NY: 'Whip Foul' rule formalized
 

http://racing.bloodhorse.com//viewstory.asp?id=43204

Casual, intentional or otherwise, 'whip fouling' DQ was officially adopted as a rule in NY this week. Had been discretionary for the stewards previously...

I cashed on Rahy's Appeal thanks to that DQ. I won't be sending my winnings back. Yet next time I get screwed in that scenario I will b!tch and complain about it. I'm a hypocrite and proud of it.

Any chance they will ever tackle the abiquity of what is meant by "excessive use of a whip" as Baze was suspended for last year.

The recent incident at Mountaineer where a jock beat a horse senseless prior to a race, that went without consequence just shows how arbitrary these rulings really are.

It's nice that formal mention of a cause for DQ is finally in the rulebook but until they define the boundaries of "appropriate" use of "encouraging a horse"
with a pain providing baton the job is only partially complete.

well I guess the silence here on this one says volumes...

i don't think anything really should be discretionary, if nothing else, the stewards need to be consistent in their rulings.