British racing holds its breath with whip report set to be published

British racing will face soaring temperatures on the track this week, but the heat could also be set to rise off it on Tuesday when details of a review of the whip – arguably the sport's most contentious issue – are published by the BHA.

The review was first mooted at the end of 2018, seven years after the last major overhaul that led to the guidelines now in place, following scrutiny of equine deaths at that year's Cheltenham Festival, which also received negative coverage due to a number of high-profile whip bans.

Recommendations on the role of the whip featured in a report prepared in February 2020 by the Horse Welfare Board (HWB), which was established by British racing with the remit of developing a new welfare strategy covering the industry.

John Gosden: top trainer featured on whip steering groupCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Subsequent consultation was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but in May last year leading British trainer John Gosden was named among members of a 15-strong steering group that also included jumps trainer Henry Daly and jockeys Tom Scudamore and PJ McDonald and broadcaster Nick Luck, whose responsibilities included making recommendations, providing expertise, reviewing submissions and having input into the final proposals made to the BHA.

By September, British racing's regulator had received more than 2,000 submissions through an online questionnaire, although the steering group's suggestions, which had been due last year, were not expected until February, when the BHA had originally sought to publish its report.

After a long-awaited process, that report is due on Tuesday, although possible detail emerged last week in a story in Thursday's Daily Mail, on which the ruling body has declined to comment.

The divisive punishment of disqualification for misuse of the whip is set to be introduced, it was suggested, with the sanction being available in serious instances of the rules being breached in high-profile races.

Disqualification, according to the leak, would be considered where a jockey uses the whip 12 times over jumps or 11 times on the Flat, while enhanced penalties for offenders would follow and include lengthy suspensions.

Exceptions, the article added, could be made if members of the weighing room were able to satisfy stewards their use of the whip was purely for safety reasons, rather than encouragement.

Thanks Be (red cap) should have lost the Sandringham says Charlie FellowesCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

After Thanks Be gave Charlie Fellowes his first Royal Ascot winner in the 2019 Sandringham, the trainer said his horse should be stripped of the victory because jockey Hayley Turner, who was banned for nine days and fined £1,600, broke the rules by using her whip more than seven times.

"I don't think the threat of a bigger suspension would have made a difference," the Newmarket trainer said at the time.

"The only thing that would make a difference is the knowledge that going just one strike above the seven-hit limit would lead to disqualification."

Sir Mark Prescott and Donald McCain supported that call while, before that, Ralph Beckett, now president of the National Trainers Federation, suggested missing showcase meetings and races would deter jockeys from rule-breaking.

BHA chief executive Julie Harrington insisted 12 months ago the sport "must be willing to listen" to whip discussions to safeguard its future, adding the "health of our sport will depend in part on the maintenance of social licence and the trust the public and politicians have in us".

Brant Dunshea: 'Society must trust horse sport to be ethical and reflect its values'

At the same time, Harrington's colleague and chief regulatory officer Brant Dunshea appeared to go a step further, suggesting the sport's popularity could hinge on its attitude to the whip.

"Society must trust horse sport to be ethical and reflect its values," he said. "Public trust will play a pivotal role in the sport’s recovery and plans for growth."

Svensk Galopp, the BHA's Swedish counterpart, this year outlawed use of the whip for encouragement, saying "whip use in horseracing simply does not belong in 2022", while last month Barry Johnson, chair of the HWB, described its use as "a very difficult problem" for racing to solve.

Britain's winningmost trainer Mark Johnston, however, once argued a blanket ban on the whip would threaten racing's existence.

Speaking in 2019, he said: "There are people who object to us using the whip, but when we stop using the whip the next thing [they will go after] will be jump racing, and the next thing after that will be racing altogether."

It is understood the implementation of any changes the whip review throws up are unlikely to happen before the autumn.

Read more on the whip review:

Brace yourselves, changes to whip use are nigh and racing has to get it right (Members' Club)

Disqualification for whip overuse expected to be announced as a new deterrent

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.