THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9th 2011 SPECIAL FOCUS THE WHIP

THE RACING POST  WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9th 2011 

RACING POST WEEK MONDAY 7th TO SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13th 2011

TODAY'S CARDS Exeter, Bangor, Southwell and Kempton Park

SPECIAL FOCUS THE WHIP

THE RACING POST “DISQUALIFICATION DEBATE …SHOULD IT JUST BE JOCKEYS WHO TAKE THE HIT FOR WHIP ABUSE?

“SIR MARK PRESCOTT NEWMARKET TRAINER 

 THE CASE FOR  DISQUALIFICATION

“INCENTIVE TO BREAK THE RULES IS REMOVED."

“IF YOU take the race off the horse there’s no incentive for the jockey to break the rules. At the moment the jockey is blackmailed by circumstance into breaking the rule, but once he knows that if he exceeds the limit he will lose the race then there’s no incentive to break the rules and you have a level playing field.

“If you’re in the final furlong of the Derby what are you going to do? You know you can’t lose the race. It’s the only rule that the breaking of which can win you a race but cannot lose you a race, which is madness.

“It’s very hard to get a logical debate about this because everyone has their own interests, but my feeling is that if you’re going to have these rules then the only option is to take the race off them to remove the incentive.

“People talk about the fuss of taking the race off one owner. Well, it’s unfair to one owner now because he’s beaten by the jockey breaking the rules.

“It’s just logic. Should the transgressor win the race or the transgressor  lose the race? Once jockeys know they’ll lose the race you won’t see them doing it.

“People just don’t like the idea of something losing a race and the authorities are terrified to do it, but if they’ve invented these rules they’ve got to be man enough to stand up with them.

“If I dope the horse it loses the race. If the jockey flattens three others it looses the race. If it carries the wrong weight, goes the wrong distance, goes the wrong side of the marker, it looses the race. But you can use the whip as often as you want and the horse doesn’t lose the race. How can that make sense?  ENDS

RACING POST HEADLINES YESTERDAY NOVEMBER 8th

ANDREW SCUTTS and  GRAHAM DENCH

“WORRIED O’NEILL SAYS WHIP RULES ARE TOO RIGID”

“JONJO O’NEILL  yesterday used the occasion of stable jockey Tony McCoy’s first ban under the new whip rules to express his concern not just for McCoy but more so for riders eking out a living at the other end of the game.

“McCoy incurred a five-day suspension for hitting Ffos Las runner-up  CADDIE MASTER nine times, one over the limit, on Sunday, after which he said his mount would have won the race before the new rules came in on October 10, and questioned whether it was  “worth it the way things are”  - a  reference to carrying on his career.

“O’Neill, CADDIE MASTERS trainer, said : ‘The rules are to rigid. They have to apply a bit of common sense or the lazy horses will all be heading for early retirement as it will be a waste of time having them in training.

“I have not seen every case, but I don’t think anyone is doing too much wrong. They make us sound like murderers, but we all love horses.

“I feel sorry for AP and Ruby (Walsh) and those lads, but even more sorry for those lads who are the backbone of racing but are struggling to make a living with limited rides and limited winners. “

“O’Neill  added: “It’s not just as simple as counting, and if AP and Ruby, who are very good riders, very professional  and completely in control, can’t cope what chance have the younger or lesser lads got?”

“We need a bit of common sense, but there doesn’t seem to be too much of it around unfortunately.

“Talks are ongoing between the Professional Jockeys Association  (PJA) and BHA over the rules and it is understood the two sides are edging closer together on the thorny issues of penalties, perhaps even to the extent a new structure might be agreed.”

“PJA chief executive Kevin Darley said “We’re having constructive, regular, ongoing talks with the BHA.

“It’s fair to say that, as is obvious from reading what AP said in the newspapers today,  jockeys aren’t  happy with the penalties.

“But we are having positive discussions in private with the BHA to agree on the way forward for the benefit of the sport. – the situation we have now is not doing the sport any good. “

“It had been Darley’s intention to step down as PJA boss this month, but his departure has been delayed by the whip controversy.”

“Whatever happens with my own position I intend to help resolve this,” he said. “The penalties are harsh.

“Racing in Britain is not like racing elsewhere; horses and riders are constantly faced with different scenarios due to the diversity of tracks, races and ground. That there are so many variables is in fact probably the cause of the problems under these new rules.

 In effect, Flat racing  and Jump racing are two different sports. There is a variety in distances and tracks and the new whip rules in context of those differences is something that can be looked at.

“We’ve not really got into the Jumps season yet and faced prolonged testing conditions. The eight-hit limit I’m sure is something that will be constantly reviewed and monitored.” END

J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL 

British horseracing needs to move on now to a higher level whilst we still have great trainers and great horsemen around, to give the true lead.


Horseracing is a sport not a war, Irish racing together with British racing hold a responsibility to all the countries worldwide who now have horseracing to get the rules right and to keep the rules right to achieve the true balance.


No way does this mean going back to the dark ages as the new rules dictate now, their proposed penalties are totally unacceptable, frightening and totally out  of context here.


If this is the way the politicians intend to run and continue to run this country a total and  horrific disaster.