Paul Roy spoke to Paul Nicholls on the phone for an hour

He just thinks the big names are the ones that matter. That's why he says that all relevant parties were consulted - i.e. Frankie Dettori and Tony McCoy were probably phoned for a couple of minutes. The other 400 jockeys would not have heard a dickie bird.

It's a bit like David Cameron asking Angela Merkel whether we should leave the European Union and then coming on television and saying that all interested parties are in favour of staying in.

Nicholls calls for whip rule changes as storm threatens to plunge racing into crisis

By Marcus Townend

Paul Nicholls has warned racing will suffer irreparable damage unless further amendments are made to new whip rules tearing the sport apart.

As the champion trainer spoke, his No 1 jockey Ruby Walsh was scrapping plans to ride at Chepstow on Tuesday and Wetherby on Friday in the aftermath of his angry reaction to picking up a five-day whip ban on Edgardo Sol at Aintree on Saturday.

Walsh has said he might only ride in prestigious races in Britain in future. Saturday’s suspension rules him out of Grade One opportunities at Down Royal’s big meeting on Saturday week and any further suspension in this country in the next 12 months will be doubled.

Nicholls said: ‘We have a great product but it is slipping away. You have to penalise the people who are abusive with the whip but the penalties have to fit the crime. We don’t want to ruin a rider’s will to win and craftsmanship.

‘Ruby produced an awesome ride. He is seriously threatening not riding in England again and you cannot blame him. This now also affects me and my owners. Rules are rules but we also have to make them work for the good of racing.’

Walsh, who exceeded the eight strike limit in jump races by one, has yet to decide whether to ride Poquelin in Saturday’s Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

He said: ‘I’m facing a 10-day ban the next time I offend so every ride I take in the UK from now on has to be seriously calculated. It has to be worth the risk because of my commitments to Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls.’
Meanwhile, his colleague Andrew Thornton has claimed stewards should have been able to recognise one of Walsh’s strokes at Aintree — a slap down his mount’s neck as he returned his hands to the reins — was not intentional but ‘instinctive’.
He added: ‘You may as well have no stewards on a racecourse anymore if they not allowed to use their discretion. I respect the BHA but why not sit down to sort this out. It is so unprofessional.’

The BHA amended new whip rules on Friday but riders continue to smart at the severity of the penalties. However, Paul Roy, chairman of the BHA, who spoke for an hour by telephone with Nicholls on Saturday evening, has indicated further changes are unlikely in the short-term.
He said: ‘Ruby is a very big name but the vast majority of riders on Saturday managed to operate within the rules. High-profile cases like this and that of Christophe Soumillon at Ascot escalate the situation but many people have also said that the changes we introduced on Friday were
balanced and reasonable.

‘There comes a stage where you have to move on. We will continue to work with jockeys but there are no plans for any formal meetings.’
The BHA have stressed rule making is not a negotiating process. But, while rules do not have to be popular, they have to be perceived as fair to be effective. In jockeys’ eyes, we have yet to reach that point


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2052561/Paul-Nicholls-calls-whip-rule-changes.html#ixzz1bi5EqJ00

Clueless the pair of 'em. Peppered steak (nap).

I bet he's phoned Chemical Nicky a few times as well