![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/team_asia-9825-3.jpg__760x480_q85_crop_subsampling-2_upscale.jpg\")
Champagne celebration: Team Asia enjoys success at the Shergar Cup \u2013 but the meeting was hit by a series of whip infringements. Photo: Dan Abraham \/ focusonracing.com<\/p>\nChampagne celebration: Team Asia enjoys success at the Shergar Cup \u2013 but the meeting was hit by a series of whip infringements. Photo: Dan Abraham \/ focusonracing.com<\/p>\n
Popular jockeys\u2019 competition has been hit with a spate of whip bans \u2013 including last weekend, when four visiting riders were suspended for a total of 32 days<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/steve-dennis-2.JPG\")
Shergar would be turning in his grave, wherever that is. The most recent edition of the Shergar Cup, the annual international jockeys\u2019 challenge at Ascot bearing the revered name of the record-breaking Derby winner, was notable for the \u2018wrong sort\u2019 of headlines before and after the fact.<\/p>\n
The cancellation of the hugely popular Ladies team \u2013 frequent winners of the Shergar Cup \u2013 was perceived to be a backward step; there were suggestions from prominent trainers that the calibre of the jockeys involved did not meet the usual high standard; and later, when the champagne had been mopped up and the confetti collected, a worrying statistic emerged from the festivities.<\/p>\n
Last year, three visiting jockeys were suspended for a total of 16 days, and in 2023 Hong Kong rider Matthew Chadwick was signed off for ten days. The unavoidable question seems to be \u2013 does the Shergar Cup have a whip problem?<\/p>\n The day\u2019s overall individual winner Hugh Bowman got 12 days for \u2018using his whip once above the permitted level [six], in the incorrect place and without giving his mount enough time to respond\u2019.<\/p>\n Italian champ Dario Di Tocco was given an eight-day ban for using his whip once above the permitted level, an identical crime and punishment to that involving Hong Kong-based Karis Teetan, while Indian ace Suraj Narredu got four days for using his whip without giving his mount time to respond.<\/p>\n Technical infractions<\/p>\n None of these sanctions involved what could legitimately be termed \u2018whip abuse\u2019, and it is practically certain that no-one among the holiday crowd even noticed these technical infractions taking place. But while we wallow in the language of summary justice, the Shergar Cup has previous in this regard.<\/p>\n Two likely factors underpin this tricky situation. The Shergar Cup \u2013 like jockeys\u2019 challenges in general \u2013 is intended to be fun, a light-hearted but nevertheless competitive afternoon in races that have little external prestige. No pressure, guys and gals. Go out there and enjoy yourselves.<\/p>\n No-one would suggest that any lack of professionalism is aligned with this viewpoint, but many of us do things on holiday that we might not do at home and ensuring complicity with the local rules is not always on the list.<\/p>\n Increasingly intolerant<\/p>\n That highlights the second factor: the whip regulations themselves. They are there for a reason, as racing is part of society and society is growing increasingly intolerant (from a well-informed perspective or not, and frequently not) of the things that provide anti-racing factions with fuel for their antipathy towards this great sport. Hitting horses \u2013 bluntly, basically put \u2013 is one of those triggers.<\/p>\n It cannot help those jockeys competing in the Shergar Cup that different racing jurisdictions have different rules regarding whip use. Sweden and Norway are plain and simple \u2013 no whips to be used for encouragement at all \u2013 but the others are a mish-mash of objective and subjective attitudes to the issue.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In Britain, the limit for whip strikes is six, a number adopted in 2023, probably not coincidentally the time when the Shergar Cup began to manifest trouble in this regard.<\/p>\n There is a sliding scale of other whip infractions, which is how Bowman got his dozen days \u2013 four for exceeding the number of strikes permitted, four for the \u2018incorrect place\u2019 and four for \u2018not enough time to respond\u2019.<\/p>\n Bowman is a thoroughly experienced international jockey, but the Australian whip regulations that are clearly second nature to him are frankly bizarre.\u00a0<\/p>\n Down Under, jockeys may use the whip only five times before they get to the 100-metre mark, but once that Rubicon has been crossed it\u2019s a free-for-all, no restrictions whatsoever, a throwback to the days when Bowman\u2019s compatriot Mick Dittman was nicknamed \u2018The Enforcer\u2019 for his muscular approach.<\/p>\n Subjective outlook<\/p>\n In France and Germany, five strikes is the limit. In the US, it\u2019s six. In Ireland, it\u2019s eight. In South Africa it is 12, which seems lax to say the least. It is nonetheless preferable to the nebulous statutes in operation in Hong Kong and Japan, which have no set limits but take a discretionary approach in regard to individual cases.<\/p>\n In that respect the regulations are only as good as those enforcing them, a subjective outlook that makes it very hard to achieve consistency, which doesn\u2019t seem particularly fair on anyone (or any horse).<\/p>\n As a group, the international jockeys this year clearly had a problem at the Shergar Cup, with four of the nine visitors falling foul of the stewards. It is noticeable and notable that the Swedish champion Per-Anders Graberg was not one of those carpeted by the officials. In the normal course of his work, he never uses a whip.<\/p>\n Muscle memory is a mighty force, however, and given that the local rules conflict with those in operation in their home countries, it is understandable in the brief heat of competition (although not acceptable) that infringements occur.<\/p>\n What can be done? Asking racing people to reach an agreement on anything is a frustrating and thankless task, but there must be a case for greater harmonisation of whip rules on a worldwide basis.<\/p>\n Arbitrary conclusion<\/p>\n The current system is a mess \u2013 it is not even a system, just an arbitrary conclusion based on the square root of not very much\u00a0\u2013 and perhaps, at one of the end-of-year jollies with which racing\u2019s administrators indulge themselves, some form of discussion could begin. Start with the Scandinavian model and work upwards, perhaps.<\/p>\n For one day a year, for one relatively high-profile jockeys\u2019 beano, whips would not be permitted to be used for encouragement. It would contribute to the diversity of the day, create a focal point for those vexing whip harmonisation discussions, and no international jockeys would be hauled in front of the stewards and suspended.<\/p>\n One jockey in 2023, three in 2024, four this year. The Shergar Cup organisers have a serious issue to consider as they prepare for next year\u2019s jamboree.<\/p>\n Shergar himself, of course, ran only once at Ascot, when a four-length winner of the 1981 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. His jockey Walter Swinburn waved his whip for encouragement a few times but never used it with serious intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n The example of one of the all-time greats, in the event that commemorates his brilliance, might be worth considering.<\/p>\n \u2022 Read previous articles in the View From The Rail series<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Seven Days in Racing:\u00a0Shergar Cup whip bans, French Derby winner retired, Thorpedo Anna latest and more \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n What They\u2019re Thinking:\u00a0Hugh Bowman \u2013 The industry is driven by the financial dollar \u2026 but that\u2019s not where the heart is<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018I focused on my career and my life got much better\u2019 \u2013 how jockey Ray Dawson is fighting back from alcohol issues<\/a><\/p>\n View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses \/<\/a>\u00a0jockeys \/<\/a>\u00a0trainers \/<\/a>\u00a0sires<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Champagne celebration: Team Asia enjoys success at the Shergar Cup \u2013 but the meeting was hit by a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-352065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115045104796399732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Suraj](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/suraj-narredu-9825-12.jpg\")
Four of the visiting jockeys \u2013 a mix of big international names and others not so well-known outside their home beat \u2013 were hit with suspensions for whip offences<\/a> of varying degree.<\/p>\n![\"High](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hugh-bowman-9825-11.jpg\")
For visiting jockeys, the Shergar Cup is a busman\u2019s holiday. A chance to ride at one of the world\u2019s great racecourses, an opportunity to get off the treadmill of the usual day job. They are not paid to come, but benefit from five-star accommodation and business-class flights, so it would be only human \u2013 and jockeys are only human, despite what some punters think \u2013 to treat it as a little bit of a lark considering that they are not riding \u2018their\u2019 horses or dealing with \u2018their\u2019 trainers.<\/p>\n![\"Ready](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rest-of-the-world-and-britain-and-northern-ireland-09-08-25-h.jpg\")
Bowman, Teetan, Narredu and Di Tocco may well have been informed of the whip regulations in place (one would expect this to be the case) as part of their pre-race briefings.<\/p>\n![\"No](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shergar-361981-.jpg\")
It would be complex and, knowing racing, probably unattainable. There is another potential angle for the Shergar Cup in particular, though \u2013 no whips at all.<\/p>\n