CHRB Moves Along Proposal to Change Whip Rule

The California Horse Racing Board May 26 advanced a proposal that would alter its current rule restricting whip use by jockeys riding Thoroughbreds.

After a discussion at Santa Anita Park, the CHRB by a 4-3 vote sent out a proposed change to its whip rule to allow four consecutive strikes in the final sixteenth-mile of a race. Currently, riders are allowed to strike three times in succession before allowing the horse to respond. With the CHRB's May 26 vote, the rule goes to a 45-day public comment period.

The opinions expressed during the discussion were diverse.

CHRB executive director Rick Baedeker called the proposal to change the rule a "compromise" after meetings with jockeys, stewards, and CHRB staff.

Darrel McHargue, a former jockey and now the chief steward for the CHRB, said the three-whip rule in its current form has been beneficial.

"As a former jockey, I see where jockeys are keeping the horses straighter, and as a steward, you see them staying out of trouble. There have been benefits to the three strikes versus indiscriminate hitting," McHargue said.

CHRB member Alex Solis, a Hall of Fame jockey who is still riding, supported the change, but got immediate pushback from fellow CHRB member Steve Beneto.

"I think it's a good change," Solis said. "The last sixteenth of a mile is when you need more help. Horses are getting tired and I think that four-whip rule would really help."

"So you're saying the horse gets tired, so he needs four cracks instead of three?" Beneto said.

"I got in trouble a month ago, because in the last sixteenth of a mile, my horse got very tired and it was her first race back," Solis responded, referencing a whip violation for which he was fined. "To be honest, if I didn't hit her that last time right at the wire—she won by a nose. If I hadn't done that, it would have cost me the winner."

"That's what upsets me," Beneto said. "The horse is tired, giving out, and we're sitting here, encouraging them with a whip. I think that's cruel. I'd rather lose the race than abuse the horse."

"I don't know if the bettors are going to feel that way," Solis said.

"To hell with the bettors," Beneto said. "That's how you break horses down, when you encourage them and they're giving out on you, and you're sitting there cracking the whip on them.

Southern California steward Scott Chaney said, "Every steward is not in support of this change."

"For us, the safety factor should be the overriding thing," he said. "What happens when you hit a horse is you're just preventing the horse from slowing down. Our last (quarter-mile) is generally the slowest one, so for me, it is complete animal abuse to use the stick more often when a horse is getting tired. From the stewards' perspective, we're against more whipping."

CHRB member Madeline Auerbach bristled at Chaney's characterization of "abuse."

"I take umbrage with something you said, Scott, and I want this on the record. We do not abuse our horses," Auerbach said. "I take umbrage—we are so careful with our horses, and I speak from a high ground here. I rescue a lot of horses, save horses, love horses. Any characterization that there is abuse going on, I think is not fair."

Darrell Haire, the Jockeys' Guild western regional manager, repeatedly called the potential rule change "reasonable."

"We feel this rule has worked quite well, and that four times in the last sixteenth of a mile is reasonable, because a lot of times, you have to get after them a little bit more," Haire said. "It's not abuse and there's no excuse for abusing the horse, but it's up to the stewards. If they see that or anything that looks close to that, the rider should be called in and fined or suspended."

In the end, the measure was approved for public comment but is far from being enacted. The "yes" votes were Solis, Auerbach, chairman Chuck Winner, and Richard Rosenberg. The "no" votes were Beneto, George Krikorian, and Jesse Choper.

In other jockey-related news discussed during the meeting, agent Derek Lawson, who represents Flavien Prat, advocated for increasing riders' takes in stakes. The rules currently give 10% of the top purse to the winning jockey, while second- and third-place riders get a 5% share of their mounts' purse allotments.

Lawson said the 10% should be across the board, and Winner said the issue would be addressed by the CHRB Jockey and Driver Welfare Committee.