One Week

Published: August 25, 2009 07:37 am EDT

In one week the new Ontario Racing Commission rules that eliminate one handed whipping will be enacted. As of September 1, 2009 we have virtually guaranteed that our horses are protected from being hurt or injured by a whip in a race. The same rules apply to all drivers, trainers, and grooms while the horse is on racetrack property.

As society progresses we have become a kinder, gentler, more thoughtful, and more humane society. This is a monumental event in harness racing history. Possibly the most significant and positive change in decades.

There are so many people out there who are to be commended for helping to make this positive change happen. All the support, opinions, blogs, letters to the ORC, and comments on the various websites were instrumental in making this come about. Support from SHOP and the harness racing publications was particularly helpful. The subject was also covered on the internet by various other equine publications and websites.

The internet has proven to be a fantastic medium for conducting debate, discussion, and for expressing opinions. All interested people can get involved and be heard.

The ORC is also to be commended on their thorough and open minded handling of this issue. It took a little over one year from the first meeting on the subject to the implementation of the new rules. I must admit that I was a little frustrated along the way because things weren't moving along as quickly as I would have liked but in the end I realize that the commission took this issue very seriously and gave everyone involved ample time to give opinions, arguments, and comments before they gave their final recommendations and decisions. I believe that in the end the arguments for eliminating one-handed whipping were overwhelmingly compelling.

Is this change morally correct? - Yes.
Is this change a tremendous thing for our horses? - Yes.
Is this change politically correct? - Yes, and politically correct is a GOOD thing for us and a very important point that we must always be thoughtful of.
Our prosperity in racing today in Ontario relies almost exclusively on the whims and decisions of our politicians. How we are perceived by our politicians and the voters that they represent is very important.

Is this change economically correct? - Let's hope so. Attendance at the racetracks has been on a steady decline for years. In order to have people betting on our horses, we need to get new customers to the track. We need to entertain them and get them interested in the sport of harness racing. The racetracks have identified that whipping has been a problem for us, and the extreme whipping has been a barrier to attracting new fans. We have now dealt with the problem so hopefully in the months and years to come, the tracks can come up with new and innovative promotions to attract these new fans that we so desperately need.

In the short term I suppose it is possible that a few hard core gamblers could modify their betting while they analyze the situation, but I think it would be minimal and short-lived if it did happen at all. The idea that someone would not bet on horses because the driver could not beat on them is hard to imagine and revolting to think about especially when drivers are still allowed to use whips for a reasonable and adequate amount of urging.

I believe most race fans and people who bet on the races appreciate what these horses are doing out there and like the rest of us in the racing business have a great respect for these special animals.

Under the new rules, the drivers can still use the whip for an adequate amount of urging to get a horse to go his maximum speed. A driver might say "if only I could have reached up and peeled my horse one, I could have won", but this is a moot point now because the other driver cant 'reach up and peel his horse one' either so everything is equal. I predict that we will see a continuation of horses getting new speed records, and stakes and track records will continue to be broken.

The one-handed slashing that has been allowed up until now was sometimes caused by desperation, anger, or frustration, but mostly by the sheer excitement of the race to the finish line and a strong desire to win. It was just a bad and sometimes brutal habit that we tolerated simply because it was allowed and because we have always done it that way. Each race now will be won by the best horse, the luckiest horse, or the best driven horse, but never by the horse that was pounded on the most. If you had a chance to watch the two year old stake races this past Saturday night at Mohawk and The Meadowlands, you would see that there is an exceptional group of colts and fillies this year going unbelievable speeds. Because of the money they are racing for, these youngsters are being pushed extremely hard. Too many of them are feeling the sting of the whip coming to the wire at this early age. It is sometimes tough to watch, especially when these youngsters are trying so hard. This new whipping rule will be especially beneficial for the two year olds.

It will be interesting to see how the drivers respond to these new changes. They benefit the most financially from horse racing and should do everything they can to make this work and put on a classy show. They are professionals and my guess is that they will adapt very quickly. Our top drivers are very gifted athletes and I am sure that the truly great ones will remain at the top and the new rising stars will continue to move up the rankings. Great drivers have an exceptional set of hands. When they jump onto the race bike and take hold of the lines you can sense the electricity that is generated between horse and driver. These drivers make some kind of a magical connection with the horse between their hands and the horse's mouth. It will be fascinating to watch these horses and drivers working together as a team to get to the wire first. The race fans will appreciate this and the gamblers will very quickly figure out who the successful drivers are. I believe that the top drivers of today will stay on top without the one-handed whipping, but time will tell.

I feel confident that this change will be a success just as it has been in Europe for decades. The ORC is doing an exceptional and very thorough job of educating the drivers, judges, and everyone involved, about the new rules. The judges are clear on what is required and are committed to enforcing the new rules.

I hope any bitterness that anyone has over these new rules will fade away in time. Even the people who were against the change for one reason or another, care about horses and can appreciate what a tremendous thing this is for our horses. This is something we should all feel very good about.

As John Campbell has said, "A year after the rule is changed - whipping will be a non issue."

We as an industry have shown that we can deal with our problems and make changes. We are very fortunate that racing in Ontario is very good today and our political relationships are good. Purses in slot-advantaged jurisdictions have never been better and we have to work to keep it that way.

I hope we can put this whipping issue behind us now, feel good about what we have done for our horses, and be thankful for the prosperity that our present circumstances in Ontario are giving us.

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