I ask only because I see Mr Fayd'Herbe was at his panel beating best on Too Cute at Kenilworth this afternoon. The head on suggests he struck his mount at least 13 times in the finish. The left handed strikes had me cringing and did little to 'persuade' his mount in the final stages of the race.
Clearly some owners have little regard for how their horses are treated. I could write quite long article on some of the horses that have never been the same after his tender ministrations from the saddle.
Given that you are as knowledgeable as you are Garrick, I will assume you intended to say Sailing Ship rather than Too Cute.
With that said, it is a very tricky matter, as I as a punter would much rather see my horse lose with as vigorous a ride as he had given this horse, which in my opinion the horse was responding to it. He wasn't simply whipping without response. As said earlier, I would much rather see a ride like this as opposed to seeing many of our also ran jockeys drop the horse out 15L back and plod home for a fast finishing 7th place. Yes the care for the horse is important. It is a tough one. I just think here Bernard really gave his all to win, unlike some.
Sorry to disappoint you, Dave, but there are two activities which have all but disappeared from my life - Punting & drinking! Given the state of SA racing the first is unsurprising but the second has been something of a surprise & certainly not a conscious decision.
I see from the stipes report that Mr Fayd'Herbe got his customary R1,500 fine for the ride I referred to. I also see that it is his THIRD such 'conviction'; whether this is under the new rule I cannot say.
Clearly the penalty is insufficient to deter this individual and makes me wonder when the stipes to plan to rather give him a good, long holiday.
Garrick - how do you reconcile that he rode your horse in the past and registered 12, 21 and 14 ( conservatively counting ) whip strikes in 3 consecutive races.
I can understand that he may have been given another opportunity after the 1st ride - even though you have previously said that whips are pretty much outlawed in your beliefs - but how do you honestly allow your trainer to book him again after the 2nd occasion ?
Ice Machine - Up to that point in the horse's career I had left the jockey appointment and riding instructions exclusively in the hands of the trainer.
I only intervened thereafter (and after reviewing the videos) by insisting that the jockey in question be removed from future rides and that the filly should be ridden from the front to take advantage of her perceived stamina, big stride & relative lack of speed.
Her first run using the revised tactics produced a good 'whip free' second place and steady (albeit unspectacular) improvement thereafter. Unfortunately there is not a single race AT ALL in the Western Cape programme solely for female horses (which are not maidens) at distances beyond 2000m; so planning races & a career is not easy.
Anyways - not to worry. Zanadu is my very last horse and I honestly look forward to getting out of the ownership habit which dates back to 1978 and comprised about 50 horses in one shape or form. If I have just one regret it is that it took me far too many years to finally wake up to just how exploitative and abusive this game is for the horses themselves. For which I am truly sorry.
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