BHA open to potential changes to whip proposals following criticism from jockeys

The BHA has opened the door for potential changes to its new whip proposals following an outpouring of criticism from several senior jockeys last week – but any changes could still be introduced next month.

Last week, Harry Skelton and Nico de Boinville joined Harry Cobden, who described the new rules as "bloody ridiculous", Sean Bowen and Aidan Coleman in criticising the new rules and the timing of their proposed implementation a month before the Cheltenham Festival.

This followed concerns raised by Flat jockeys Richard Kingscote, Jim Crowley and Daniel Muscutt, who spoke of the difficulties riders will face in adapting to the new mandated technique for using the whip.

The new rules, which limit whip use to the backhand position and allow for disqualification for serious breaches, were announced in July after the BHA board approved 20 recommendations from the Whip Consultation Steering Group, which included jockeys.

They were welcomed by the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), which engaged with the consultation and described it as "robust".

In November, the BHA announced there would be a bedding-in period for jump jockeys from January 9 before the rules were fully implemented from February 6, while a bedding-in period for Flat riders begins on February 27 before being enforced from March 27.

The BHA plans to proceed with its timetable but that will depend on how quickly concerns around the new proposals are resolved. The main representations made to the BHA in the last few days have related to the use of the whip solely in the forehand position but it stressed that any changes made to soften one element of the rules must be balanced in another area to meet the review's objectives.

In light of the public and private protestations of jockeys, a BHA spokesperson said: "The BHA has always understood the challenges involved in any review of the use of the whip. From the moment we launched a consultation in July 2021 we constantly engaged with all interested parties, especially jockeys and their representatives, to ensure we listened to the views of those most affected.

"Because of that readiness to engage, we agreed to extend the initial implementation timescales beyond autumn 2022, allowing as many people as possible to influence and shape the technical discussion phase. In the past few days, however, further representations have been made to the BHA, including some themes which were not raised as part of the initial consultation or technical discussions.

"In light of this latest information, the BHA and the chair of the Whip Consultation Steering Group have agreed to continue dialogue to explore options that address the concerns being raised, while still delivering our core objective of a more considered and judicious use of the whip for encouragement, and improved perception of whip use.

"It is right that those discussions are allowed to take place away from the glare of publicity but we will look to provide an update as soon as possible in light of the existing timelines for the 'soft launch' of revised rules on January 9."

The steering group is chaired by David Jones, who joined the BHA board in 2021 as an independent regulatory non-executive director, and includes a cross-section of the industry, including PJ McDonald and Tom Scudamore, and trainers Henry Daly and John Gosden.

Its core recommendations also included the use of the whip to stay at seven strikes on the Flat and eight over jumps, in the backhand position only, and the development of a review panel responsible for the evaluation of all rides and any necessary sanctions or actions.

Increased penalties for offences, including doubled suspensions in major races when the whip is used above the permitted level, and disqualification for offences in which the whip has been used four times above the permitted level in all races are set to be introduced.

Read these next:

'The timing's a problem' - Skelton and De Boinville latest to air whip concerns

Senior jump jockeys speak out over 'bloody ridiculous' whip rule changes

Britain's new whip rules to take effect one month before Cheltenham Festival

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