France Galop has announced that the number of whips allowed in both the flat and jump races will be reduced from five to four, starting May 1.
This is the third reduction in numbers in a little over six years, during which time the total allowed total will actually be halved.
The two-month sleep period will begin on March 1, at the end of which rule-breaking sanctions will be intensified, with a six-day ban becoming the starting point for the behavior. first violation when three limits are exceeded.
The new rules retain the harsher penalty element in group races, with a five-day suspension for five or six hits and a 10-day minimum for seven or more. But in an effort to create a level playing field between France-based and foreign equestrian athletes in such major events, additional sanctions apply to multiple violations. times will not apply in group races.
There are several stylistic changes to the new rule, with stewards still empowered to control any use of the whip when the elbow is raised above the shoulder or when a jockey is persistent. whip when there is a reasonable hope of earning a bounty or passing other horses is considered gone. But in a fun addition, any slap to the neck or shoulder when a jockey doesn’t have both hands on the reins counts toward a total of four hits.
During bedtime, curators will warn jockeys if they exceed what will become the new limit, while training and workshops will be available at major training centres. and at racetracks.
France has remained at a significantly lower limit than the UK and Ireland since the first in a recent series of declines in 2017, although France Galop’s managers have stopped making comparisons with its neighbours. they are in Germany, which announced in December that the limit would be reduced from five to three strokes.
The new BHA proposal of six in-planes and seven jumps, which has sparked a lot of debate in the UK, has brought the two countries closer together, but the president of France Galop, Edouard de Rothschild, has much repeat that a radical proposal. reducing the number of strikes allowed is in the long-term interest of improving the sport’s image with the public.
There is no provision in the new French rules for a horse to be disqualified for a serious infraction.
