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California’s More Restrictive Whip Regulations to Go Into Effect Oct. 1

California racing regulators, who have long sought measures that would limit the use of the whip, announced Monday that a set of more restrictive rules will be implemented starting Oct. 1.

The rules were approved June 11 at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) ,but could not go into effect until undergoing a regulatory review process.

The new rules will bring about three major changes:

(*) Riders cannot use the crop more than six times during a race, excluding showing or waving the crop or tapping the horse on the shoulder.

(*) Riders cannot use the crop more than two times in succession (within the six-time limit) without giving the horse a chance to respond before using the crop again.

(*) The crop must be used in an underhanded position with the crop always at or below the shoulder level of the jockey.

“Most of the riders are not happy about this,” said Flavien Prat, who is coming off a riding title at Santa Anita. “I’m for a change, but I think we have gone from one extreme to another. We have gone from no restrictions to pretty much no whip at all. Having a restriction is fine. It would be nice to have a restriction on how many times you can use the whip, something in the middle.”

The whip will still be allowed to be used when there are mitigating circumstances, such as when the jockey feels its use is necessary because of safety concerns.

Under current rules, a jockey must give his or her horse a chance to respond after using the whip three times in succession, which is the only major restriction when it comes to whip use.

Though he was aware that it was just a matter of time before the rules were enacted, Darrell Haire, a Jockey’s Guild Regional Manager whose territory covers California, was not pleased with Monday’s news.

“The riding crop is a valuable tool,” Haire said. “It’s part of the art of race riding, how you switch sticks and how you encourage a horse. It helps you get the most out of a horse. It’s going to hurt everybody, starting with the jockeys because they won’t be able to do their job. It will hurt the owners, the trainers, the fans, the bettors. It’s going to affect everybody. We have tried to compromise and believe they could have come up with something more reasonable.”

Starting Oct. 1, any jockey that violates the rules will be subject to a maximum fine of $1,000 and a minimum suspension of three days. However, the CHRB has recommended to stewards that they impose lesser penalties at first and allow for a transition period. The stewards are set to meet with the riders before the rule goes into effect in order to explain the regulations and answer any questions.

“…the CHRB is recommending to the Boards of Stewards that they should, for a reasonable period of time, use the “mitigating circumstances” language to employ the current penalty structure–lighter penalties–in order to make the transition to the amended rule less disruptive to jockeys, in particular, as well as all stakeholders and the wagering public generally,” read the statement from the CHRB.

The new rules will mean that California will have the most restrictive regulation in the U.S. when it comes to the whip, but that won’t last long. Starting with the 2021 season at Monmouth Park, jockeys in New Jersey will not be allowed to whip a horse, with the only exception being when there are safety concerns.

California appears to be heading in that same direction. CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney has said that he would like to see whip use eventually eliminated all together. The CHRB’s new rules could be an interim step in that direction.

“I don’t think jockeys should carry crops. It’s not necessary,” Chaney told the TDN in April. “To me, it’s not a safety issue. That’s a red herring. Ten years from now, if jockeys are still carrying riding crops, we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.”

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California’s More Restrictive Whip Rules Go Into Effect On Oct. 1

A more restrictive rule governing use of the riding crop will go into effect Oct. 1 for all Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, and mixed-breed races and also during training in California. The amended rule is designed to further protect horses without compromising the safety of horses and riders.

The key revisions to California Horse Racing Board Rule 1688 include:

Riders cannot use the crop more than six times during a race, excluding showing or waiving the crop or tapping the horse on the shoulder.
Riders cannot use the crop more than two times in succession (within the six-time limit) without giving the horse a chance to respond before using the crop again.
The crop must be used in an underhanded position with the crop always at or below the shoulder level of the jockey.
During training the crop can only be used for the safety of horse or rider.
Absent mitigating circumstances, which includes but is not limited to use of the riding crop for the safety of horse and rider, if a jockey or exercise rider rides in a manner contrary to this rule, the stewards shall impose a maximum fine of $1,000 and a minimum suspension of three days. In trial heats, the suspension shall include the subsequent related stakes race.
The jockey or exercise rider shall not be penalized if, in the opinion of the stewards, the use of the crop was necessary for the safety of the horse or rider.

In order to ease the transition, stewards will be meeting with the jockey colonies at the respective tracks to explain the rule and to answer questions. In addition, the CHRB is recommending to the Boards of Stewards that they should for a reasonable period of time use the “mitigating circumstances” language to employ the current penalty structure – lighter penalties — in order to make the transition to the amended rule less disruptive to jockeys, in particular, as well as all stakeholders and the wagering public generally.

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Authentic To Carry Silks Of Spendthrift Farm In Preakness Stakes

B. Wayne Hughes, whose Spendthrift Farm is majority owner in Authentic, wanted minority owner MyRacehorse's black and white silks to be worn by jockey John Velazquez in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Authentic carried those colors into the history books as the winner of the only Kentucky Derby not held in the spring. A month later, Authentic will wear Spendthrift's orange and purple silks in the first Preakness Stakes (G1) not held in the spring or summer.

“That will be a lot of fun, we'll look forward to that,” said Mark Toothaker, Spendthrift Farm's stallion sales manager who was on hand to watch Authentic and the Spendthrift co-owned Thousand Words work Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Authentic is a son of the red-hot Spendthrift stallion Into Mischief, whom Hughes raced. Into Mischief is out of the same mare, Leslie's Lady, as Hughes' four-time champion mare Beholder and Mendelssohn, a $3 million yearling campaigned by the partners in the Coolmore international stallion and racing conglomerate.

Spendthrift bought controlling interest in the racing and breeding rights to Authentic before the Santa Anita Derby (G1) from Starlight Racing, with Madaket Stable also a partner. As it turned out, the Santa Anita Derby is Authentic's only defeat to date in six starts, with the wins including Santa Anita's Sham (G3) and San Felipe (G2) and Monmouth Park's Haskell Invitational (G1).

“We felt like this was a horse who had a real chance to win the Derby,” Toothaker said of the purchase. “We thought, 'The timing is great. Let's try to get something done for Spendthrift and Mr. Hughes.' The team was able to put this offer together with Mr. Hughes' blessing and get it done.”

Hughes, meanwhile, had bought into MyRacehorse, founded by Michael Behrens, both financially and by embracing the concept of making micro-shares in racehorses available to the general public for just a couple hundred bucks each.

“I'll have to say there were a few of us kind of grinding our teeth a little bit when Mr. Hughes wanted to run in MyRacehorse's silks,” Toothaker said. “I made the pitch that 'Wayne you've done so much for the game, this is going to be something for history that is going to hang in the Derby Museum.' ”

However, Hughes, a billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, felt strongly that MyRacehorse's concept could be a game-changer. The result is that Authentic surely set a record for the most owners in a Kentucky Derby winner, with 5,314 investors owning 12,500 shares in MyRacehorse.com's 12 1/2-percent stake in the colt. Each share in Authentic cost $206 for 1/1,000th of the horse, both for racing and breeding.

“He feels it will re-energize the racetracks and get people coming,” Toothaker said, adding of the 86-year-old Hughes, “Wayne grew up in an era when there were tons of people going to the races at Santa Anita. He feels like MyRacehorse gives that opportunity back to racing, that people will return, they'll come. There's nothing like having a horse running, bringing friends and family with them. It's not just one person who signs up for a micro-share; it's all their family that comes with them to the track. His vision is that over time it will explode attendance back to the racetrack as people take part on this. We've been very active at the sale buying another group of yearlings with MyRacehorse that folks will have a chance to participate in — and hopefully see them in the winner's circle.”

The Derby proved a rollercoaster for Spendthrift, which also is partners with Albaugh Family Racing in $1 million yearling Thousand Words. Out of the blue, Spendthrift went from two to one entrant when Thousand Words flipped in the paddock after becoming unruly, with assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes fracturing his wrist in the melee and missing the Derby while going to the emergency room.

“It was just the craziest half-hour you could ever imagine,” Toothaker said. “I actually walked over (from the backstretch to the paddock) with Thousand Words because of the Albaughs. They were in town, they're our partner on that horse. We bought him together as a yearling. So I knew MyRacehorse representatives were walking over with Authentic. To see (Thousand Words) in the paddock, he didn't want to be saddled. I feel terrible for Jimmy, when the horse flipped over Jimmy had to have nine screws put in his arm, putting him back together. You're just sad that 20 minutes before the Derby you don't get a chance to run. It was heart-breaking. You're in the paddock, a little bit stunned that happened. Everybody was just in a fog.

“As we walked through the tunnel onto the track, I told our general manager, Ned Toffey, 'You know, if there are any Derby gods looking down upon us after Thousand Words flipping, maybe he'll give Authentic a little push around there and get us to the winner's circle.' And, boy, I'll tell you what, it sure did.”

While historic Spendthrift Farm had previously stood the sire of Derby winners, Authentic is its first as the owner. In the case of Authentic, Spendthrift is owner of the Derby winner and his dad, the farm's stallion Into Mischief.

“When I saw the opening fractions of 22-and-change, I was very, very worried, knowing you've got to go a mile and a quarter,” Toothaker said. “Certainly as they turned for home, I saw Manny Franco look over his right shoulder. I thought, 'Boy, he's probably loaded on Tiz the Law.' And you hear the announcer give the big call on Mr. Big News, that he's rolling around horses on the outside. You're just looking to see how much fight you have down the stretch.

“Really, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking can we just hang on here to hit the board. When Johnny kind of hit him left-handed, he gave him so much effort down the stretch. It was just a thrill, going from being so depressed in the paddock with Thousand Words to seeing Authentic win. It was the biggest rocket ship of emotions in that 20 minutes there that you can ever imagine. And then thinking of Mr. Hughes and all he's meant to all of our team at Spendthrift and he was able to win that elusive Kentucky Derby was as good as it gets.”

Well, it actually has gotten better. The Derby victory further boosted Into Mischief as a stallion, with five of his yearlings fetching at least $1 million at Keeneland's September yearling sale.

“People questioned whether he could have a horse win a classic, and now he [Into Mischief] checked that box off,” Toothaker said. “It wasn't very many years ago that he was averaging $21,000 per yearling. And after the first two books (of the Keeneland sale), he's averaging $500,000. Into Mischief has climbed the ladder of stallion success, and it's put him in a whole other stratosphere now.”

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Pneumatic Breezes Bullet for Preakness

‘TDN Rising Star‘ Pneumatic (Uncle Mo), last-out winner of the Aug. 15 Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park, breezed five furlongs in company in a bullet 1:00.85 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Monday morning as he continues towards a start in the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Oct. 3.

With exercise rider Angel Garcia up, Pneumatic went in fractions of :12, :23.80, :36 and galloped out three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.

“On this track, that’s about as good as horses work,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “It was a solid five-eighths. They were out well. He’s trained really good since the Pegasus at Monmouth. Off that work we expect a big effort in the Preakness.”

Third to Maxfield (Street Sense) in the GIII Matt Winn S. May 23, Pneumatic was a well-beaten fourth behind Tiz The Law (Constitution) in the GI Belmont S. June 20. He came from just off the pace in the Pegasus to defeat Jesus’ Team (Tapiture) by 2 1/4 lengths.

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