Johnson hoping for whip changes
Leading National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson is hoping discussions on Monday will lead to changes in the new whip guidelines.
Representatives of the Professional Jockeys Association and the British Horseracing Authority are due to meet in London to discuss the fall-out from controversial new regulations that have led to top Flat jockey Richard Hughes handing in his licence, and speculation of a jockeys’ strike.
Sixteen-times champion jockey Tony McCoy will be among the riders involved in the talks, and while Johnson acknowledges changes to the whip rules had to be made, he feels some aspects need tweaking.
“The rules were brought in quickly and obviously the BHA are under pressure to tighten up the rules,” Johnson told Racing UK.
“We all feel that the people who do abuse the stick do need coming into line, but at the moment, the rules don’t really seem to be achieving the objective.
“The people who use the stick well and in the best interests of racing unfortunately seem to be the ones who are getting penalised the most at the moment. We realise it had to be changed, but there are one or two issues that need to be resolved.”
The whip debate was once again in the spotlight at Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday, with Christophe Soumillon falling foul of the rules when guiding Cirrus Des Aigles to victory in the Qipco Champion Stakes.
The Belgian was given a five-day suspension and also forced to forfeit his riding fee and a considerable winning percentage of the prize-money.
“Whether it was the French horse at Ascot or Richard Hughes, everyone in the weighing room felt both jockeys had given their horses really good rides and realistically, they are getting penalised for doing their job very well,” Johnson added.
“I think it’s hard for us to adjust to a change overnight and obviously the more we ride the easier it will become. The penalties that they have put in place are very harsh. I think it does need looking at again.”
The guidelines mean Flat jockeys are allowed to strike their mounts seven times during a race, but just five times in the final furlong, with National Hunt riders allowed a total of eight ’hits’, with five of those permitted after the final obstacle.
Johnson is happy to have a number assigned but feels the BHA need to acknowledge there is a clear difference between the two codes.
“I definitely wanted a clear number as sometimes you are in a grey area and you get suspended and think that last week I didn’t get suspended for giving a horse the same ride,” he continued.
“For me, it is nice to think we’ve got a number, whether it’s the right number at the moment I’m not sure.
“If you use the stick seven times in 50 yards that obviously isn’t acceptable, but if you use it 12 times in three miles, that probably is acceptable. Every horse is different and I think there does need to be a bit of common sense.
“A three-mile chase round Towcester on heavy ground and a five-furlong race on the all-weather are obviously very different.
“Hopefully they are going to look at things again tomorrow and hopefully come up with some measures that are going to slightly change.
“I’m going to Plumpton but I know AP (McCoy) is going to London and I’m sure there are one or two Flat jockeys going as well.
“They have got everyone’s best interests at heart and we all want the same thing – good racing and fair racing. Hopefully we’ll get the right result.”
