The British Horseracing Authority said on Friday that “temporary measures” to deter misuse of the whip could be introduced in time for the Grand National meeting at Aintree in early April if its current rules – which allow for seven strikes in Flat races and eight over jumps – are repeatedly breached at the Cheltenham Festival later this month.
The BHA’s comments followed the news earlier on Friday that Ireland’s Horseracing Regulatory Board said on Friday that it will introduce a strike limit of nine both on the Flat and over jumps for the first time later this year. The IHRB’s decision follows a sharp increase in whip offences in Ireland last year, and came on the same day that a new limit of five strokes for both Flat and jumps races took effect in France.
A BHA spokesman said on Friday evening that, while no wholesale changes to its current regime are anticipated, events at the Cheltenham Festival could yet prompt urgent action ahead of Aintree.
“Jockeys will be reminded of their responsibilities in regards to the whip in the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival and at the new, mandatory daily briefings,” the spokesman said. “If it is felt necessary following the Festival that temporary measures should be considered to provide a greater level of deterrent to riders, then broader penalty provisions may be put in place ahead of the next major event.
“More generally, the BHA is aware that the whip continues to be a topic of debate. We are alive to that debate and listening to it with interest.
“The sport is currently developing an industry-wide welfare strategy which will include further consideration of the use of the whip in British racing. We also note that Britain’s approach to the whip was recently endorsed by the UK government who stated that it is ‘satisfied that the rules in place are sufficient to restrict and limit the use of the whip in horse racing’.”
The Irish regulator’s limit of nine strokes under both codes is expected to be confirmed next week, while the new five-stroke limit in France has been imposed just two years after an earlier reduction from eight to six.
Having resisted a fixed stroke limit for many years, the Irish racing authorities felt it had little choice but to fall into line with Britain and France after a 26% jump in whip offences in 2018, from 169 to 213, following totals of 140, 157, 160 and 131 in the years from 2013 to 2016.
“The IHRB will be introducing more stringent whip rules in the coming months,” Denis Egan, the IHRB’s chief executive, said as Ireland’s integrity statistics were published on Friday, “and for the first time there will be a restriction on the number of strikes allowed. There will also be higher penalties for frequent offenders.”
Whip offences have declined steadily in recent seasons in Britain, from 1,085, or 1.18% of all runners, in 2010 to 541, representing 0.58% of all runners, in 2018. Ireland’s figure of 213 whip offences in 2018 represented 0.71% of the country’s 29,905 runners over the year.
However, misuse of the whip has continued to cause sporadic controversies in recent years, most frequently when a jockey has picked up a whip ban after a close finish at a major meeting. The Irish amateur Jamie Codd, for instance, was banned for 17 days after his winning ride on Getaway Katie Mai at Aintree last April, when replays showed he had used his whip 15 times.
Further attention was also focused on the whip rules during a parliamentary debate on racehorse protection last October, when a number of MPs questioned its use for encouragement and the Labour member Chris Williamson described its use as “barbaric”.