On the heels of changes to the rules governing whip use in California last week, regulators in Kentucky have approached the same issue, albeit with somewhat different results. In a joint meeting held via teleconference Monday, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's rules committee and its safety and welfare committee voted unanimously to approve a compromise between language proposed by The Jockeys Guild and the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition.
The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition, represented at the meeting by officials from Churchill Downs and Keeneland, brought forth guidance that would limit overhanded strikes to five in the stretch, and permit underhanded strikes at the start of the race (to correct a horse's course or get their attention as the race begins). The guidance also allowed a rider to use the whip as necessary to course correct in an emergency, but suggested riders may be required to pull a horse up if they exhausted their strike limit during a corrective incident.
Various members of the Jockeys Guild were on hand to push back on the changes, reiterating as they had during the California Horse Racing Board meeting last week that they were hoping Kentucky would adopt the Guild's suggested rules as a start to creating a “national rule.” Presumably such a “national rule” would operate similar to the model rules for medication and other regulation published by the Association of Racing Commissioners International — adoption would still be voluntary and state-to-state.
Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez pointed out that riders will often use the whip for correction before the horse has actually veered off course. If they exhaust their strikes to course correct before there's a problem, riders worry about stewards debating their judgment, and also whether it makes sense to pull a horse up after it has veered out, as many horses have come back to hit the board after altering course.
“How's that going to look for the bettors?” said Velazquez. “That's not [good] for the integrity of the race. There are so many things that happen in the race. We have to let the horse know that we have control.”
Guild representatives, including Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, pushed to expand the maximum number of over-handed strikes to six, and requested riders be given the same limit for underhanded strikes in the stretch to allow them more flexibility to tailor a response to an individual horse or scenario.
“It's a drastic change,” said Smith. “It looks better. It'll really work.
“There's so many times a horse will open up because it's passing horses, but when it gets to the front of the field, it'll pull up. Horses are not all leaders. Most of the time, they're pack animals. There's very few of them that actually want to be leaders. Some of the time you have to touch them behind. Touching them on the shoulder, that doesn't really do anything.”
Charlie O'Connor, member of the rules committee, disagreed with Smith.
“If you're looking for six and six, then all of a sudden that's twelve,” said O'Connor. “Mike, I respect your opinion. You're a world class jockey. But if we're seen to be hitting these horses twelve times over and under, it's not going to wash.”
Mike Ziegler, executive director of racing for Churchill Downs, echoed O'Connor.
“We can't hit horses anymore,” said Ziegler. “That's the ultimate reason we're talking about this.”
Velazquez wondered whether this was a sign regulators and racetracks ultimately want to get rid of the whip altogether.
“The day that you actually put away the whip altogether, there will be more accidents in the United States,” said Velazquez. “I'm telling you, it'll be too dangerous to run. We'll kiss goodbye to racing if you're looking not to hit the horse at all.”
“This is what we're doing at the moment,” said O'Connor in response. “If we don't put in these rules, the crop is going to be taken off. And I agree with you, it'll be the end of racing — but we're trying to keep the crop, because we're in great danger of you guys losing it. We all know, those of us sitting in this meeting, that would be a disaster.”
Ultimately, Coalition members agreed to increase the strike limit from five to six, permitting riders three sets of two hits in the stretch with a pause in between to let the horse respond. The committee added a definition for “the start of the race” to be the first furlong, and removed language requiring a horse pull up in the event of a dangerous veering or other incident.
Penalty guidelines for overuse of the whip were also changed, with increasing penalties for each successive strike over the limit (now six). Penalties become heavier in graded stakes contests, and owners/trainers are strictly prohibited from placing pressure on a jockey to win under circumstances that would violate the rules. Penalties also increase for multiple violations in Kentucky in a six-month period. Jockeys' earnings can be taken away, depending on the number of strikes they are over the limit, the number of violations the rider has, and whether the rider is in a graded stakes. For example, a seventh strike in a graded stakes race would result in a rider losing 30 percent of their earnings, if that is the rider's first violation in six months. Repeat offenders can lose up to 100 percent of earnings.
Last week, California regulators finalized a rule dictating what type of whip riders could use, and also limiting them to six strikes overhanded total.
The rule language now moves on to the full commission, which meets Tuesday.
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