Racing fears Cheltenham bans over whip rules

THE next five weeks should be the most exciting of the jumps season as racing builds to the most important four days of the season at the Cheltenham Festival.

But there are fears the sport will be hit by a spate of badly timed headlines as the BHA roll out a new set of rules on how the whip – the most contentious issue in racing – is used.

The changes, which come into force in Britain tomorrow (and next month on the Flat), include the potential for a horse to be disqualified if a jockey goes four strikes over the new permitted limit of six strokes of the whip on the Flat and seven over jumps. During the past five weeks they have been rolled out during a bedding-in period when jockeys were told what penalties they would incur.

The period could be best described as fractious. Some senior figures including Gordon Elliott, Paul Nicholls and Willie Mullins – fierce competitors on the track – united in calling for the introduction to be put back until after the Cheltenham Festival. Mullins said the sport was ‘shooting itself in the foot’ with the timing and there is concern how Irish jockeys riding at the Festival – encountering the rules for the first time despite having to complete an online training module – might fall foul of the new regime and its more severe penalties.

The BHA remain adamant that their timing is right. A spokesman said: ‘It is at the major Festivals when these rules are most required. They are the sport’s shop window and also the races where the incentive to break the rules is greatest.

‘The main change as far as riders are concerned is the reduction in thresholds for use. For most jockeys this does not involve a substantial change in riding style.’

Proposals to restrict use of the whip to a backhand grip have been dropped but one of the most contentious changes has been how the banned use of the whip above shoulder height is policed. Jockey Sean Quinlan claimed he had been told he would have been hit with 51 days worth of bans during one week of the bedding-in period.

The jockeys argued that different camera angles can be misleading, as could be the use of still images, and the Whip Review Committee will now judge a ride in real time after the BHA said it had ‘marginally adjusted the way penalties are calculated’.

The decision to introduce potential disqualification to British racing’s whip rules has also split opinion.

Some argue no jockeys will break the rules knowing they could lose the prize, especially in a big race such as The Derby. Twenty-time champion jockey Anthony McCoy said that disqualification should even be imposed for going one strike over the permitted level to make the rules ‘unbreakable’.

However, others believe the inevitable outcome will be more whip-watching, with even more attention on a rider’s use of the whip.