It was probably a bad ride from a then still young ( ish ) jockey George. I have said I agree with the point that poor use of the whip can cost races. Having said that the whip back then and in the US into the bargain would bear little resemblance to that used in GB now.

Let`s just ban racing and be done with it. Might as well.

Typical silly view posted by Gerry Gallbladder, he comes up with a couple of examples of horses who shyed away from a whip and hey presto all horses shy away from whips.It's that sad old view a couple of girls get attacked whilst wearing short skirts so lets ban short skirts.

Anybody who has ever ridden a horse down a country lane is fully aware of the value of a whip when a horse is spooked.Gerry is just one of those sad opportunist who want to ban the whip, ban NH racing and then ban flat racing.

As for the thread originators post,well  argosy is just rude ,giving the impression of a lack of understanding and an all round obnoxious ill informed plonker.

does he want the whip banned zeb has he actually said that? i get the impression he's just playing devils advocate, admittedly he's not giving much ground and yes he's twisting some arguments to suit his need but he's probably representing a fair few people of the ssame opinion

the answer is sadly going to come with hindsight, in a couple of years we will have either forgotten this stuff or the game we love will be a shadow of its former self, i guess we'll have to wait and see

Yes Gerry has stated he wants to see the whip banned.
I think zebadei is right about some posters having an agenda to get racing banned altogether. I am prepared to give Gerry,renge/egner and one or two others the benefit of the doubt and assume they are just misguided.

ok, i disagree

Sadly salmon Spray,if the BHA who are meant to represent the sport had not made such a pigs ear of it,these looney anti whip ant racing cases would not have been given the time of day - how many Gerry/fecks do you meet at the race course,at a riding stable,etc, none.They are the exception who don't give a monkeys for Racing but just want to spout their animal rights fundamentalism.

Wolfhatthedoor i don't think many are delusional,i think they see it as a means to an end,ultimately they don't think that people should be allowed to own a dog - they are a minority group trying to impose their minority views.

The way I see this whole debate is that for every argument put forward by the pro-whip brigade, us antis have a counter-argument and vece-versa, and nothing that either side says changes the view of the other

However, there is one argument put forward by the anti-whip lobby that no one has yet managed to knock down. That argument is that if you remove the whip altogether (except for correction), it would be virtually impossible for any jockey to get banned for trying too hard. And since it is the penalties that the jockeys appear to object to most, surely removing the thing which causes their troubles would be welcomed?

The other thing of course is that by removing the need to scrutinise whip use during races, stewards could then focus their entire efforts on the one thing that really will strangle the life out of 'racing', namely spotting and punishing non-triers. Ane before the pro-whip brigade launch into their usual "removing the whip is a license to cheat" mantra, don't forget that just because a jockey no longer has a whip it doesn't mean that they're no longer expected to ride to obtain the best possible placing.

Such a silly post Gerry,anybody who follows racing can see that its much harder to sport a non trier without any hose being given a reminder,anybody but those without an agenda realise that NH races over 3m plus on soft-heavy going would become a farce.

A proper stewards panel of horseman to judge pro riders on the ride they give is the right solution,a set of numbers like a naughty step is patently not appropriate.

we could have no racing, that would result in no bans too

elise that is what I imagine the fecks/Gerrys want.

elise 25 Oct 11 13:40 
we could have no racing, that would result in no bans too

And I'm the one who's being accused of wanting racing banned!

Gerry do you eat bacon?, its not a difficult question to answer.

zebadei - I'll answer your quite frankly irrelevant question re bacon once you have found ANY example of me saying that I do not bet on NH racing and that I want it banned.

look on the bright side folks.
these guys will probably leave us portman park
they always seem to give their mounts tender handling and still get the job done

wolfhanger gerry/feck have all ready logged on to the virtual racing forum to propose banning virtual whips on a pixel by pixel basis.

elise - I've pretty much reached the same conclusion in terms of the pointlessness of the debate on here; nothing we say or do on the BF forum will make any difference whatsoever.

Just as you doubtless live in hope that racing's authorities will conclude this shambles with something close to your ideal solution, I live in hope that they'll conclude it with mine. Only time will tell whether the solution they arrive at was the right one...

Gerry if your view prevails,are you likely to be found celebrating with a bacon roll in your hand?

zebadel
dont bracket me with that lot
thought we were singing from more or less the same hymnsheet here