It’s now three months since much stricter rules were introduced over the use of the whip in horse racing. In that time the Bloody Hopeless Newbies (BHA) have already revised the rules and issued new direction to stewards, but the debate round the changes shows no sign at all of dying down.

The Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton, the main race of a comparatively low-key Sat., provided the latest PR disaster for the BHA, as Swincombe Flame battled back on the run in to win by a nose from Featherbed Lane. Whilst punters were delighted to be paid out on the 9/2 favourite (backed in from 9/1 in the morning) jockey Will Kennedy was left significantly in the red.

Kennedy was adjudged to have used his whip 10 times in the finish, two strokes above the limit, and also to have struck his mount once in the wrong place behind the saddle. As a consequence he was landed with a seven-day ban and forfeited his share of the �25,000 prize cash. The jockey recognized he had damaged the rules and right after the race announced, “I’m not especially one for hitting them but I missed the last and what does One tell the owners? I either hit 2 more times win by a nostril or I don't and I get beaten. Who knows I might have won without those 2 hits? It’s disappointing.”

Kennedy’s ban is mild in comparison with 2 others handed out last week. Greenhorn rider Robert Cooper received a marathon 52 day suspension, the longest to be imposed since the changes were introduced, for hitting his mount 23 times during a race, and flat jockey Robert Winston was given 22 days on the sidelines under the totting up process for his ride on the Mark Tompkins trained Zenarinda at Southwell.

Winston said he would appeal his ban, though he didn't expect to succeed. Spelling out the impact of his second ban within 12 months, Winston related, “I’ve got a young family, I am in possession of a mortgage, and I am in possession of a entire year to wipe this slate clean. I could get banned for a quarter next time. I feel I'm the one being abused here “mentally. I'm just absolutely upset by the entire thing.”

In one sense the timing of these latest bans couldn't be better, as on Fri. this week the Professional Jockeys Organisation (PJA) will meet the BHA to discuss the continual Problems. The BHA’s new Boss, Paul Bittar, takes up his post in 2 days time, and if he is in any doubt about the depth of feeling the new whip rules have caused, he actually will not be after this early discussion.

Kevin Darley, outgoing President of the PJA, asserted yesterday, “It is still really frustrating. When the rules were amended in November, we thought that because the stewards have got the power to use a bit of discretion that might deaden the difficulty, but obviously it hasn't. The men that are riding winners at high visibility meetings are sportsmen at the very top of their game and they're only doing what they feel is predicted of them to stay as competitive as they can. I suspect we are a ways off with these rules, they are still not working as we at the PJA would like.”

Looking further ahead Darley raised the worry that as the guidelines and suspensions continued to feature as major stories stories themselves, there had been a chance of them overshadowing coverage of the horses and the racing at the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National meeting. “We’ve got Cheltenham coming and all these great horses we have at the moment and when they are going and win their races they're what the reports should be about. It's always the enormous days which make the reports, and make the difference not only to the jockey, but to the horse, the tutor and the owner. The guidelines are compromising competitiveness, which is detrimental to the sport.”

Reflecting on those 3 current bans Darley said, “Whether you believe the penalty that Mr Cooper got is proportionate or not, that sort of abuse of the whip is what I think the guidelines are there to stop. But at the very top end, the likes of Will Kennedy and Timmy Murphy and one or two others have given horses fantastic rides and because they are one or two over the limit they are getting penalised. “.

Ian Sutherland is a staff writer at geegeez.co.uk, focused primarily on UK horse racing news. For UK horse racing systems, news, odds and tips, head to www.geegeez.co.uk