BHA to crack down on use of whip
JOCKEYS who commit serious breaches of the whip rules in major races will have their mounts disqualified under BHa regulations to be unveiled next week. recommendations from the BHa’s whip consultation steering group will seek to stamp out a win-at-all-costs mentality which has seen whip suspensions detract from the results of some of Britain’s top races. Racemail understands that any jump jockey who strikes their mount 12 times in a big race could have their mount disqualified and be suspended for up to a month. The same rule will apply to Flat jockeys who strike their mounts 11 times, although in both cases there will be leeway if a jockey can show they had to use the whip to ensure their safety or that of their fellow riders.
Had the new regulations been in place in april, Grand National winner Noble Yeats would have been disqualified as his amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen struck his horse down the shoulder or on its hindquarters 14 times.
Waley-Cohen was suspended for nine days and fined £400, an ineffective punishment given he had already retired. Jump jockeys are currently limited to eight strikes of the whip with their hands off the rein with Flat jockeys restricted to seven strikes before a sliding scale of punishments are handed out. While the new drastic punishments will only apply to significant breaches of the threshold, the hope will be that the tougher rules act as a deterrent when a jockey might be tempted to take a ban to win a major prize. Overall breaches of the whip rules have been falling but some argue that it is morally wrong that a rider who stays within the rules can be beaten by someone who breaches them.
The sport also wants to send out a strong message that it is proactively tackling whip issues in the hope that the situation is not taken out of its hands by politicians. The whip is only allowed for safety purposes in some racing jurisdictions abroad and its use is one of the most emotive subjects in horseracing — dividing both punters and participants.