Aussie jocks collude and won't ride

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Watching a little racing tonight from Warick Farm and the whipping issue came to my thoughts, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as the jockies seemed to be liberally using the stick to urge their mounts in the 1st race. Here are the new rules as ridiculous as they may sound: Get the picture of Glen Boss or Corey Brown counting lashes as they come down the straight in a big race, if this wasn't such a stupid rule it would be laughable.

Australian racing rule AR 137A(5) reads - In a race or trial a rider using the whip must give his horse time to respond and, other than on one occasion in the last 200 metres when the whip may be used in three consecutive strides, the whip shall not to be used in consecutive strides, other than in a slapping motion down the shoulder, with the whip hand remaining on the reins, or alternatively in a backhand manner.”

Hit the fast forward button to Tuesday and the rules have changed.

Now a jockey can hit their mount every second stride from the 200 metres to the 100-metre mark then they can whip their mount on seven further occasions to the winning post.
So how many strides does a horse take in 100 metres? Paul Innes said in a release on Tuesday they take 12 so I was compelled to do my own count in a couple of races at the Warrnambool and Coffs Harbour on Tuesday.

At Warrnambool it was 14 while at Coffs it was 13.

Anyone interested in reading more here is the link:
http://www.racenet.com.au/news/blogs...blog=BlogCraig