'It's not easily done' - Thomas expects bans with new whip rules set to cause Cheltenham Festival dilemmas

The BHA asking jockeys to adjust their riding style a month before Cheltenham is like asking a golfer to change their swing just before The Masters, says former multiple Grade 1-winning jockey Sam Thomas.

The bedding-in period for the new whip rules began on January 9 and the rules will come into force on February 13. With the Cheltenham Festival beginning on March 14, it gives riders just a month to adapt to the new rules and trainer Thomas, who rode the likes of Kauto Star and Denman to Grade 1 success, is sceptical about their introduction so close to the festival.

"I'd say the shoulder height rule will take a very long time for riders to adapt to," he said. "Everyone can count generally, that's the easy part, changing your actual style is going to be very tricky. You see golfers try to change their golf swings and completely lose their form for a long while – it's not something that can be easily done.

"Everything needs a bedding-in period, the start of the season would have made sense or the start of the summer, that would have been a better time when people were having less rides. It would have given them more time to adapt their styles and get used to it."

Representatives from the BHA were at last weekend's Dublin Racing Festival to discuss the new whip rules with Irish-based jockeys, for whom the Cheltenham Festival will likely be their first encounter with the changed rules.

Sam Thomas: rode Denman to Gold Cup success at the height of his careerCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Thomas believes their introduction so close to the marquee event will lead to jockeys being unnecessarily distracted during races, and he expects there to be "plenty of bans".

"I think it's going to be a real challenge for riders," he added. "It's another thing you don't want to be thinking about when you're riding. You have enough things to think about when you're taking part in a race and it's another thing that could take their mind off what they should actually be thinking about.

"It's not going to be easy for them and I would imagine there will be plenty of bans. The jockeys are going to have to be very careful."

The new rules have drawn criticism from many senior jockeys including Sean Quinlan, who revealed he would have been suspended for 51 days after riding a winner at Sedgefield in January.

Harry Cobden labelled the rules "bloody ridiculous" when speaking to the Racing Post in December, while champion jockey Harry Skelton and Nicky Henderson's stable jockey Nico de Boinville have also expressed concern over the timing of their implementation.

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