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KY Advances Whip Rule That Guild Believes Can Be North American Model

After nearly two years of negotiations and rewrites, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) on Tuesday unanimously advanced a more humane whipping rule that The Jockeys' Guild is endorsing as a possible model regulation for all North American jurisdictions to follow.

The chief change sets a limit of six overhand hits per race with no more than two strikes in succession to give the horse a chance to respond.

Jennifer Wolsing, the general counsel for the KHRC, explained prior to the vote that if necessary, jockeys may also use the whip “in a backhanded or underhanded fashion from the three-eighths pole to the finish line, which does not count [against] the use of the crop six times in the overhand fashion.”

Tapping the horse on its shoulder with the whip in the down position (and with both hands holding the reins and touching the horse's neck) will also be permitted. Showing or waving the whip without contact to the horse is also allowable.

The wrist holding the whip, however, can never go “above helmet height” prior to a strike, Wolsing added.

Violators can be punished with either a $500 minimum fine or a three-day minimum suspension. If the stewards believe that the violation is egregious or intentional, they can impose both a fine and suspension.

The KHRC's Rules Committee had voted in this latest round of proposed changes on May 3 based on input from Guild members and executives.

“We feel that this rule is a fair compromise, and is in the best interest of our industry,” Terence Meyocks, the president and chief executive officer of the Guild, said after the vote.

Meyocks added that Kentucky's new rule could be the basis for a model whip rule that gets implemented throughout North America instead of relying on the current patchwork of differing jurisdictional standards.

Although no timetable for implementation was discussed during Tuesday's meeting, KHRC executive director Marc Guilfoil told TDN last month when the regulation advanced out of the rules committee that after passage by the full KHRC board, the measure next has to be approved by the state legislature, whose leaders have indicated support for the version the commission passed on Tuesday. Guilfoil had estimated that legislative process could take up to seven or eight months.

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‘Fair Compromise’: With Jockeys’ Guild On Board, Kentucky Commission Approves New Whip Rules

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission gave unanimous approval Tuesday to the new whip rules agreed upon by the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition and The Jockeys' Guild last month, reports the Daily Racing Form.

Kentucky's Legislative Research Commission is expected to recommend the new whip rules for approval later this year, so they could go into effect in late 2021.

The new rules are as follows:

A limit on overhanded strikes to a total of six throughout the race. Riders are required to give the horse a chance to respond after two. Overhanded uses may not include the rider raising the whip above the helmet.
Underhanded or backhanded use may begin in the final 3/8 of a mile. These uses will not count toward the six strike limit.
Showing the horse the whip or tapping the horse on the shoulder will remain acceptable if both hands are on the reins
Stewards can impose either a $500 minimum fine or a three-day minimum suspension. If the violation is egregious and intentional, they could impose both. Mitigating factors could include the rider's history with whip violations, and the number and types of use beyond the above restrictions

“We know this rule is a fair compromise and in the best interests of our industry,” Terry Meyocks, the chief executive officer of The Jockeys' Guild, told the KHRC after Tuesday's vote.

Asmussen Assistant Scott Blasi Fined, Suspended For Physical Altercation

A long-time assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Scott Blasi has been fined $500 and suspended seven days by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stewards for a physical altercation occurring at Churchill Downs following the eighth race on May 23, 2021.

The ruling, dated June 10, included no additional details about the incident of disorderly conduct.

The suspension dates will be stayed, provided Blasi completes an approved anger management program and is not involved in a second incidence of disorderly conduct within any racing jurisdiction over the next 365 days.

The post Asmussen Assistant Scott Blasi Fined, Suspended For Physical Altercation appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In Baffert Case, Sides Haggle Over Urine Sample

Lawyers representing the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and Bob Baffert squared off before Franklin Circuit County Judge Thomas Wingate Friday morning in a dispute over whether or not additional urine samples from Medina Spirit (Protonico) from the GI Kentucky Derby should be made available to the defendants' lawyers and, if so, in what quantity?

The Baffert team has asked for an additional urine sample because it believes further testing can prove that the drug in question, Betamethasone, found its way into Medina Spirit through an ointment used to clear up a skin condition and not through an injection. The KHRC argued that it needs to retain what's left of Medina Spirit's urine sample in case there is a need for further testing on its part or some sort of unforeseen problem related to testing.

Wingate asked the two sides to negotiate and come to a compromise. He said that if the sides could not agree, he would issue a ruling Wednesday. Wingate made it clear that he wants at least some of the urine to be handed over to the Baffert team.

“You sort of see where I am going and I think that if you come up with something more palatable and are afraid of how I am going to rule then do it. Fair enough?” Wingate said.

The hearing was held over Zoom and, at times, only Wingate could be heard clearly. For the most part, the statements made by KHRC attorney Jennifer Wolsing were inaudible.

The lawyers representing Baffert and Medina Spirit's owner, Amr Zedan, are building a case that the drug got into the colt's system through the ointment. They have said that would be the sort of mitigating circumstances needed to conclude that there was no attempt to improve the horse's performance, reason enough for Baffert to be exonerated and the original order of the Kentucky Derby to be upheld.

Also at issue is whether or not it matters where the Betamethasone came from. The courts and the KHRC might ultimately decide that is irrelevant, that the very presence of the drug is enough to warrant a disqualification, no matter the source of the drug.

“The rules of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission are clear,” said Baffert's lawyer Craig Robertson. “Some 63 times in their rules it states that a trainer is allowed to present mitigating circumstances in consideration of a penalty. Proving that this was an ointment and it did not come from an injection is, at the bare minimum, a mitigating circumstance. We should be allowed and should be entitled to present that evidence and obtain that evidence to scientifically prove these facts.”

Robertson also touched upon public perceptions involving this case and the potential damage that could be done to Baffert's reputation.

“From a public perception perspective, my client has been excoriated unfairly and publicly about this and he's been accused of injecting this horse to cheat to win the Kentucky Derby,” Robertson said. “That this is a banned substance. That this is doping. None of which is true. We have an opportunity to get scientific evidence to prove that it's not true and they're trying to keep us from doing that. That's not fair.”

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