Thought this demanded its own thread. Richard Hughes has handed in his licence after receiving a second ban for breaching the new whip rules at Kempton Park tonight. Just caught the end of a quote form him on 5 live "my livelihood is being ruined by people who can't even publish a fixture list on time"
Imo I thought he usually very conservative with his stick but obviosuly not! He is a great jockey! Is that from today he quits or after the season??
Richard Hughes quits in protest at new whip rules By Racing Post staff 8:08PM 13 OCT 2011 RICHARD HUGHES has given up his riding licence in protest at the new whip regulations after receiving a ten-day ban at Kempton, his second whip ban in four days. The top jockey said he would relinquish his licence until the new rules, introduced on Monday, were reviewed and gave up his two remaining rides at Kempton. "I can't ride horses knowing that I'm not doing myself and the owners who pay £100 a time justice," said Hughes. "I will only consider starting again if there is a review of the rules. I'd rather sweep roads than do half a job. I've notified Richard [Hannon]." The fresh punishment means Hughes will miss the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs next month when he was due to ride Strong Suit in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Hughes also stated he would not ride at Ascot's British Champions Days on Saturday. Hughes registered his disgust with the new rules after his first whip ban on the day the regulations, which limit jockeys to seven strikes (five in the last furlong) on the Flat and eight over jumps, were introduced. Thursday night's second ban, picked up on More Than Words, appeared to be the final straw for Hughes, who took particular aim at the limit of five whip strikes in the final furlong. He said: "We're allowed to hit them seven times and both times I've been done, I've hit them six times, which is less than the amount you're allowed and I've got a fifteen day ban because of it and I miss the Breeders' Cup. "They've made the rules so you hit them more, so you have to get two into them before the furlong pole as then you've only got five left. I was always told as a young jockey the last jockey who goes for his whip normally wins." In an interview with Racing UK, Hughes added: "They're taking the art of race riding away from me, it's like telling Messi not to use his left foot anymore." http://www.racingpost.com/news/hors...es-quits-in-protest-at-whip-penalties/931401/ Blimey, there's the stall set out. Let's see what the stance of the BHA is after that. What a time for this to happen with British Champions Day coming up.
Be interesting too see whether others follow suit to force the BHAs hand - the weighing room is a tight-knit community and I can imagine most jockeys feel the same as Hughes
Wil be intresting to see if any other big names follow- or if they know just to be more careful and adhere to the rules!
It's hard to know what to say. Such a huge debate. We need an insight into racing to give the public and punters a real perception of the whip.
Twitter responses: Richard hughes has got sum balls think we all should back him up #legend (Ed Linehan) Fair play to Hughesy! (- Richie Killoran) Would be terrible for EVERYONE in racing if we dont get to see a great jockey like Richard Hughes ride again!! Sad sad day for racing (Aiden Coleman) The jocks are all on his side. Hayley Turner on 5LIVE right now.
As stated elsewhere, he is only doing it because he is banned from the Breeders Cup. He isn't doing it to make a stand against the rules, he is doing it in the hope that they reduce his ban and allow him to ride in that meeting. I do feel for him on the length of the ban, but he knew the risks and still chose to ride at Kempton tonight and also overuse the whip. The BHA are looking into the feedback and I expect them to react either tomorrow or early next week, and I expect they will allow jocks to keep their fees (not prizemoney) and reduce the severity of an extra slap to 2 days with the five days for anything over that. Put it this way, if he was down to ride Frankel on Saturday would he be handing in his license? Not a chance in my opinion.
I wonder if Kerry Packer is planning a new horse racing super-league in Pakistan or somewhere where the jockey are allowed to use their whips without limit..........................
"my livelihood is being ruined by people who can't even publish a fixture list on time" I love this line. Like many others in here I thought the anti-feeling would ease with time and it would settle down, clearly feelings are running high for a top jock like Hughes to walk away from the sport, but it may just be the catalyst needed for the authorities to accelerate their review. We all said earlier in the week that we expected jocks to miss big meetings and from what I gather Hughes would have missed the Breeders Cup - not sure I expected it so soon to be honest. I've just seen his ride and he may have struck the horse 6 times but none were with any mallice, barely a touch. I doubt the authorities will back down but they really can't afford much more negative publicity...
I fully support Richard Hughes, I hope more big name jockeys follow suit, and hopefully the BHA will realise how ridiculous the new whip rules are
Even better, wouldn't it be great if they all striked on Champions day, the day the BHA have spent years planning
Why do they even need a whip, fair enough to control the horses direction and to stop it going off course. but for speed wise surely the naturally faster horse should win anyways? if nobody had the whip it would still be an even race and the better horse and jockey should prevail.
