Zito's thoughts on whips

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

First of all - I don't get the whole "requires more skill" thing - since most jockeys aren't that skilled I don't really want to be betting on them without a whip. For horses that drift, don't switch leads, etc. the whip is necessary.

One needn't watch many races before realizing that whips are more the cause rather than the remedy for these things. More horses duck in and out because of excessive whipping than are straightened out by whipping. Poster boy for this would be Sky Dragon. More horses come off the correct lead in the stretch because of excessive whipping than are induced to change to the correct lead by the use of the whip. Take the whip away and herding becomes less frequent and more obvious (to the stewards). Have seen many cases where jocks get so involved with whipping that they miss the point: getting their horse to the wire in as straight a route as possible. Lear's Princess getting beaten up by Coa and losing two Grade 1's as a result would be a nice example of this.

Of course, if you took the whips away then jockeys would actually have to learn how to do basic things: like keeping a straight path and taking a turn correctly.