Whip recommendations set to feature in landmark welfare strategy report

Recommendations on the role of the whip are expected to feature in British racing's racehorse welfare strategy when it is revealed on Thursday.

The report, prepared by the Horse Welfare Board, is set to be a landmark moment for the sport, with BHA chair Annamarie Phelps this week saying the strategy would include a programme of work "unrivalled in our history".

The Horse Welfare Board was established by British racing with the remit of developing a new welfare strategy covering the whole racing industry, looking at the lifetime of racehorses from birth to after they leave the sport.

The board includes representatives from the BHA, racecourses and the Horsemen's Group but has an independent chair in Barry Johnson, a former president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and chairman of World Horse Welfare, while former sports minister Tracey Crouch MP is the other independent member.

While the board's strategy will include a focus on safety, alongside other aspects of welfare within the sport, its thoughts on the use of the whip in racing are likely to be the headline findings.

Any major overhaul to the whip rules would be the first since the review of 2011 that led to the system now in place.

There are concerns that the use of the whip in racing could become a political issue. An early day motion calling for it to be banned for all but safety reasons has been tabled in parliament this month.

This week former Labour sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, who is chairman of the National Horseracing College, told the Horseracing Industry Conference in London he thought such a change might be coming.

He said: "On the whip itself I do think it's inevitable that there will be unity in parliament across the parties about the whip being used for safety only. I think that is where we'll end up and I think we'll get there pretty quickly."

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