There was no case to tighten the whip rules to such an extent

The outcome of the Whip Consultation Steering Group’s protracted review succeeded in putting the use of the whip back in the headlines after a welcome respite from one of the most well-worn topics in British racing.

The number of whip offences has fallen sharply over recent seasons and the BHA’s own figures show that more than 99 per cent of runners now compete without any sort of whip offence taking place.

There is really no case for tightening the rules, let alone for imposing a change of technique on the jockeys which, as some of the top riders have belatedly pointed out, will lead only to an increase in the number of offences, with the related counter-productive media coverage.