Damien Oliver: Jockeys won't allow whip-free racing

[Chief Stipe]

 

 

Legendary jockey Damien Oliver has weighed into racing’s debate over whips and industry fatigue. Picture: David Caird

 By Ben Dorries

11:18am • 06 September 2023

3

Comments

Retiring champion Damien Oliver feels there is little chance of Australian jockeys ever allowing racing to move to the point where there are whip-free races.

 

Oliver's home state of Victoria has been at the forefront of plans to reduce whip use and move towards whip-free races.

 

Racing Victoria chief executive Andrew Jones recently said he would bet there would be no whips in racing in 20 years as he hinted at a staged reduction over time.

 

RV was also behind a secret push to stage a whip-free racing series in December, with the plans aborted for 2023 after industry anger boiled over.

 

Oliver, the greatest Australian jockey of all-time, feels the jockey community would push back strongly if whip-free racing was ever on the verge of being introduced.

 

The 128-time Group 1 winner can't see whip-free racing happening and he insists padded whips do not hurt horses.

 

"I don't think the jockeys will allow it to get to the stage where there are no whips," Oliver told Racenet.

 

"I feel padded whips don't hurt the horses.

 

"It's more the noise that the whips make.

 

"The whips have come a long way from when I started, they are padded whips now, and the authorities have changed how much you can use them.

 

"But horses need direction, they need standing over sometimes, it's also a really important tool to get the best out of the horses.

 

"I am comfortable where things sit at the moment.

 

"We may have to tinker with things a little bit, but I can't see it happening (whip-free racing)."

 

 

 

Jockey Damien Oliver, pictured holding his whip aloft after winning the 2001 Cox Plate on Northerly, says jockeys won't allow it to get to the stage where there are whip-free races. Picture: David Geraghty

 

The Australian racing landscape has changed dramatically since riding great Oliver, 51, started as a wide-eyed young apprentice.

 

Oliver has warned authorities to be extremely careful with pushing the envelope too far in terms of night racing and the "relentless schedule" of seven-day a week racing.

 

He said the issue needs to be looked at closely as the current gruelling regimen is pushing exhausted participants to the brink and will force people out of the sport.

 

"Everyone understands (wagering) turnover can be better at night, but I still think administrators have to understand that a lot of the participants are pushed to their limits at the moment," Oliver said.

 

"You have early morning track work, day racing, night racing and backing up day after day and night after night.

 

"There has to be an understanding that you can't push people too far.

 

"You have to work with people to get a result.

 

"The way it's heading at the moment, it's just relentless."

 

Racing Victoria wants a reduction in the use of the whip for encouragement purposes and has stated the whip remains essential for safety purposes.

 

Racing NSW, under chief executive Peter V'landys, has no plans to further limit whip use and says the public must be better educated that "riding crops" do not hurt horses.

[curious]

I don't think either Oliver or V'Landys have much of a leg to stand on. Hard to educate the public that whips don't hurt horses when the research says they clearly do. I don't think the public is that gullible but maybe I'm wrong.

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/11/12/first-conclusive-evidence-horses-hurt-by-whips--whips-don-t-aid-.html

First conclusive evidence horses hurt by whips, whips don't aid jockeys

12 November 2020

Conclusions based on 10 years of research could rock racing industry

Two papes published in journal Animals lend support to a ban on whipping in horse racing. They respectively show that horses feel as much pain as humans would when whipped, and that the whip does not enhance race safety.

 

Do horses feel pain when whipped? Racing industry officials have long held that they don’t.

Yet in two studies released around Melbourne Cup week, Professor Paul McGreevy from the University of Sydney School of Veterinary Science and his colleagues have found that not only have horses evolved to feel as much pain when whipped as a human would, but that there is no compelling reason to whip these animals at all.

The culmination of nearly a decade of research, these findings have the potential to fundamentally change the racing industry, locally and worldwide.

Published across two papers in open access journal Animals, Professor McGreevy says he would not be surprised if the findings prompt the phasing-out of whipping in Australian racing within two years.

 

Whipping hurts horses

Professor McGreevy and colleagues examined whether horses are likely to feel as much pain as humans would when whipped. Using microscopic samples of skin from 10 deceased humans and 20 euthanised horses, they looked for differences between the species’ skin structure and nerve supply.

The results revealed “no significant difference” between humans and horses in the concentration of nerve endings in the outer layers of skin, nor any difference in thickness of this skin layer.

“This was not surprising, as horses, like humans, need robust yet sensitive skin to respond to touch, say, from flying insects or other horses,” said Professor McGreevy.

“From this, we can deduce that horses are likely to feel as much pain as humans would when being whipped.”

“Repeated strikes of the whip in horses that are fatigued as they end a race are likely to be distressing and cause suffering. A horse’s loss of agency as it undergoes this kind of repeated treatment is thought to lead to learned helplessness.”

 

 

Images of horse (A) and human (B) skin, showing comparable epidermal thickness. 

 

Whipping doesn’t make racing safer, faster or fairer

In another paper, Professor McGreevy and colleagues, including Professor Phil McManus from the School of Geosciences, used data from the UK racing industry to compare 67 races with whips to 59 without, controlled for variables including number of horses, racetrack surface characteristics on the day, and race distance.

“In the UK, unlike in Australia, the racing authorities hold whip-free races for apprentice jockeys,” Professor McGreevy explained. “This seems at odds with the racing industry’s claim that whips are necessary for steering, and therefore, jockey safety.

“Nevertheless, our analysis of racing stewards’ reports from the two types of races revealed no statistical safety difference between races with and without whips.”

He and his co-authors also found that race times and metrics of racing integrity – compliance with rules – did not differ between the kinds of races. “This invalidates industry assumptions to the contrary,” Professor McGreevy said.

“The findings of this study clearly show that the use of whips in horse racing is unnecessary, unjustifiable and unreasonable.”

 

The use of whips in horse racing: background facts

• According to the rules of Australian racing, before the final 100 metres, horses must be struck no more than five times. Ove the final 100 metres, they can be struck every stride.
• The industry has said that the padded whip (mandated since 2009) prevents the horse from feeling pain (but does not stop it from feeling ‘encouragement’). It has been shown that unpadded sections of the whip, that most likely cause greater pain than the padded sections, are more likely than not to make contact with the horse. Aside from this, there is evidence that the padded sections can also cause damage.
• Rules around whip use are hard to police. Previous studies by Professor McGreevy’s team have revealed evidence of at least 28 examples of breaches of the whip rules in 15 NSW races, that did not appear in routine, post-race steward reports.
• Norway outlawed the whipping of racehorses in 1982. Meanwhile, in the UK, since 1999, The Jockey Club, and more recently, the British Horseracing Authority, have run whip-free races for apprentice jockeys since 1999.
• In Australia, three quarters of the public support a ban on whipping.

 

 

---

Declaration: These studies and the costs of open access publication were supported by the Sydney School of Veterinary Science and the RSPCA Australia.

Edited September 6, 2023 by curious

[nod]

The trotting people showed how to avoid whipping horses -when the N Zcup field turned for home the two favourits were clear and the drivers pulled their whips  -and whipped each other and continued to do so even after pulling up

Trackside should replay the film

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, curious said:

I don't think either Oliver or V'Landys have much of a leg to stand on. Hard to educate the public that whips don't hurt horses when the research says they clearly do. I don't think the public is that gullible but maybe I'm wrong.

I'm not sure a punter cares as long as the horse they have backed is given every chance.  I'm firmly in the camp that a whip enables you to better control a horse.

[curious]

26 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

I'm not sure a punter cares as long as the horse they have backed is given every chance.  I'm firmly in the camp that a whip enables you to better control a horse.

Is that why most jockeys carry the whip in their right hand when going right-handed? If they were using it for control, surely they'd carry it in their left hand?

[billy connolly]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

I'm firmly in the camp that a whip enables you to better control a horse.

Of course it does but the rule makers wouldn't know this fact, they'd rather listen to and heed the sanctimonious crap of a half baked Veterinary Surgeon than they would the one sector group who'd know if a padded whip is either beneficial or detrimental, the jockeys themselves.

McGreevy should stick to his own profession instead of poking his oar into something he wouldn't have a clue about.

 

1 hour ago, curious said:

Is that why most jockeys carry the whip in their right hand when going right-handed? If they were using it for control, surely they'd carry it in their left hand?

No, they put the reins between their teeth and carry a whip in each hand.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, curious said:

Is that why most jockeys carry the whip in their right hand when going right-handed? If they were using it for control, surely they'd carry it in their left hand?

The best jockeys switch hands when needed.  Don't horses have a tendency to run out?

[curious]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

The best jockeys switch hands when needed.  Don't horses have a tendency to run out?

Exactly. If you were carrying the whip for control, you'd do so in your outside hand wouldn't you?

[holy ravioli]

Oliver the greatest Australian jockey of all time!!!

I believe they will have to get rid of whips in an increasing woke world to pacify the haters.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, holy ravioli said:

I believe they will have to get rid of whips in an increasing woke world to pacify the haters.

Why pacify a minority most of whom don't bet and want racing stopped completely.  Sufficient numbers in the market to ignore them.

[holy ravioli]

19 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Why pacify a minority most of whom don't bet and want racing stopped completely.  Sufficient numbers in the market to ignore them.

You've got it wrong.The majority  of the population DON'T bet.

Animal rights activists and the like will prevail.

[Chief Stipe]

5 minutes ago, holy ravioli said:

You've got it wrong.The majority  of the population DON'T bet.

You don't understand markets - we all realise this.  We know the majority of the population don't bet on horses however the majority of the population do gamble.  The subset that do bet on racing is large enough to ignore the animal activists.  

[nod]

Face facts

Whip use has already stopped in some countries and Australasia  may be the last to get sensible

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, nod said:

Face facts

Whip use has already stopped in some countries and Australasia  may be the last to get sensible

Has it helped turnover?

[curious]

2 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Has it helped turnover?

Makes no difference according to the UK data.

[holy ravioli]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

You don't understand markets - we all realise this.  We know the majority of the population don't bet on horses however the majority of the population do gamble.  The subset that do bet on racing is large enough to ignore the animal activists.  

Take  Lotto out of the equation and your 'logic' evaporates.🙄

[Extra Dollars]

Jockeys wearing raceday spurs.
Which countries allow this&why are the NZ flat jockeys not allowed them&why isnt our whip rule the same as Oz?

Edited September 12, 2023 by Extra Dollars

[Special Agent]

On 9/12/2023 at 8:40 PM, Extra Dollars said:

Jockeys wearing raceday spurs.
Which countries allow this&why are the NZ flat jockeys not allowed them&why isnt our whip rule the same as Oz?

I like the way you think Dollars.