There has been plenty said in recent weeks about the new whip rules that came into effect today but, despite all the criticism it has received, I'm in favour of the ruling.
It's surprising how many of my horses do not like having the whip used on them - Sancho Panza changed from Master Moderate to Mr Consistent just because we found out he didn't like being beaten up and, more recently, Sail Home has improved her form with stick-less riding.
These two maybe pretty honest and give 100% anyway but thinking back to the lazier types I've had (Night Orbit for instance) he ran in three-mile hurdle races and wouldn't travel with much enthusiasm but I always told the jockeys not to hit him immediately but just push out with hands and heels to encourage him.
It's not because whipping horses hurts them - the equipment used nowadays is fully padded and the kids say it doesn't hurt when I give them a good crack round the ear hole!
What the whip is good for though is educating young horses to teach them to run straight and behave. Talking of inexperienced horses, I have just sent three off to be 'broken in'. For those that don't know what this term means, the horses will basically be taught how to have a rider on their back and a bit in their mouth. They left the yard as pretty wild beasts and will hopefully come back as proper racehorses, ready to begin their careers.
The fixture list has been a bit sparse for suitable races for the horses recently and Entrance is our sole representative this week at Redcar on Friday. She loves firm ground and the official going is 'firm' there at the minute so if it stays that way, I think she'll have a great chance. My daughter Shelley takes the mount and seems to get the best out of her so everything looks in place for a good run.
We did have some disappointing displays this week that very much had that 'end of season' feeling.
Emma's Gift put in a lacklustre effort at Nottingham on Wednesday and Jimmy Quinn said she needs a pair of blinkers to help her concentrate.
He also rode Automotive two days later and our hopes were high for a decent show after he had been working impressively. Unfortunately, he just didn't fire and looked as though a step up in trip is what he needs. He definitely has ability though and when we find the key to him he should be winning.
Another one for the future is Dolly Bay. She had her third run at Windsor on Monday and now qualifies for handicaps. I don't think she'll be rated very high and is perfectly capable of winning a five furlong race somewhere.
Three To Follow Update
1st - Richard Salmon, Shelley Birkett 44 points.
3rd - Maureen Youngs 38 points
4th - Peter Darlington 36 points
5th - Adam Beschizza 34 points
6th - Jim Cannon, Martyn Clark 33 points
8th - Rita Aspland 30 points
9th - Ross Birkett, Bill Aspland 28 points
Six others on 23 points, 2 on 22, 1 on 21, 6 on 20, 3 on 18, 2 on 15, 1 on 8 and one entry on five points.
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