The New York State Gaming Commission heard from jockeys, stewards, and heads of multiple Thoroughbred organizations during a two-hour virtual conference Oct. 19 to discuss the potential changes to whip rules in New York.
New York racing rules currently allow jockeys five strikes in succession before giving a horse a chance to respond. There is no limit on the total amount of strikes. Stewards have discretion to determine violation of the whip's use and penalize riders.
No action was taken Monday and no new whip rules or amendments were proposed.
The discussion came on the heels of regulation passed only a month ago in New York's neighboring state New Jersey, where next year jockeys and exercise riders will be prohibited from using the crop except when necessary to control the horse for the safety of the horse or rider. Other states, including California and Kentucky, have limited the total number of strikes a horse can receive from a jockey.
The members of the New York stewards panel for the meeting—Braulio Baeza Jr., state steward of the New York Racing Association tracks; Carmine Donofrio, state steward emeritus of NYRA racetracks; and Erinn Higgins, state steward at Finger Lakes—said they felt current crop use rules worked well in New York.
"We jumped ahead of everybody in New York, and I'm not blaming any other states, but for your safety you do have a rule in place. And in my opinion, if they would enforce the rules they have in place—which gives the stewards a lot of latitude to consider what they consider the misuse of the crop—we wouldn't be talking about this right now," Baeza said. "Currently in New York we really don't have an issue here because we enforce the rule."
Stewards also noted that if a horse is out of contention it should be ridden out and if a jockey feels there is an issue with the horse, they should pull the horse up and dismount.
"We're fortunate in New York that we have the better riders riding with us, so they understand just because you're allowed to hit those five times, doesn't mean that we're going to let you hit the horse five times if we think that you're misusing it," Baeza added.
Leading riders John Velazquez, Mike Smith, and Javier Castellano were representatives for The Jockeys' Guild that called into the meeting. The riders commented that the crop helps with safety concerns when horses lug in or out, and can be used by a rider when they feel the horse is about to shift paths or become distracted. They can then prevent the horse from doing so before stewards even see anything happen.
"People say, 'Well, use the reins,' but let me tell you something. Try pulling on a horse that weighs 1,200 pounds and if it's not working all you have left is the riding crop. It's all we have," Smith said. "If you take that away, trust me, the game becomes twice as dangerous if not more. It becomes very, very difficult. I'm in a state right now in California riding where they have rules that are extremely strict. They changed our style in the way you're supposed to use it properly and it's not working here. We're having a lot of trouble with it. The system's set up to fail. You're having riders being suspended, fined for literally absolutely nothing, and it's just ruining our sport out here. Listening to the stewards there in (New York) speak is the best that I've heard since this thing has been going on. You guys got it right."
The Jockey Club's president and COO Jim Gagliano said he felt the horse racing industry needed to look outside of its own bubble at the perception of the use of a whip, which he said is becoming increasingly intolerable.
"Just last week Petco, I think the largest retailer of pet supplies, announced that it is no longer selling shock collars because they didn't think that was an appropriate way to train animals. … To me and to The Jockey Club we see a future where hitting an animal with a stick won't be acceptable, certainly not for urging," Gagliano said.
In 2019 The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee recommended completely eliminating the use of the crop for purposes of encouragement, noted The Jockey Club's executive vice president and executive director Matt Iuliano. He added that recommendation did not include prohibiting carrying a crop to avoid dangerous situations for horses and riders.
Martin Panza, NYRA's senior vice president of racing operations, said he disagreed with taking the whip away entirely but would like to work with The Jockeys' Guild on finding common ground to create uniform rules for around the country. NYRA is a member of The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition. Other members include The Stronach Group (which operates Santa Anita Park in California), Del Mar, Churchill Downs, Keeneland, and Breeders' Cup.
"We have a slight advantage in New York in that whatever you gentlemen (on the gaming commission) do people are going to follow because New York, Kentucky, and California for the most part are the leaders," Panza said. "The decisions you make will allow the Churchill Downses, the Stronach Groups, and even the NYRAs to go to smaller tracks and smaller states around the country and say, 'Follow the example set by the big racing jurisdictions.'"
