Effective with the start of the summer/fall/winter harness season at Cal-Expo on Friday, August 13, new rules will apply and be enforced by the California stewards
related to whipping.
The new rules have been submitted to the California Horse Racing Board and the process will be underway to formalize the whipping rules. In the meantime, the stewards will enforce the following house rules regarding whipping:
Cal-Expo Whipping Rules
- 1) No driver shall use unreasonable or unnecessary force in the whipping of a horse, nor whip any horse causing visible injury, nor whip any horse about the head including but not limited to trailing horses, nor whip any horse after the finish line has been crossed except when it has been deemed by the Board of Stewards necessary to control the horse. The Board of Stewards will notify the State Vet to conduct any post race examination on any horse deemed to have been subject to unreasonable or unnecessary force.
- 2) Drivers must keep one line, rein, or handhold in each hand at all times during the race except when the horse and driver reach the seven-eighths of a mile pole marker during the race.
- 3) Drivers must have complete control of their horse at all times on the racetrack.
- 4) The following actions shall be considered indiscriminate, unreasonable, and/or unnecessary uses of the whip:
- A) Any blatant or exaggerated movements of the whipping arm which will result from raising the elbow above the driver’s shoulder height and/or allowing the hand holding the whip to reach behind the driver during the use of the whip.
- B) The use of the whip other than the area inside and above the level of the shafts of the sulky and between the sulky shafts.
- C) Whipping under the arch or shafts of the sulky or use of the whip as a goading or poking device or placing the whip between the legs of the horse.
- D) Using the whip when it does not appear that the horse is advancing its position in the race and appears exhausted and/or not in contention.
Opening night of the summer/fall/winter meet is this Friday, August 13, with racing through December 18. The live August schedule will be Friday and Saturday, August 13 and 14, as well as August 20 and 21. The following week, Cal-Expo will switch over to its most recent traditional schedule of Thursday through Saturday (August 26-28). All first-race post times are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (PDT).
(Cal-Expo)