![]() But it is also impossible to say for sure that it did not, which in turn highlights how treacherously difficult an issue the whip continues to be. A left-handed tap might have done little or nothing to correct his mount’s drift towards the far rail. It is impossible to say with any certainty that New Jersey’s new whip rule was a factor in Midnight Bourbon’s fall or Hot Rod Charlie’s subsequent disqualification. ![]() ![]() The potential safety implications for other horses and riders, such as those just behind them, are not a sufficient reason for giving a horse a tap which could also act as encouragement.įlorent Geroux on Mandaloun (near side) and Flavien Prat on Hot Rod Charlie race for the line without using whips. Prat was still carrying a whip – as were all the jockeys in Saturday’s race – but its use is now permitted only if a rider feels that their safety is threatened. At the same time, though, Midnight Bourbon’s fall – which could have been so much worse for both horse and rider – appeared to bolster the concerns of many jockeys that whipless racing increases the risk of serious incidents and injuries.įlavien Prat, Hot Rod Charlie’s rider, told Daily Racing Form afterwards that his “horse was lugging in a little bit”, adding: “The problem was I cocked his head and grabbed him, but there was little I could do. The abiding image was of two horses and riders giving their all, and not the flailing whips that would have been inevitable anywhere else. Proponents of a whip ban – both in the US and UK – could point to Saturday’s race and insist, quite fairly, that the absence of whipping in the final strides did not diminish the spectacle or excitement in any way. There is no immediate sign that California or Kentucky will follow suit but the 2021 Haskell could yet come to be seen, 10 years hence, as the first domino which set off an unstoppable sequence. The Haskell was the first Grade One race in New Jersey since the state became the first major racing jurisdiction in the US to introduce a ban on using the whip for encouragement. It was such an intense 15 seconds of action that it was easy to overlook the fact there was something missing. Neither Midnight Bourbon nor his jockey, Paco Lopez, sustained any serious injuries in the incident. Hot Rod Charlie and Mandaloun were then neck-and-neck all the way to the post, with the favourite first over the line by a nose before being disqualified for interference and placed last.
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