Corrective Action does not count !!!

[cormack15]

But that’s the whole point KF – jockeys should NOT BE ALLOWED to hit a horse as many times as they think necessary to win. They should only be allowed to hit it a reasonable number of times.

Of course, the debate is around what is reasonable I guess.

[ricky lake]

Its no good KF , the damn rules are here , the only way Jockeys can change them is to have a protracted strike until they negotiate a settlement agreed by both parties

How on earth they managed to introduce these 1 week before champions day is now completely lost on me

Someone somewhere messed up big style

The fundamental difference between you , me and Corm is vast , we think the game will be changed for the worse if the rules stand , plainly Corm does not

Time will tell though , 6 months from now we will have seen the changes and or adapting to whats presently in the bha rules

I sincerely hope they revolt soon though , otherwise its going to change jump racing for good (for the worst )…….what odds the whip is outlawed entirely in the next 10 years ….

Ricky

[Oasisdreamer]

If the Gold Cup or Derby were to be won a short head by a horse whipped 9 times (as opposed to the runner up that sticks to the current rules) the whip debate will overshadow everything else about the race doing racing untold bad publicity and put more people off the sport in the long term.

The BHA got racing into this mess. As the governing body it is their duty and responsibility to sort it out but the silence is deafening.

Surely the answers lie in more flexible rules regarding number of strikes, less stringent rules for going over the limit AND throwing the book at any jockey that uses the whip excessively and continues to flout the rules. Give the raceday stewards the authority to deal with serious and repeat offenders.

[Oasisdreamer]

Ricky,

I don’t blame the jockeys for delaying any strike decision as it would play right into the hands of the BHA. A case of "if you won’t play by our rules we won’t play at all" is a serious concern for the jockeys. Then the jocks look the bad guys in the eyes of the general public. In addition they lose out on vital income. Remember winter is just around the corner which no doubt result in meetings being lost to the weather and jockeys income reducing even further.

Therefore another stakeholder group may need to force the issue. The one I think of is owners who can simply instruct their trainers not to enter their horses. However with prize money so weak the opportunistic owner will spy an opening and take advantage of small fields.

All in all a difficult issue for all stakeholders.

We all contribute to funding the BHA in some shape or form. If anyone, pro or against the new whip rules, can argue they are handling this matter well then I’d love to hear the defence.

[ricky lake]

Oasis , yeah perhaps …

but no action leads to acceptance , and then the scenario’s will just follow on

Maybe March Chelters Fest is the right time …but gosh its going to get messy ….they wont have enough Guinness in town to pacify the tourists ….

good post though

Ricky

[Anonymous]

Yes

Oasisdreamer

, your points are well made. Reflecting once again on

Peter Scudamore

‘s 27th September fears (which have been amply borne out in practise) he said this:

That means more breaches. I hope I’m wrong but that scenario would mean the positive effect of these new stiffer changes will be undermined and keep the use of the whip under scrutiny."

An this from a man who believes the new rules are 100% OK. I quote him again, because if it tells us why the jockeys will go

"over the count"

for the owners, it also tells us why they’d be very highly reluctant to go on strike, for exactly the same reasons.

So the jockeys are caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. They can’t afford

not

to break these inflexibly strict rules, but equally they can’t afford to take meaningful action to force BHA to get them made

workable

. They can’t win. No wonder they are depressed, especially as their own leadership is the only rival to BHA in the

Fatuity Stakes

.

That is why this rule is unworkable. It is pleasing nobody, least of all BHA’s real master, and the only person to whom they seem able to respond –

David Muir

of the RSPCA.

[Author]

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