The only loser is the horse
The Australian Jockeys Association may have won by a nose but the RSPCA is warning jockeys that from this point on they will have a lot of eyes on them every time they whip their horses.
The RSPCA is glad that the Australian Racing Board hasn't given jockeys the mandate they wanted; to whip horses as much as they like in the end stages of a race. But we are disappointed they felt the need to compromise at all, especially when all the evidence proved the new rules were working.
The Australian Jockeys Association has been disingenuous during this whole debacle. There is no evidence to back up their claims that this is a safety issue, in fact a 40% drop in interference on the track has been directly attributed to horses not moving away from the whip.
There is also no evidence to support their assertion that padded whips don't hurt. They may not cause as much pain as traditional contact whips but they are painful, why else would you use them?
Jockeys need to focus on changing the way they ride and trainers and owners should support their efforts to have less reliance on whips. Today's decision by the ARB to provide remedial training to jockeys who break the new rules is an excellent step in this direction.
This has become bigger than whips. This is about improving the treatment of horses in the racing industry.
The AJA had an opportunity to show leadership by embracing these changes and the only losers from this whole process are the horses. The RSPCA and in fact the Australian community are justified in their extreme disappointment.