Sorry guys, but this has been eating at me for the last two days....so here we go.

On Thursday I witnessed the most horrendous ride I have ever seen in cruelty to an animal and I would be very interested if anyone else saw this and what they thought.

It was the last race (race 7)at Port Augusta, the horse was WINESONG ridden by M. HOPPO a 35/1 chance. The race was over 1500 metres.

At the 800 metre mark the jockey pulled the whip, and continued to lash the horse from the 800 metre mark to the winning post.
YES, ALL THE WAY - without relenting.

Now, normally some jockeys have a whip action where they actually contact the horse every second or third wave of the whip, but I plainly saw him make contact with each gesture.
So obvious was this that four fellow punters standing next to me commented at the 300 metre mark..."is this guy for real?"
Well, the horse narrowly won the race at 35/1, and no I didn't have a bet on that race, I was waiting to collect from a previous race.
I just thought he pushed the horse beyond the realms of humane treatment.

I don't for one moment think that jockeys shouldn't spur their mounts on using the whip, but this was just a disgraceful exhibition of punishment.

Your could actually see the horse flinch with each stroke. (ears would lay back and he tossed his head to the side).

Anyhow wondered if anyone else saw this race?

I suppose there are two camps that would view this issue.

Those who condemn the jockey for a merciless display of extremely over-aggressive riding for which he should be punished by stewards.

Those who have supported the winner and don't care how the jockey got the horse over the line.

What needs to be considered is whether or not apprentice jockey Hoppo was riding to instructions. Perhaps the horse is notoriously lazy and only responds to hard whip riding. Maybe he was told to ride that way.

Whatever the end result, it does seem that in this case the jockey has perhaps overstepped the mark and it would be interesting to read stewards reports of the race.

Regardless, it is gratifying to know that some punters do actually have feelings for the animals involved.

The whips jockeys use are very small. I doubt they would hurt a 500kg animal all that much. It's not like a stock whip or anything. Its only a slight sting to the skin. Certainly not as bad as branding.
It does however show a lack of skill on the jockey's part.



[ This Message was edited by: chief on 2002-06-16 00:16 ]