'It's important for us as a sport' - BHA chief executive happy with whip changes

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington hailed the recommendations from Tuesday's whip review and anticipates stronger deterrents will be of benefit to the future health of British racing.

Harrington was speaking after the long-anticipated review was released, setting out changes such as usage of the whip to the backhand-only position and bigger penalties to be implemented, including disqualifications, to jockeys who break rules.

The review was officially launched last summer, delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and came following a recommendation from British racing's strategic welfare report produced by Horse Welfare Board. It is the first major modification to whip rules in Britain in more than a decade.

Usage of the whip is one of the biggest challenges for racing's public perception. According to data from an external survey used in the the review, 55 per cent of respondents supported a ban of its use in racing, but that decreased to 43 per cent when its design and purpose was subsequently explained.

Harrington accepts perception can be caused by "societal factors" but hopes the new measures, likely to be introduced in the autumn, mean the whip will not spoil an experience at the races for casual viewers of the sport.

"I'm acutely aware that racing's future does depend on public engagement, so taking action that allows us to have some teeth, where there is misuse of the whip, I'm really pleased about," said Harrington, who took over at the helm of British racing's governing body in 2021.

"I was really hopeful that what this would do is allow us to take serious action to form a proper deterrent and I'm pleased about how it hangs together as a suite of recommendations. It's been worth the time and I think that model of taking the time to get it right is something we'll continue to focus on.

"I think it was exactly the right starting point, to say we're pulling together something with the aim of it standing the test of time. What you don't know is what's going to happen externally. There can be societal factors at play, there can be government intervention.

"Having something that we feel is a deep enough and strong enough look, so that people don't feel the need to intervene, is also important for us as a sport."

The core recommendations

The review states a "minority" of the steering group had a preference for the removal of the whip for encouragement, with Sweden the only racing jurisdiction mentioned in the review to ban its use.

Harrington did not feel it was inevitable the whip would disappear from British racing, but is mindful of how occasional racegoers could be affected by the perception of its use.

She added: "For those people who dip in once or twice a year, the deterrent effect of these recommendations should mean that those people aren't going to see something that upsets them. When you look at the research, in terms of the percentage of the population that have concerns, a lot of it is linked to how it looks."

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