The Wave of the Future
Under the whip (geni80)
I don’t watch too much of the coverage of races on network or cable when they’re on. I DVR them for posterity and watch the race part, but I want to see odds, the paddock and the parade, not patter.
I had ESPN’s coverage of the Lexington on with volume down as I was deciding how to make my play. When I turned on the volume the patter was about Samba Rooster. Apparently he’s a bit of handful and HATES the whip. They were discussing that the strategy with Samba Rooster was that Garrett Gomez wouldn’t even carry a whip. Samba Rooster does best when you make him feel like he’s pulling against you… and clearly it worked as went off at 17-1 and placed paying $17.
Jerry Baily, a hall of fame jockey, added “most horses will give you everything they have without hitting them”.
Then, Randy Moss chimes in with…
I think this this is the wave of the future, I think we should do away with whips completely
Hear, f-ing hear!!! Naturally Toolitore Tessitore cut in jokingly that it was “very European of him” and then they cut to the bugler. But how fantastic of him to say it! I can’t STAND over whipping and to hear someone of Randy Moss’ stature suggest that not only should there be less whipping, but NO whipping was well, fantastic.
I’ve blogged about this before (still at the old site) but it bears repeating. In England they have very clear specifications about the use of the whip. Superstar jock Frankie Dettori was banned for 14 days for his whip use on Ramonti during Royal Ascot. Can you imagine if one our superstar jocks was banned for whip use during the Breeders’ Cup?
Of course that would require there to be some kind of standard and then someone to actually enforce it… let’s hope we see the day when issues such as over whipping and drugging are taken seriously, because until then it’s really hard to convince people that the sport of kings is not “troubled… and filled with dirty little half-kept secrets” or worse, “old-fashioned animal abuse made into a business“, no matter how hard we try.
Before cutting to the bugler, Moss got in “by the way, this shows the horse is very intelligent…”.
Posted by dana on Apr 20 2008
Filed Under: Randy Moss, 2008, The Whip, TBA, Hennegan Brothers, TV, Inspirational, You Tell 'em!, Racing
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I get the feeling that my OTTB was one of those whip-haters and nobody caught on…of course, I’m the one who benefitted because now I have a filly that Ken McPeek paid over $200,000 for as a yearling =)
Banning the whip in horse racing? Now there’s a petition I’d sign up for.
Most of the time if you hear of a problem with a racehorse it’s that it “won’t relax”. Thoroughbreds are eager to run, it shouldn’t take whipping. Many other performance horse disciplines (barrel racing comes to mind) manage top effort from horses without whips.
Our sport looks to newcomers like a bunch of people beating horses with sticks.
Seems to me in his later races Sunday Silence resented the whip…
Jen… always happy to hear about ex-racers in loving situations!
ljk… indeed, and believe me, I want to do some organization/mobilization around “real” issues as well.
i take pictures of race horses and I can’t help but feel that the whip often tarnishes the beauty of some of the images. I imagine people cringing when they see that whip held aloft, just fractions of a second away from administering unwelcome encouragement to these beautiful and courageous animals.
I also find the whip a to be a major nuisance photographically. Sometimes you need to keep it in the shot depending on it’s importance to the story of the image, and it often creates imbalance in the composition.
Have you ever walked down to the top of the stretch to watch a race? On most days, you will be one of few people in the area, which means it’s pretty quiet. Next time you are at the track, take a walk down there and listen to how much noise those whips make when the field turns for home. - Clap your hands together as loud as you can to give yourself an idea…
Trackback: Breakdown at Belmont; Rajeeev Spills
Why is it now that just about every horse is on Bute & or Lasix.Years ago it was a rare thing to find a horse on these meds.?
Wait I know! GR$$D