Jockeys to be given more whip rules advice after Ryan Mania loses ban appeal

Jockeys should be given further advice on how the new whip rules are being applied by the BHA according to independent disciplinary panel chairman James O’Mahony who yesterday presided over Ryan Mania's failed appeal against a four-day ban for using his whip without giving his mount time to respond. O’Mahony said clarification was important in light of next week’s Cheltenham Festival.  

Mania argued the stride on which the whip was first used counted as the first of the minimum three strides required between strikes, whereas the BHA stated there must be three clear strides between uses.

Rory Mac Neice, representing Mania, said the time-to-respond rule had been the same “for at least 15 years” and that the rise in the number of jockeys being found in breach was down to how the rule was being applied.

He said eight riders had been found to have contravened the rule between February 14-25 this year compared with two in the whole of 2022 and ten in each of 2021 and 2020.

“A number of experienced riders are being found in breach, for the first time in their careers in some cases,” he said. “It seems the BHA's interpretation of the rules with regard to time to respond is different, so we have a problem with consistency. 

“Improving consistency was a key plank of the [whip] steering group's recommendations. The local stewards didn't think there was an issue with time to respond. We say that, crucially, if there's been a change of approach, then there has been no assistance provided to tell jockeys the interpretation is different.”

Mania said there was “100 per cent three strides” between his uses of the whip on Leading Force when finishing second in a 2m4½f handicap hurdle at Newcastle on February 25. 

The rider said he would use the whip frequently twice in quick succession when first calling on it, adding that in his view the new rules appeared not to show any change from the old ones. 

“I wasn't thinking I needed to change my style,” he said. “You are hitting the horse on the first stride – that’s the stride.”

This was dismissed by the BHA, with its representative Charlotte Davison clarifying with whip review committee chairman Sam Angell that three clear strides had always been the rule. Instead, Davison pointed to rides now being in breach if using the whip twice without time to respond, whereas previously the whip would have needed to be used three times.

O’Mahony said the panel’s role was to decide “on the balance of probabilities, were there three strides between applications of the whip” and that it was “not for us to intervene in the demonstrative controversy that has been present in racing around this issue”.

He said even if there had been an established belief the first application of the whip counted as the first stride, “there’s no evidence that it is incorporated in the current regime” and therefore that there had to be three clear strides.

O’Mahony added: “On a further matter, having stated the principle that we have in construction of the rules, the BHA may now care to think it would be a good idea if that was reinforced and advice given to all those participating, especially in light of what is happening next week.”

In response to the comments, a BHA spokesman said: "We note the arguments put forward in this morning’s hearing and the comments made subsequently by the panel chair. We will continue to work with jockeys, the PJA and jockey coaches to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the rules and their application.”

Mania, who had his deposit returned, will be unable to ride between March 17-24 inclusive having also received a four-day ban for using the whip above the permitted level, which was not appealed on Saturday.

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