For Immediate Release, Tuesday 12 April 2022

CPR Calls for Penalties That Will Teach Jockeys How To Count

The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) is calling for the disqualification of every horse whose jockey has breached the whip rules after blatant breaches by jockey Nash Rawiller at The Championships.
 
Winning horse, Think It Over was whipped twenty times in the feature race, The Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Randwick.
 
The winning jockey made $115.000 for his win. His fine was just $40,000 and a two week suspension- or paid holiday.
 
Nearly all whipping fines are less than  a few hundred dollars but most breaches are not penalised. In the eighteen days between The Everest and the Melbourne Cup last year, there were 201 whip rule breaches in NSW alone. Only ten received a penalty.
 
CPR is calling for horses who are excessively whipped to be immediately disqualified from the race.

Quotes attributable to CPR Campaign Director Elio Celotto

“Though the whip rules are clear, they don’t serve as a deterrent as jockeys know there’s money to be made by belting your horse.”

“The current whip rules are designed to protect the jockeys- not the horses. It’s a sham where the whip rules are not even properly policed and when breaches are recorded, they are often dismissed.”
 
“Whilst Rawiller received one of the largest penalties for excessive whip use ever handed out, he still pockets $75,000. Running second without a whip rule breach would have given him $37,500. This is hardly a disincentive if they believe a severe belting to the horse is what is going to get them over the line.”
 
“The rules need to be such that the jockey is disqualified for breaching the whip rules instead of being handsomely rewarded for belting his horse.”
 
“Whips clearly need to go, but so long as their cruel use persists, the racing industry must disqualify every horse/jockey from any race where the whip rule has been breached. Perhaps then jockeys may finally learn how to count. “