Posted on the 15th January 2018
In 2017, there was a shocking rise (11.5%) in the number of times that jockeys broke the whip rules. Compared with 2016, 7% more jockeys broke the rules at least once, and there was a 54% increase in the number of jockeys breaching the rules five times or more during the year.
Animal Aid’s infographic, below, compares the 2016 figures with 2017.
In 2017, the British Horseracing Authority’s whip regulations were breached 524 times by 264 jockeys, against 470 breaches by 246 jockeys in the previous year. Jockeys who broke the rules five or more times in the year also rose from 13 in 2016 to 20 in 2017, with one offending eight times during the year.
It is important to remember that hitting horses during a race (seven times in a flat race or eight times in a jumps race) is still permitted in racing. Animal Aid continues to call for an end to the use of the whip in racing.
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