Whip violations in Kentucky will cost jockeys days, not dollars

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jockeys who violate a pending rule restricting the use of the whip during a race will no longer be fined and will instead face warnings and suspensions, according to a revision to the regulation approved by a committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday.

The revision, which will need to be approved by the full commission, was described as “swapping dollars for dates” by the commission’s general counsel, Jennifer Wolsing, who said that the amendment had been worked out with officials of the Jockeys’ Guild, a national organization representing riders. The revision was approved unanimously by the Rules Committee of the KHRC.

Under the earlier regulation, riders could be fined up to 30 percent of their earnings for a race for a violation under the new whip-use rule. However, Wolsing pointed out that in certain scenarios, such as the Kentucky Derby, a losing rider who violated the rule would be fined $150 while a winning rider who also violated the rule would be fined $56,000.

“That would be a penalty ratio of 372-to-1 for precisely the same conduct during precisely the same race,” Wolsing said.

With the amendment, jockeys would be issued a verbal warning for a first offense and would then face suspensions of up to 1-3 days for a second offense. The suspensions would top out at “up to a year,” Wolsing said.

The full Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in June approved the restricted whip-use rule over some objections from The Jockeys’ Guild. Under the rules, which are still working their way through a formal approval process, riders can use the whip an unlimited number of times during the first furlong of a race, but are then restricted to six total uses during the remainder of the race, with no more than two strikes in a row without giving a horse “the opportunity to respond.” [The rules do not count any strikes that are used “to avoid a dangerous situation that may harm another rider or horse.”]

A number of racing jurisdictions have adopted new whip-use restrictions over the past several months in order to address public-perception concerns. Many animal-welfare and animal-rights organizations have pressed the industry to adopt the restrictions.

Mark Simendinger, the chairman of the rules committee, asked prior to the approval of the amendment whether the committee’s action would delay the implementation of the rules. Wolsing said that because the rules passed by the KHRC in June had yet to be submitted to the state’s Legislative Research Commission, the amendments would not likely lead to any delays.

Simendinger also said that he was eager to see the rules be formally implemented, echoing the opinions of others on the committee.

“The chances of us getting this right the first time is not real high,” Simendinger said. “I would just like to see us get started and see how it goes.”

The rules committee also approved several other new regulations, which will be forwarded to the full commission for approval. The commission generally approves regulations that have received the recommendation of the rules committee.

The other rules include:

* Requiring the KHRC’s veterinarian to approve the entry of any horse that has never started and is 5 years old or older.

* Requiring the KHRC’s veterinarian to approve the entry of any horse that has not started within 365 days of its previous start.

* Prohibit the entry of any in-foal mare beginning 120 days after her last cover date.

* Give stewards the explicit discretion to disqualify one part of a mutuel entry in a race without disqualifying the other part or parts of the entry. Barbara Borden, the state chief steward, said that the rule was necessary in order to provide clear language about the stewards’ ability to use their discretion on mutuel entries in the event of interference, because the current language was not clear on those powers.