Jockeys are warned off wet whips

Ever since the new shock-absorbing whips were introduced last April, jockeys have complained that they give the horse too easy a ride, forcing them to use the whip more often and with greater force than before.

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This has brought them into conflict with the racing authorities, leading to more frequent bans for misuse of the whip.

Frankie Dettori is the latest top jockey to have been hit by a whip ban and is currently serving a 14-day suspension to be followed by two more unpaid three-day 'holidays' for careless riding which will rule him out of most of next month's glorious Goodwood meeting.

And senior jockey Steven Drowne, who had not had a whip ban for six years, was stood down for three days earlier this season.

He said: "A lot of lads are struggling with the new whips, which are very soft. You would have to hit the horse harder and with more frequency to get the same reaction, but we are trying not to do that. It's very tricky. It's a balance between wanting to win and staying within the rules."

Now the conflict has taken an unexpected twist with the revelation by the BHA that some jockeys have illegally been doctoring their whips.

BHA spokesman Paul Struthers revealed: "We became aware through intelligence that a small number of jockeys had allegedly been attempting to make the whips heavier by soaking them in water,and that was backed up by an official who had seen a bucket on the racecourse with whips in it.

"At the time we did not think anything of it because the whip, to all intents and purposes, is waterproof. But it's like anything with stitching in it, if you soak it in a bucket,water will eventually seep through."

The BHA has written to the Jockeys' Association stressing that whip tampering is unacceptable and that anyone caught doing it will be dealt with very severely, and instructed racecourse officials to be extra vigilant in future.

Struthers responded to the jockeys' concerns by agreeing to change the way the whips are manufactured so that the padded end, which makes contact with the horse, no longer loses its shape with use.

However, he insisted there will be no compromise over misuse of the whip, and conceded that more jockeys had been banned since the introduction of the new version. "We won't accept misuse. When we introduced the new whip, we didn't change the guidelines as to how jockeys could use it," he said.

"It is still effective and will still give the encouragement to the horse that the jockeys want. It won't totally eliminate the risk of injury to a horse, but it will be kinder to the horse than the whip jockeys were using previously."