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‘They Are Changing The Competitiveness Of A Horse Race’: Bravo Reacts To New Jersey Whip Rules

Jockey Joe Bravo, a 13-time leading rider at Monmouth Park and board member of the Jockeys' Guild, shared his opinion of the recently announced more stringent whip rules with the Asbury Park Press this week.

New Jersey's new rule prevents riders from whipping a horse “to achieve a better placing,” while new rules in California restrict riders to two strikes in succession and six strikes in total.

“How many times have you watched a race where a horse opens up one or two lengths in the lane like he's going to win for fun, and then he puts his ears up,” Bravo told app.com. “Anyone can see the horse is looking at something and he's going to stop. But whoa, I can't hit him because I can't hit him for something other than a safety issue. Well, that is a safety issue, and am I going to get fined? And if you don't have that quick instinct to react, there could be danger.

“They are changing the competitiveness of a horse race. I feel they should be respecting the gamblers, the breeder, the owner, who all invest heavily in the game.”

New Jersey Commission Adopts Stricter Whip Rules: Prevents Use ‘Except For Reasons Of Safety’

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Racing Commission issued a strict new rule governing jockeys' use of the riding whip, according to the Daily Racing Form. Beginning in 2021, jockeys at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ will not be allowed to use the whip “except for reasons of safety.”

The commission adopted the new rule unanimously, despite objections by The Jockeys' Guild. It is the strictest rule in the United States.

“The prohibition of the use of riding crops, except when necessary for the safety of horse or rider, will be perceived in a positive light by the general public,” said a statement from the NJRC. “The proposed repeal and new rules are of the utmost importance in adapting the industry to avoid the currently negative public perception of whipping a horse.”

Stewards will be in charge of determining whether jockeys used the whip to maintain control of the horse, and will be able to fine or suspend jockeys if they determine a jockey used the whip “to achieve a better placing.”

The rule continues: “If the riding crop is used, under the supervision of the stewards, there shall be a visual inspection of each horse following each race for evidence of excessive or brutal use of the riding crop.”

Specifications for the whip itself include that it must be “soft-padded [and] have a shaft and a soft tube,” that it does not exceed eight ounces in weight or 30 inches in length, and has a minimum shaft diameter of three-eighths of one inch. Additionally, “the shaft, beyond the grip, must be smooth, with no protrusions or raised surface, and covered by shock absorbing material that gives a compression factor of at least one millimeter throughout its circumference.”

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Monmouth Seeks New Partner to Keep Exchange Wagering Alive in New Jersey

In the wake of last week’s news that Betfair intends to pull the plug on its exchange wagering platform in New Jersey on Oct. 1, Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, told the New Jersey Racing Commission Sept. 16 that his track is actively seeking another partner to continue the bettor-versus-bettor style of wager-matching that is popular in other parts of the world but hasn’t quite caught on in America.

“Although they want out of business, we do not,” Drazin said. “They are winding down their operation, but we intend to look for a new service provider to continue, at some point, the exchange wagering in New Jersey. We do understand that if we’re going to apply for a license, we’d have to do so by Oct. 15.

“I think the failure of exchange wagering from their perspective was that major jurisdictions would not give us access to their signal,” Drazin said. “They couldn’t get New York. They couldn’t get California. They couldn’t get Kentucky. They couldn’t get Florida. So you had wagering on–and I wouldn’t want to offend anybody–a lot of tracks that were not the ‘A list.'”

Drazin continued: “They also told us…at the current time that there were only 136 active users on the exchange, and they felt that their revenues could be better dedicated to improving 4NJBets [account wagering]. This kind of caught me by surprise in terms of timing when they said they wanted to wind down.

“I’ve had some preliminary conversations with others that have expressed interest. It’s very popular in Europe. It’s popular in Australia. I think that there is a [situation] that a lot of people would like to bet on the major tracks. And perhaps, if we get to a point where TVG–and I know they’re working on it–talks about fixed-odds wagering, there is an avenue to have fixed-odds wagering and exchange wagering that gets more widely adopted throughout the country.

“So I think that the commission did a great job in approving exchange wagering and is willing to be a leader in making us the first in this country,” Drazin summed up. “And I think that we shouldn’t give up on it. If we can find another partner that’s willing to invest the time, energy and money to continue this, we will do so.”

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New Jersey Enacts Nation’s Most Stringent Whipping Ban

Starting at next year’s Monmouth Park meet, whipping a Thoroughbred will not be allowed by any New Jersey jockey or exercise rider except for the express purpose of ensuring the immediate safety of the horse or rider.

Spanning three new rules covering prohibition, allowable usage for safety, and whip construction, the trio of regulations were voted in 4-0 by the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) at its Sept. 16 meeting, making the state the first in the nation to ban whipping beyond protection in an emergency situation.

If a jockey or exercise rider uses the riding crop in a manner contrary to the new rules, he or she will be subject to a fine, suspension, or forfeiture of the jockey’s share of the purse “if, in the opinion of the stewards, the unauthorized use of the whip caused the horse to achieve a better placing,” the new rules state.

Judith Nason, the NJRC’s executive director, said the new regulations could be approved by the state office of administrative law in time to go into effect at the tail end of this autumn’s Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meet.

But after fielding a question about timing from Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth, Nason said the commission is open to waiting until 2021 to begin enforcement in Thoroughbred races (the rule also covers Standardbred racing).

“That would give us a chance to meet with the jockeys and educate the jockeys regarding the new rule,” Nason said.

If a rider does use the whip on a horse, the rules state that the strike shall not be “in a manner that causes any visible sign, mark, welt, or break in the skin of the horse, or that is otherwise excessive.”

The rules continue: “If the riding crop is used, under the supervision of the stewards, there shall be a visual inspection of each horse following each race for evidence of excessive or brutal use of the riding crop.”

The whips must be “soft-padded [and] have a shaft and a soft tube” that does not exceed eight ounces in weight or 30 inches in length, with a minimum shaft diameter of three-eighths of one inch.

“The shaft, beyond the grip, must be smooth, with no protrusions or raised surface, and covered by shock absorbing material that gives a compression factor of at least one millimeter throughout its circumference,” the regulations state.

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