Kentucky Horse Racing Commission committee approves new whip rules

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will consider a rule next month limiting riders to six overhand whip strikes in a race after its rules committee on Monday approved the proposed regulation.

The new rule would set in motion a process to place a whip-use rule on the books after an earlier effort stalled late in the process last year. The KHRC approved similar limitations on whip use last year, but the rules were not taken up by a legislative body in the state that must ratify new regulations.

According to racing officials, the new rules were a compromise between racing constituencies in Kentucky and The Jockeys’ Guild, a national organization representing riders. The guild has been lobbying racing commissions around the United States over the past 18 months as states have increasingly sought to limit whip use in an environment in which animal-welfare concerns have become far more relevant to the sport.

The full KHRC is scheduled to meet on June 15, and the commission is expected to ratify the new regulation. Rules in Kentucky typically take six to eight months to go through the full approval process, so the new regulation would likely begin to be enforced in the winter of 2021.

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Marc Guilfoil, executive director of the commission, told the committee that legislative leaders had asked the commission to go back to the drawing board to seek a compromise on the rules, and he predicted that the legislature would approve the revised regulations.

“We can come up with great ideas, but unless we get it through the legislature they’re no good,” Guilfoil said. “So this is something that will move forward through the legislature. This shouldn’t have one ounce of trouble.”

Last year, the KHRC approved a rule with the six-strike limitation that also gave riders free rein to use the whip during the first furlong of a race. The rule went through several revisions and was sent on to the Legislative Research Commission, but the commission did not send the regulations to the legislature after the guild and others voiced concern over several aspects of the rules.

Guilfoil and Barbara Borden, Kentucky’s chief state steward, said that regulators would reach out to riders two months before the new regulations go into effect in order to ensure that jockeys understand the limitations.

Under the new rules, jockeys would be prohibited from going beyond the six-strike limit and would only be able to use two strikes in succession “without giving the horse a chance to respond,” according to Jennifer Wolsing, the general counsel of the KHRC. Jockeys would still be able to use the whip back-handed or under-handed at any time from the three-eighths pole to the finish line, Wolsing said.

“So there are other ways for the rider to use the crop,” said Borden. “The limit is certainly six for the overhand, but it looks to me that there is plenty of ability for the rider to use the crop appropriately throughout the race.”

The Kentucky rules would give the stewards the discretion to levy a minimum $500 fine for a first offense and/or a three-day suspension. For flagrant or chronic violations, stewards could go beyond those minimums, officials said.

Officials for The Jockeys’ Guild said that they were involved in the discussions over the new rules and supported the implementation of the regulations. The guild has been less than satisfied with the rule-making process in other states, particularly California and New Jersey, and they said they hoped that the commission would reach out to other states in the hope that the Kentucky rule would become a model.

“Having different rules in so many different states is no good for anyone,” said Terry Meyocks, president of the guild.

Guilfoil said that Kentucky racing regulators would begin the outreach effort in neighboring states, so that jockeys on the regional circuit wouldn’t face different limitations as they routinely traveled throughout the Midwest racing circuit.

“It’s important for any athlete to react, not to think,” he said.

Late last year, Congress passed a bill establishing a national oversight agency for racing, and that agency is expected to become operational in summer 2022. The agency’s legislative mandate includes rules pertaining to safety protocols at racetracks, and it is expected to issue a nationwide rule on whip use shortly after it convenes.