Talking Horses: Irish being whipped into line could hurt Cheltenham

A modern-day Cheltenham Festival involves 28 races and around 400 horses, supports a significant cottage industry of preview nights in the months beforehand and is the only thing on the mind of most racing fans once the Christmas decorations are packed away, if not before. With so much to consider, it is fair to say that no one has ever seen much need for something new and divisive to argue and fret about in the run-up to the biggest meeting of the year.

The British Horseracing Authority, however, apparently thinks differently. It could have introduced its new rules on the use of the whip from the start of summer jumping in May, or even the start of the Flat campaign on turf at the end of this month, and run this year’s Festival as the last under the old regime.

Instead, it took a deliberate decision to ensure that the new rules would be in place for this year’s meeting, and the wisdom, or otherwise, of that choice will become apparent over the next four days, though it certainly feels as though scarcely a day has passed since the turn of the year without a trainer or jockey criticising the move.

Paul Nicholls, the 13-times champion trainer, said recently that he has been “livid all along” about the timing of the new rules’ introduction, adding that the BHA needed to “show some backbone” and stand up for the sport, rather than “appease people who don’t understand the game”, while Richard Patrick, who starts an eight-day ban on Friday, suggested that “everyone [in the weighing room] is petrified about using the stick.”

The whip could yet become an issue that dominates discussion throughout the meeting, not least if it appears that a rider has gone the four strokes over the limit of seven that should trigger a