Mike Smith, one of America’s leading jockeys, has launched a strong defence of the whip and suggested that Santa Anita may step back from banning its use for all but “corrective safety measures” from Friday.
The California track, one of the racing world’s most cherished courses, has been closed since 5 March following the death of 22 horses when either training or racing in the first nine weeks of the 2019 season.
Santa Anita announced a ban on the whip for encouragement ahead of the scheduled reopening of the track on Friday but Smith, who secured the Triple Crown on Justify last summer, believes modern crops do horses no harm.
“Nowadays we ride with cushion crops and they are equine safe,” Smith said. “They don’t mark or hurt a horse whatsoever but they help a horse to focus when you need it, and cue a horse to move forward when you need it.”
Smith, speaking on Wednesday at the draw for this weekend’s Dubai World Cup in which he will ride Seeking The Soul for Dallas Stewart, added: “If you look at these things, it’s like the [foam] Nerf bats that kids buy. They just make a bit of a noise and it cues them [horses] to move forward and stay focused. All it takes is a fifth of a second to lose your focus and then you lose the race.
“[Horses] are herd animals. There are very few in a race that actually want to be in front. That doesn’t mean that they don’t want to run, they would rather follow, some of them, but that doesn’t mean they’re not faster than the horse in front, you just need to help them get on by.”
If it goes ahead with its ban, Santa Anita will be the first course in a major racing nation to take such a proscriptive approach to the whip. Smith, though, feels that the track may ultimately stop short of a complete ban and instead move towards a regime similar to that in Britain, Ireland and France where there is a limit on the number of times it can be used in a race.
Santa Anita is also due to stage the Breeders’ Cup meeting for a record 10th time this November, with horses shipping to California both from Europe and from elsewhere in the US.
“Hopefully we will pretty much adapt the international rules,” Smith said. “I don’t think it [a complete ban] is going to happen. From what I understand, it’s going to be more of an international kind of rule.
“It makes sense, because a lot of people will come in for the Breeders’ Cup and then all of a sudden, you’re expecting them to adapt in one day, so it’s not fair to anybody. This [the international model] would be fair all around and I hope that’s what’s going to happen.”
Smith’s mount Seeking The Soul was one of the first names out of the hat at the draw for the Dubai World Cup on Wednesday, and his connections had plenty of options remaining before deciding to let him start from stall four.
Last year’s winner Thunder Snow, however, was one of the last two names to be drawn and Saeed bin Suroor had only the widest stalls, 12 and 13, to pick from before opting for 12.
Thunder Snow made all the running to win 12 months ago despite starting from stall 10, but Christophe Soumillon may struggle to pull off the same trick this time around with plenty of pace on his inside and other jockeys alive to his plan.
Almond Eye, the third-favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, will start from stall seven when she makes her first start outside Japan in the Dubai Turf.
Newcastle 2.00 Rubytwo 2.30 Ascot De Bruyere 3.05 Lostock Hall 3.35 Bafana Blue 4.10 Oscar Wilde 4.40 Glenduff
Warwick 2.10 Checkitout 2.40 Boughtbeforelunch 3.15 Dustin Des Mottes 3.45 King Of Realms (nb) 4.20 Risk A Fine 4.50 The Swagman
Wolverhampton 2.20 Es Que Magic 2.50 Gantier 3.25 American Endeavour 3.55 Sandridge Lad 4.30 Mawakib 5.05 Lady Of Authority
Chelmsford City 5.30 Amor Fati 6.00 Fox Leicester 6.30 Sing Bertie 7.00 Rux Power 7.30 Rose Berry (nap) 8.00 Multitask 8.30 Ascot Dreamer
Tips by Greg Wood
