BHA set to go ahead with implementation of new whip rules on Monday

The BHA has confirmed the new whip rules will come into force on Monday for jump jockeys, despite calls from some professionals to delay the implementation until after the major spring festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree.

A bedding-in period for jockeys and stewards to adjust to the changes to the rules has been in place since January 9, and the fixtures at Catterick and Plumpton on Monday will be the first to be officiated under the stricter guidelines. Wolverhampton’s Flat meeting on the same day will be run under the current rules as the changes for Flat jockeys come in on March 27.

Jump jockeys will be able to use the whip a maximum of seven times during a race, with disqualification for their mount if they go four or more strikes over that threshold. Riders also face increased penalties for rule breaches.

Efforts had been made by jockeys and trainers to delay the new rules coming in due to nervousness that high-profile meetings such as the Cheltenham Festival would be overshadowed by the whip, with concerns about the implementation of the regulations around using the whip above shoulder height and the penalties riders could potentially receive for transgressing the rules.

Concerns had also been raised by trainers and jockeys based in Ireland about the timing of the changes coming into effect, with many riders set to experience them for the first time at next month’s Cheltenham Festival. However, the BHA confirmed on Friday that further discussions had taken place with stewards and the new whip review committee around how the above-the-shoulder rule was being interpreted, while only breaches involving use of the whip above the permitted level of strikes will be doubled in Class 1 and 2 races.

Irish-based jockeys will be subject to the new whip rules for the first time at the Cheltenham Festival Credit: Edward Whitaker

The Racing Post previously reported BHA sources stating the organisation had no desire for a “VAR-style” adjudication of whether the whip was above shoulder height, with stewards having used freeze frames to ascertain whether the whip hand was above the helmet during the bedding-in period.

This approach has since been amended, with rides judged on normal replays but still using the same guidance on where the whip hand is in relation to the helmet when deciding if a ride has breached the rules.

In a statement released on Friday, the BHA said: “The rules being implemented on Monday are the result of a detailed consultation process designed to foster more considered and judicious use of the whip. They are being introduced after an extensive bedding-in period which has successfully allowed jockeys and officials to familiarise themselves with the new rules and guidance and identify where improvements can be made to their implementation, or where some jockeys might need to adapt their riding style. This was the purpose of the bedding-in period.

“We are grateful for the input of the Professional Jockeys Association, National Trainers Federation and a number of senior riders and trainers and we have now reached a position where the new rules and guidance will be implemented in the manner in which they were intended.”

The statement added: “We were pleased to note jockeys stating that the responsibility now rests on them to ride within the new rules and adapt their riding style where necessary. We have already seen this happening during the bedding-in period, for which jockeys deserve great credit.”

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