future point."

Despite the recommendations of six previous reviews, the incidence of falls and fatalities has continued to increase.

Victorian Advocate for Animals president Lawrence Pope said the move was a step forward for the racing industry and its horses. "Racing is an industry that uses and loses horses. Some of the most shocking deaths [are in jumps racing]."

A program of high-weight races will be scheduled for the 2011 season to assist with the transition for jockeys, trainers and horses.

Alderson, the trainer of two jumpers, said high-weight races would do little to keep jumps people in the industry.

"It doesn't work - the old jumper is going to be run out of his legs straight away. The only thing it may keep is the jumping jockeys for a year or two.

"You can't take a thoroughbred out of racing and put it in a grass paddock and expect it to survive - they haven't got the pony blood in them."