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TREASURETHE MOMENT, DAMIAN LANE \/ G2 Wakeful Stakes \/\/ Flemington \/\/\/ 2024 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Racing Photos<\/p>\nFirst of all, the only reason there are whip rules is because the sport has given in to animal rights activists. But if you are going to have rules \u2013 they need to have serious consequences or it\u2019s a waste of time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Australian racing has got itself in a mess. We\u2019ve ended up with whip rules that create headlines, but not outcomes. And if the worst thing that can happen to you is a fine and a few days on the sidelines, the rule becomes something riders manage \u2013 not something they fear.<\/p>\n
James McDonald\u2019s recent appeal is the perfect snapshot. Guilty at Randwick, 10 days and $20,000. Appeal succeeds on the ban \u2013 down to six days so he doesn\u2019t miss a big meeting \u2013 but the fine doubles to $40,000. So the penalty becomes the cost of doing business, not a reason to change behaviour. Officials shorten the time so he can ride, then hike the fine so they can say they were tough.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly the problem. Because in the heat of a big race, no jockey is riding to protect a fine. They\u2019re riding to win. It\u2019s instinct, pressure, adrenaline \u2013 and the last thing you\u2019re doing is counting strikes like you\u2019re sitting at a desk. The idea that a rider is calmly calculating \u201chave I gone one over?\u201d while trying to keep a horse balanced, straight, switching hands, avoiding heels and \u2013 above all \u2013 trying to win the race, is fantasy.<\/p>\n
So if racing insists on having whip rules, it has to accept the obvious: riders will push the limit when the prize is massive, unless the penalty actually changes what they\u2019re chasing.<\/p>\n
A suspension doesn\u2019t change it, neither do fines, but taking the race off them will.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why stewards need the courage to disqualify a winner when whip use has been the difference.<\/p>\n
People say, \u201cYou can\u2019t know how much the whip helped.\u201d That\u2019s a cop-out, because stewards make judgement calls every meeting. Protests are judgement calls. Interference is judgement. \u201cWould it have won?\u201d is judgement \u2013 and it\u2019s already part of the job.<\/p>\n
And let\u2019s be clear about why a jockey uses the whip in the first place. A rider uses it because he believes it will make the horse go faster. If it doesn\u2019t help, you don\u2019t keep using it \u2013 you can feel it immediately when a horse doesn\u2019t respond. But when a jockey keeps using a whip, it\u2019s because he thinks it\u2019s giving him something he needs.<\/p>\n
So if you\u2019re going to have a rule about excessive use, you can\u2019t pretend it doesn\u2019t make a difference.<\/p>\n
TREASURETHE MOMENT, DAMIAN LANE \/ G2 Wakeful Stakes \/\/ Flemington \/\/\/ 2024 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Racing Photos<\/p>\n
Now, not every whip breach should lose a race. Some horses were going to win anyway. Some breaches come about through panic and pressure, not advantage. But in the obvious cases \u2013 the stand-out cases \u2013 you act. Otherwise, you may as well not have the rule.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I keep coming back to Treasurethe Moment in the 2025 Australian Oaks. I\u2019m not here to run a trial on the rider Damien Lane. It\u2019s not about him \u2013 it\u2019s about the principle. That horse does not win without over-use of the whip. Damian Lane thought he was going to lose and went over the limit.<\/p>\n
If you won\u2019t take the race off in a case like that, then you\u2019re never taking one off. And if you\u2019re never taking one off, the jockeys will learn the lesson quickly: nothing really happens.<\/p>\n
Australian stewards are world class \u2013 they are the best at handling interference and keeping jockeys safe, they are great at protest hearings \u2013 so why can\u2019t they get the whip rule right?<\/p>\n
Once riders know that they can\u2019t lose a race, the whole thing becomes farcical. If I was riding now, I\u2019d simply arrange with the owner beforehand: \u201cIf I get fined, you\u2019re covering it.\u201d Because under the current system, the upside is winning and the downside is manageable. That\u2019s how competitors think.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong has got closer to a rule that can actually work because it focuses on what\u2019s enforceable: no consecutive strikes before the 100 metres, with discretion over the last 100 as long as it\u2019s not inappropriate. That\u2019s realistic. But Australia\u2019s rules do not work because you can get an unfair advantage and win the race without any danger of it being taken off you. How is that fair on the second-placegetter\u2019s connections?<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s the bottom line. If whip rules matter \u2013 if racing wants to pretend they matter \u2013 then stewards have to be prepared to take races off people. Until that happens, riders will keep pushing the line.<\/p>\n
Best Since Black Caviar: Can New Aussie Sprint Sensation Challenge Ka Ying Rising<\/p>\n
Ka Ying Rising should stroll to a record-breaking 18th win at Sha Tin on Sunday in the G1 Queen\u2019s Jubilee Cup. When a horse is this good and the race is right, it\u2019s not really a question \u2013 it\u2019s a formality. That\u2019s what champions do.<\/p>\n
But the bigger story isn\u2019t Sunday. It\u2019s what\u2019s brewing in Australia.<\/p>\n
Tentyris\u2019 win in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning was outstanding \u2013 and I don\u2019t throw that word around. He got back and when it was time for Damian Lane to \u2018push the button\u2019 he quickened in a way that only a champion can. It wasn\u2019t a weak field \u2013 this was a strong Group 1 sprint.<\/p>\n
I said it after his Caulfield win last spring \u2013 horses don\u2019t do what he did there to win. And then he backed it up in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes. Saturday just confirmed what I already believed: he\u2019s the best sprinter out of Australia since Black Caviar.<\/p>\n
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KA YING RISING, ZAC PURTON \/ G1 The Everest \/\/ Randwick Racecourse \/\/\/ 2025 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Grant Courtney<\/p>\n
Now, people will ask: can he beat Ka Ying Rising? And the answer depends on which Ka Ying Rising turns up.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, forget it. Ka Ying Rising at Sha Tin running his sectionals, setting his tempo, doing what he does \u2013 no Australian sprinter is beating him there. The way he sustains pressure from the 600 and just keeps running, that\u2019s a different beast on his home track.<\/p>\n
But Australia is a different assignment. And when Ka Ying Rising went to The Everest last year, he wasn\u2019t at his best. He still won \u2013 because he\u2019s a champion and champions find a way. But he wasn\u2019t the same horse we see at home.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the point. If Ka Ying Rising goes back to Australia below his best again \u2013 even ten per cent off \u2013 Tentyris can beat him. This is a young horse who quickens like a proper sprinter, relaxes early and has the profile to take another step. He\u2019s not a horse you can afford to underestimate if you\u2019re not at your absolute peak.<\/p>\n
Ka Ying Rising doesn\u2019t have to be at his best to beat horses like Joliestar, Jimmysstar or Lady Shenandoah \u2013 but he will have to be at his best to beat Tentyris.<\/p>\n
So when Ka Ying Rising heads back for another Everest, he needs to be better than he was last year. Because for the first time, there\u2019s a horse over there good enough to punish him if he\u2019s not. \u220e<\/p>\n
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Michael Cox<\/p>\n
Neville Begg On Emancipation, Hong Kong And A Lifetime In The Game<\/p>\n
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