New whip regulations have diverted attention from Britain's richest raceday
In a little over a week, racing has certainly made the headlines – and all for the wrong reasons. In a week when the first British Champion’s Day should have been at the forefront, the BHA, racing’s governing body, decided to commence the much discussed new whip rules at what appears to be an arbitrary date with no real logic behind it. A real case of shooting yourself in the foot; racing then descended into farce as jockeys began to fall foul of the regulations from day 1.
The use of the whip in racing was brought to the fore after the 2011 Grand National winning jockey Jason Maguire was fined for over-use of the whip on winner Ballabriggs. With racing keen to attract new audiences, this was identified as a potential final straw for many, and a consultation process was commenced. Many in the sport agree that something has to be done not so much to stop the whip use, but to set clear guidelines to jockeys and trainers to ensure fairness and prevent abuse of the rules and the animals.
No-one in racing, or any equine field, truly believes that the inflicting of pain is going to achieve anything but a frightened and resentful horse. With a typical thoroughbred costing many tens of thousands of pounds to buy and train, and weighing in at over half a tonne, there are financial and size matters to consider, in addition to the obvious moral reasons, to stop abuse.
The whips themselves have been adapted to such an extent that they have to be used with immense force to inflict pain even on a thin skinned human – they are soft padded flexible sticks with a drinking straw like inner core – designed to cause air to be forced out when used – causing a noise to be emmitted. (Similar to a rolled-up newspaper.)
The guidelines, as agreed through consultation, aim to limit the use of the whip in a race. Irrespective of the distances
Richard Hughes has decided he cannot continue until rules are amended
involved, the regulations state: “ 7x in any Flat Racing and 8x in any Jump Racing (and only five times in the last furlong/after the last obstacle)”. Distance is important here as the last fence in a jump race can ranged from just a few hundred yards to nearly a third of a mile from the finish line – that is a massive difference. Likewise 7 uses in a 5 furlong flat race is a lot compared to 8 uses in a 41/2 mile steeplechase.
Surely the use of the whip is more about the severity of the use! 5 or 6 taps on the shoulder to keep a horse from veering into an opponent is very different (and less offensive) from ONE full throated, open-handed smack resulting in blood being drawn.
The jockeys to fall foul of the new regulations have done so not through any suggestion of abuse, but simply because they have used the whip a few too many times. And in most of these cases, they have not even exceeded the limit within the whole race, but just the final furlong aspect of the rule. Richard Hughes and Champions Day Winner Christophe Soumillon have both used the whip just 6 times in total in their races (one less than allowed) but as they administered these in the last furlong, they both received 5 day bans and lost their prize-money share. In Soumillons case this was over £50000! – and his comments hardly bode well for the continued involvement of top foreign jockeys in our premier race meetings. Repeat offenders receive double bans, which double the previous aggregate bans as they continue to be disciplined.
Hughes, probably one of the most professional riders in the world, is by no measure a “dirty” rider. Indeed his success with young, impressionable horses shows he has a very gentle riding style. However, he has decided to stop riding until the rules are amended – not because he disagrees with the regulations, but that he cannot ride races with full concentration, with two bans already and with his eye on the judges. To put this into perspective, one of the best jockeys missed the top meeting of 2012 this weekend because the regulations stopped him from riding to win!
Head down and riding a finish!
These horses are travelling at over 40 MPH when they pass the furlong pole. At this stage in the race, the horses are tiring and may be “rolling” into other horses (an offence itself if left unchecked). They are also entering the roar of the stands, and vying for a position out of a crowded field. The rails are emblazoned with advertising hoardings and the furlong pole is a small white pole either side of the track in the midst of this mayhem and therefore potentially out of sight of the jockeys as they crouch lower, head down, to gain aerodynamic advantage. The jockey has to then remember how many times the whip has been used up to this point, how many he has left, and to count them off!
Christophe Soumillon expresses his concerns to Mike Cattermole following his ban and fine at Ascot. He has warned that the rules may affect foreign involvement!
These are professional sportsmen of course and they will adapt to the new rules , but the very fact that jockeys who so rarely fall foul of historically strict whip abuse rules, (Hughes has ridden thousands of races and been fined only twice for minor infringements), now find themselves not just banned but repeat offending, surely illustrates the need for a period of “bedding in” and punishments to reflect this. Riding styles need to be adapted, and horses perhaps even trained differently – all of which takes more time than the unnecessary haste in which the BHA introduced these new rules.
Whilst the “prescribed number of uses” method is flawed, it is also a recognition that the perceived abuse of the whip is detrimental to racing’s image and needs to be tackled. It is not a wholly suitable method and needs to be looked at again. Certainly restrict the number of uses, but do not limit where the whip can be used. If a jockey uses all his allowance in the first few furlongs, then he clearly cannot ride a finish and he will adapt his style accordingly. Surely better however than saving the bulk of the allowance until the last few hundred yards, as the new rules dictate and thrashing an already tired animal over the line!
Horses thunder past the stands at Ascot
Of course, many riders never have to use the whip if their horse is running safely and at full potential. The danger however is that by allowing numbers to dictate whether the rules are being broken, the authorities reduce the concentration on whether the use of the whip was too harsh and whether the horse has had time to respond between strikes – and instead make it a sport where jockeys worry less about performance and more about how they will earn a wage if they get banned.
The BHA has been in talks with a number of groups today (Monday 17th October) and we wait to see if they will change their position based upon objective discussion – or continue to show that they remain rooted in the arrogance they seem to have displayed in this case so far.
Here at Bolton Hall Stables we enter the 2012 Thoroughbred Breeding season with two mares due to foal in the next few months, and with an eye on the stallion books as we make another decision on where to send the mares this time.
