California enacts stricter rules for whip use

ARCADIA, Calif. - The California Horse Racing Board is enacting tougher whip rules for jockeys, effective next month.

The new rule will restrict riders to using the whip no more “than three times in succession without giving the horse a chance to respond before using the riding crop again.” Currently, there is no restriction on the number of strikes permitted, although rules are in place to penalize a rider who causes welts or breaks the skin of a horse, and to restrict the use of whips to shoulders or flanks.

The rule change was approved by the board last November and reviewed by the state’s office of administrative law earlier this year. Violations will not result in the disqualification of a horse, but a rider could face a sanction.

The rule change, which was endorsed by the Jockeys’ Guild, will take effect on July 1, but there is no racing in the state until the following day at Los Alamitos and the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meeting at the Alameda County Fair.