whip ban | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jockeys’ Guild Reinstates Benefits for Monmouth Riders

With the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) last week voting to rescind the whip ban, which had been in place at Monmouth Park since the 2021 season, the Jockeys' Guild Board of Directors has voted to reinstate benefits to its members who choose to ride at Monmouth in 2022. The Guild had not been covering insurance policies for Monmouth riders since July 1. New Jersey was the only state in the country where whipping was banned.

The NJRC had adopted Monmouth's request for a “House Rule,” allowing riders to utilize the riding crop in an overhand fashion for six times in a race, though not more than two times in succession without a pause. The House Rule is in line with the Use of Riding Crop Regulation established by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which is set to supersede regulations put in place by state racing commissions this summer.

“While the Monmouth Park House Rule for the riding crop addresses our safety concerns, the decision by the NJRC to implement the House Rule's more extreme penalties than those called for under the HISA Riding Crop Rules are a concern,” said Terry Meyocks, President and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild. “Members should be aware of these excessive penalties should they choose to ride at Monmouth Park.”

The 2022 Monmouth meet begins May 7.

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New Jersey Racing Commission Rescinds Whip Ban

Monmouth Park jockeys will once again be allowed to use their whips to encourage their mounts when the meet kicks off May 7.

The change was made during a special hearing held Friday by the New Jersey Racing Commission, which voted to rescind rules that were put in place prior to the 2021 Monmouth meeting that allowed whipping only in cases where it was needed for safety reasons. New Jersey was the only state in the country where whipping was banned.

Monmouth's whipping rules were set to change July 1, when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) goes into effect. At that time, HISA rules will replace state racing commission rules throughout the country and the HISA whip rules allow for six overhand strikes. In addition, jockeys may tap the horse on the shoulder unlimited times if both their hands are on the reins.

Monmouth management went to the racing commission and asked it to overturn the whipping ban, arguing that it did not make sense to have the rules change in the middle of the meet.

The commission agreed, voting by a 5-1 margin to go with the HISA rules starting with opening day. Lawrence DeMarzo was the only commissioner not to vote to end the whipping ban.

“This is better than it was,” said Terry Meyocks, the president of the Jockeys' Guild, which had been staunchly against the whip ban, arguing that it raised safety concerns for the riders. “It's a safety issue. It's not subjective. They have to take into consideration what the jocks have been saying.”

As part of its argument, Monmouth cited handle figures for the 2021 meet in which daily average handle fell by 17.13%, which raised concern that some bettors stayed away from Monmouth because they weren't comfortable with the new rules.

To enforce the HISA whipping rules, Monmouth will establish a three-person committee of racing officials who will review races to make sure the jockeys are in compliance. If they are not, the penalties will be severe. First-time violators will forfeit their share of the purse, will be fined $500 and receive a three-day suspension. Second-time offenders will lose the purse money, be fined $2,500 and suspended for seven days. Anyone violating the rule a third time will lose the purse money, be fined $5,000 and banned for the remainder of the meet.

It was revealed during the hearing that the racing commission received more than 80 telephone calls asking it to keep the whip ban in place. Many of the callers told the commission they received texts or emails from PETA asking them to call the commission.

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Daily Average Handle Down at Monmouth; Whip Ban To Blame?

Total all-sources handle at the Monmouth Park meet, which wrapped up Sunday, Sept. 26, showed an increase, hardly a surprise since this year's season included 11 more cards than the 2020 meet, which was shortened due to COVID-19 issues. Monmouth didn't fare nearly as well in the more relevant category of daily average handle. During this year's 55-day meet, average daily handle was $3,154,748, a decline of 17.13% over 2020 figures, when the average handle was $3,807,082. The 2020 Monmouth meet consisted of 44 cards.

The decline begs the question: did some gamblers stay away because of the controversial ban of the whip?

The Monmouth meet was the first in North American racing where whipping in order to encourage the horse was banned, a rule put into place by the New Jersey Racing Commission prior to the meet. Some believed that the lack of whips created an unknown factor that would make handicapping the races a bit of a crapshoot and keep horseplayers away.

“It's difficult to say,” Monmouth's Dennis Drazin said when asked about the impact of the whip ban. “A number of the whales I spoke to told me [the whip ban] was a factor why they weren't betting. There were a number of people who were mixed on the whip rule. Some people said they were uncomfortable with the whip rule and couldn't bet serious money. They told me they might bet a race because they wanted to have a good time and have some action. But they just bet less and didn't make huge bets on those races. I'm sure the whip ban had some effect on our handle, but if I tried to quantify it, I don't know that I could.”

Drazin said several other customers told him they altered the way they handicapped the Monmouth races. One theory is that front-runners would do better in whipless races because jockeys had no means to encourage closers to run their best in the latter stages of the races.

“A lot of others told me they just handicapped differently,” he said. “They cashed a lot of bets because they read the form and they knew what the horses's style would be like. Whatever their philosophy might have been about betting the front-runners, I saw a lot of closers win. too.”

Drazin said that as the meet went on he sensed that everyone, including bettors, seemed to grow more comfortable with the new rules regarding whipping.

“A lot of people, people who were watching our races very carefully, including the heads of a lot of other racetracks, said they thought in the beginning that the rule was very controversial,” he said. “They thought by the end of the meet, no one was talking about it. No one even noticed anything was different.”

Drazin also pointed to problems keeping the races on the grass, particularly early on in the meet. The first 15 races scheduled for the turf were all moved to the main track.

“I think the handle was down because of the weather,” he said. “When it rains, you just get decimated. We had a lot of races come off the turf. Plus, you have to plan for the weather. When you know it's going to rain over the weekend you're not going to write a bunch of turf races.”

While it is unlikely that the New Jersey Racing Commission will rescind the whip rule on its own, Drazin said there could be major changes as early as next July. That is when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is supposed to go into effect. Under HISA, it is expected that there will be uniform rules throughout the country, including rules covering the whip.

“What I think will happen is that HISA will take effect next July and they will have a uniform whip rule and New Jersey will have the same rule everyone has,” he said. “My understanding is that HISA's rule will most likely be the same as the rule in Kentucky and then every state in the country will use the same rule. If that happens, the discussion about our not allowing whips will be moot.”

The Kentucky rule limits sets a limit of six overhand hits per race with no more than two strikes in succession.

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Sweden: Local Government’s Ban On Driver’s Whip Use Could Set Dangerous Precedent

A harness racing driver in Sweden is at the center of a unique controversy this week: his local municipal government, rather than the sport's governing body, has handed the driver a one-year ban from using the whip anywhere in Sweden, reports Harness Racing Update.

Joakim Lövgren drove his trainee Picadilly at Jägersro in April, after which veterinarians noticed marks on the horse's body consistent with whip use. By rule, the veterinarians must report those marks to the county board in which the races were held.

The board responded with a $420 fine and a 10-day suspension for Lövgren, as well as the one-year ban from using the whip.

Sweden has some of the strictest whip use regulations in the world, and the harness racing governing body, Svensk Travsport, is diligent about punishing those who break those regulations. Nonetheless, the local government decided to hand down a major whip ban, a decision which could have worldwide implications for horse racing if other governments follow suit.