Plans for a one-day experiment by members of the Jockeys’ Guild to race without whips on April 12 at Santa Anita Park disappeared into thin air when the Thoroughbred Owners of California promised to work with the riders’ organization in opposition to the proposed whip rule adopted by the California Horse Racing Board at its most recent meeting.The issue of whip use was raised by The Stronach Group, owners of Santa Anita, in an effort to mollify the volume of outrage that rose in the wake of the alarming rash of equine fatalities that occurred during the first months of the meet.The California Horse Racing Board went along with the idea at its March 28 meeting, adopting a proposed rule that would allow jockeys to use whips for safety and correction, but not encouragement. In the coming days, the proposed rule change will be offered for public comment. Then, if they so choose, the commissioners could amend the proposed rule and vote again or let their original vote stand.In their presentation to the board, guild president Terry Meyocks and guild attorney Tom Kennedy urged that there be further consultation with all interested parties – jockeys, horsemen, horseplayers – before a vote was taken on a measure that had been floated only 14 days before by Stronach Group CEO Belinda Stronach in the wake of the 22nd equine fatality at her track. Although no proof of a direct connection between whip use and the fatalities was offered, board chairman Chuck Winner said that public outcry demanded action. He assured the guild representatives that they would have the opportunity to present data and testimony in opposition to the proposed rule during the comment period. The guild representatives were followed by comments from Kathy Guillermo of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who reiterated PETA’s opposition to the use of the whip in any manner but seemed amenable to the rule change. At this, commissioner and retired Hall of Fame jockey Alex Solis asked Guillermo, “If this rule passes, will PETA support our industry on their website?”Guillermo stopped short of promising such an endorsement, but she did offer, “Your enemies will be fewer if you adopt these rules.”The board adopted the proposed whip rule change on a 5-0 vote.Meyocks, a former racetrack executive whose son-in-law is Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, was left with the impression that the train was leaving the station with or without his organization on board. The problem, as he saw it, was the enforcement of the proposed rule that allowed jockeys to carry whips but deploy them only in narrow, as yet undefined, circumstances. Jockeys would be faced, Meyocks noted, with both the temptation of reflexive use in tight finishes and broadly subjective interpretation by stewards.“What might be a rider’s intention to keep a horse from lugging in could be interpreted as urging him forward,” Meyocks said. “The idea of a jockey doing everything he can to secure the best possible placing within the rules takes on a whole new meaning.”Stepping back for a moment, the past month of agonizing self-reflection by various racing constituencies has resulted in a series of unilateral pronouncements that have served to underline the sport’s decentralized personality and lack of a cohesive message. The Stronach Group surprised everyone with its list of medication reductions and whip reforms. The CHRB placed the proposed whip rule changes on its March 28 agenda in unusually rapid fashion. The Jockeys’ Guild, I guess, figured it might as well join the trend. And so whipless Friday at Santa Anita was devised by the guild, and only the guild.“We’re thinking the rule is going to go through,” Meyocks said, “so we were just thinking outside the box. ‘Let’s give everyone a look at what the sport would look like without whips. Let’s get feedback from the riders, and let’s see if there would be an economic impact.’”Meyocks insisted that the whipless experiment was not a bluff to attract support in opposition to the CHRB rule change. “Our intention was, after riding with no whips on Friday we were going to have the riders use the new whip developed by Ramon Dominguez on Saturday,” he said, referring to the 360GT (for “gentle touch”) crops that have been used by riders this year at Aqueduct, Gulfstream, and last weekend at Keeneland. “There’s always room for improvement in terms of new technology that’s in the best interests of the horse, and in the perception of this industry,” Meyocks added. “Hopefully, we can work with the TOC to come up with something that’s attainable, to go to the CHRB, and hopefully others will buy in.”Fair enough, but there remain bright and deep lines in the sand. Banning the use of the whip flies into the face of racing’s deepest DNA, requiring the same kind of gradual change by which all living organisms adapt. At the same time, use of the gentlest of whips still calls for a jockey to strike the horse, which on its face is defined as cruel in most modern contexts.“Our position is that the whip needs to be used for encouragement, however that is interpreted, and that nobody should tolerate abuse,” Meyocks said.And who decides on the limits of encouragement, and the definition of abuse?“I don’t know,” Meyocks said.