Whip debate: English trainer Charlie Fellowes calls for tougher crackdown on jockeys who use whip excessively
English trainer Charlie Fellowes has called for much harsher sanctions on jockeys who use the whip excessively if they are to have any impact, but Australian counterpart David Hayes doesn’t want it banned.
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Whip penalties must be increased if they are to have any effect, English trainer Charlie Fellowes has declared.
Fellowes, who trained Wednesday’s Geelong Cup winner Prince Of Arran which finished third in last year’s Melbourne Cup, said to ban the whip would be a “disaster” but called for much harsher sanctions on jockeys who use it excessively.
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Racing Victoria’s monthly board meeting will be held on Thursday where equine welfare will be an expanded agenda item in an effort to address last week’s ABC story surrounding treatment of racehorses.
It will also consider whether to prioritise or accelerate elements of its equine welfare strategic plan — which was released in July — in light of the reports.
Star jockey Kerrin McEvoy maintained that jockeys need the tool, while champion Australian trainer David Hayes said an industry-wide ban would be a “terrible over-reaction”.
Fellowes said the crackdown had to come on those who break the rules and said horses who were over-whipped should be disqualified.
“I don’t think it should be banned, I think it would be sad if it got banned,” he said from England on Wednesday.
“But we need to be far, far, far tougher on jockeys who continue to break the rules. I have argued in England that I think horses should be chucked out.
“If a horse is hit more than the allotted number of times, then it should be chucked out. My argument is that if you do that, and if you have that rule, you will never, ever, ever have to enforce the rules.
“Because no jockey will ever break it. Because the loss will be too much.”
He said that racing would be under increasing pressure to “get its house in order” with animal welfare at the forefront of this spring carnival following ABC’s revelations surrounding treatment of some retired racehorses last week.
“I just feel that if we are strict and if we get our house in order now, then we will preserve the stick for far, far longer,” Fellowes told RSN.
“Those negative headlines are very damaging. And that’s what we need to cut out. By being far, far, far stricter on the use of the stick, we can cut that out and help people’s confidence that we are a sport of animal lovers, which we are.”
Racing Victoria said “we closely monitor both the use of the padded whip in accordance with the national rules and the effectiveness of penalties afforded for breaches of these rules and will continue to do so”.
Hayes said there was “merit” to the whip discussion, but said he backed the stewards to implement the rules at hand.
“I think it would be a terrible over-reaction just at the moment (to ban it completely),” he said.
“I think over the last two or three years, they’ve been tinkering with the whip rules. And I think it’s been very effective. The padded whips, not whipping them as much … maybe they can look at modifying them a bit more. But if it was me, I’d leave it with the stewards and I wouldn’t change too much.”
He said he had been “horrified” by the ABC report, and maintained that horses coped well under the whip.
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“You don’t see welt marks on them. Horses have hides, not skin,” he said.
“And it’s more the noise with these padded whips. They’re a really good tool — and you could ask the jockeys — to control the horse in the run. It mightn’t be as safe for the jockeys without the whips.
“You’d be using hands and heels (without it), so there’d be a lot of horses that probably would have to be retired because they’re lazy. There’s some horses that wouldn’t win a race if they didn’t have the wake up with the whip, but probably I’d change the name of the whip. I wouldn’t call it a whip, because it’s not like the whip of old that they used to get bashed with. It’s not like that anymore.”
THE RULES OF RACING OF RACING VICTORIA
AR 137A
(1) (a) Only padded whips of a design and specifications approved by a panel appointed by the Australian Racing Board may be carried in races, official trials or jump-outs.
(b) Every such whip must be in a satisfactory condition and must not be modified in any way.
(c) The stewards may confiscate any whip which in their opinion is not in a satisfactory condition or has been modified.
(d) Any rider who has been found guilty of a breach of this subrule may be penalised. Provided that the master and/or other person who is in charge of an apprentice jockey at the relevant time may also be penalised unless he satisfies the stewards that he took all proper care to ensure the apprentice complied with the rule.
(2) Only padded whips of a design and specifications approved by a panel appointed by the Australian Racing Board may be carried in trackwork.
(3) The stewards may penalise any rider who in a race, official trial, jumpout or trackwork, or elsewhere uses his whip in an excessive, unnecessary or improper manner.
(4) Without affecting the generality of subrule (3) of this rule, the stewards may penalise any rider who in a race, official trial or jumpout uses his whip: (a) forward of his horse’s shoulder or in the vicinity of its head; or (b) using an action that raises his arm above shoulder height; or (c) when his horse is out of contention; or (d) when his horse is showing no response; or (e) after passing the winning post; or (f) causing injury to his horse; or (g) when his horse is clearly winning; or (h) has no reasonable prospect of improving or losing its position; or (i) in such manner that the seam of the flap is the point of contact with the horse, unless the rider satisfies the stewards that this was neither deliberate nor reckless.
(5) Subject to the other requirements of this rule: (a) In a race, official trial or jumpout prior to the 100m mark; (i) The whip shall not be used in consecutive strides. (ii) The whip shall not be used on more than 5 occasions. (iii) The rider may at his discretion use the whip with a slapping motion down the shoulder, with the whip hand remaining on the reins. (b) In the final 100m of a race, official trial o