The Rancid Post

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What is this [edit]

famagusta

Is that actually the front page?? Unbelievable!! The English press are racing's worst enemy! Bowing down to the cruelty brigade

lemush

Less said about that rag the better. Hopefully this will be the straw that breaks the camels back.

BumperD

What a suicidal cover page.

diomed

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Copper_pipe

That Bruce mulling ton has begun blocking people on Twitter..

Francie Barrett

Ridiculous. I think it's one thing to have a whip rule (horses shouldn't be beaten within an inch of their lives to win), but it's quite another thing to call for a blanket ban.

NaiveMelodies

Ooohh what a disgrace......:rolleyes:
It's a controversial piece about Horse Racing in a Horse Racing Publication published to sell more copies and get a reaction - which it will.
See Eamonn Dunphy. Neil Francis, George Hook etc etc etc
Get a grip lads.

tryfix

Whatever about the rights and wrongs of the whip, that front page will result in a certain amount of paying customers terminating their subscriptions.

That front page leader could have been used on the inside of the paper as a strong opinion piece that racing people might listen to and consider in a rational way. Instead it was thrown provocatively onto the cover where it would get backs up defensively before it was even read.

In a business like print ye can't just carry on ignoring the feelings of the customers. There's something very wrong in the way the RP is being managed at the moment.

diomed

The whip rules are no good.

Jockeys would change if the authorities disqualified the jockey and horse in the race, and gave automatic time bans of about two months for each.
As it stands there is no reason for a jockey not to hit a horse excessively if he thinks he can get the horse to improve its placing.

When Padraig Beggy won the English Derby this year he did not use his whip much as he was too busy trying to avoid horses.

But if he, or any minor jockey, was in a prolonged battle with a horse not from his stable he would have positives to use his whip (win for his stable;
7.5% jockey fee of about £70k for himself) against one negative, a suspension for a short time (and minor jockeys do not get many rides).
(by minor I do not mean inferior, I mean not as well known).

I do not think use of the whip needs to change.
Excessive use needs to change, and I think there is an easy solution.
Remove the incentive.
Ban and disqualify the jockey and horse.

WickIow Brave

A lot of racing fans in the UK generally don't really understand racing and horses. I see on Twitter, younger British racing fans saying things like it's unfair on a horse to run at Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown and that because they only know trainers like Mullins and Henderson who overmind their horses and barely run them they make out that's it some kind of animal abuse running a horse every other week which is complete nonsense. As if it's a one size fits all and that *race*horses can't take too much racing. A lot of British racing fans seem to think racehorses are like pets that shouldn't be put under any duress and can only race 4 times a year. I've read on Twitter people giving out about Joseph O'Brien and Jonjo O'Neill running their horses too often and another time about Nicholls running his horses too soon after buying them from France because Mullins and Henderson have them stand in their stable for a year. I know this has nothing to do with the whip but it just seems to be the direction racing is going in in the UK.

famagusta

Wicklow Brave, you absolutely hit the nail on the head.
Too many uneducated people giving out about these issues, the problem in England is that the governing bodies pay way too much attention to these social media types

Pinesky

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Ridiculous. I think it's one thing to have a whip rule (horses shouldn't be beaten within an inch of their lives to win), but it's quite another thing to call for a blanket ban.

The headline is just click bait . The article itself is reasonable . He makes the valid point that a lot of things that were acceptable in the past are now taboo and that racing can't bury its head in the sand that use of the whip other than for steering will become socially unacceptable . He himself is against a whip ban .
Coursing in Ireland when I was young was a family day out . If you told people then that the dogs would have to wear muzzles they'd have laughed at you .

razorhead

Where is Sting!!!

kksaints

The UK has considerably stronger anti-horse racing groups than Ireland. The number of complaints over the Grand National is evidence of this. If I remember correctly the UK Green party (fairly fringe party but still get some media coverage) wanted to ban Horse Racing in one of their election manifestos a few years ago. Can't imagine any Irish political party considering something like that.

BumperD

I'd say the number of complaints on whips is as overstated as the issue being raised in the first place.

tryfix

BumperD wrote: »

I'd say the number of complaints on whips is as overstated as the issue being raised in the first place.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. In the UK there's a very large urban population who don't know much about animals bar the pets they keep.

The concept of a horse as half a ton of danger to the human sitting on its back is alien to them. They just see the pretty horseys and think of the whip wielders as being heartless thugs.

There's a disconnect between the reality that they themselves are munching on millions of battery reared chickens every year while at the same they're fretting over the horseys on TV being whipped by the small people on their backs.

BumperD

The only people I ever hear raise the issue is Jim McGrath on the Sunday forum and now this head banger plastering it across a front page. The good thing is the mainstream public don't watch or read either .

I genuinely have never heard anyone give out about the whip in 30 yrs racing.

The first and only thing a non horse racing fan asks when the subject comes up is is the sport bent. Every time that's the number 1 question.

diomed

kksaints wrote: »

If I remember correctly the UK Green party (fairly fringe party but still get some media coverage) wanted to ban Horse Racing in one of their election manifestos a few years ago.

That would result in either all thoroughbreds being exported, thousands of jobs lost, or horses being destroyed because nobody will pay for a horse that has no use.
The Greens would suggest they be returned to the wild. The thoroughbred is not found in the wild and never was. Where is "the wild"? The breed is an invention of man.

jimjamcos

Their editor, Bruce Millington, comes across as fairly uneducated on their podcast- often following others opinion on a whim rather than his own judgement.

Probably should do likewise when it comes to his day-to-day job.

madmoose

Circus paper bought by stag doo's at sat race meetings these days, needs a complete overhaul starting with that idiot millington out.

kfallon

jimjamcos wrote: »

Their editor, Bruce Millington, comes across as fairly uneducated on their podcast- often following others opinion on a whim rather than his own judgement.

Probably should do likewise when it comes to his day-to-day job.

Hates the whip
Loves FOBT's
Thinks Racing Blogger is good for the game
Clueless!

convert

I saw that on Twitter and then ATR were in contact with Kevin Blake to ask him to be one of the panel to discuss the 'whip issue'. He had also done a poll on Twitter at some point re: how many people had actually held a racing whip and examined it - very, very few. And yet it's these very people who will raise the issue of whips being unnecessary and cruel.

What's also interesting in that picture is most of the riders are actually showing the horse the whip rather than actually hitting them. You'd think given that it's the racing post they'd use some images a little more accurate for the article. But, then again, a whip closer to the horse's head is probably seen as more useful to raise debate, as clearly riders hit the horses in the face while racing!

Also: a discussion came up recently as to why jockeys were allowed to carry whips in 'non whip' races. While you can see why the question is arising, it really highlights the reality that people don't understand that while whips are used to encourage the horse to run faster, they are also used to prevent horses hanging, hitting into other horses or to make them pay attention, none of which actually requires the striking of the horse.