The BHA vs PJA

The 359th edition of the Wayward Lad blog.

No selections for the blog yesterday, but it was an informative day for horseracing.

Firstly, many thanks to the 21 readers of the blog who ticked one of the reaction boxes. According to my stats page, yesterday’s page was viewed (and hopefully read) by 41 visitors. There were a total of 499 “hits” on the blog, of which 287 came from 2 websites (one in the USA and one in Vietnam). This couple of websites have been flooding my blog with “pings” for about 3 weeks and I don’t know why or how to stop it. The balance of 171 “hits” is the usual background noise of the internet – search engines (I assume) pinging the blog when one of the labels is mentioned in a search on google or yahoo etc.

The BHA (British Horseracing Authority) met the PJA (Professional Jockeys Association) yesterday to discuss the implications of the whip rules. I expect that the whip rules are here to stay and there will be little (if any) respite. What I would expect there to be is a re-dressing of the penalties for infringements. Something along the lines of:-
Whip-use +1 (ie, 6 strikes in final furlong): jky caution & fine of 50% of riding fee/winnings;
Whip-use +2: Jockey gets 2-day ban & 75% fine;
Whip-use +3: Jockey gets 3-day ban & 100% fine;
Whip-use +4 and over: Jockey gets a day for every over-use of the whip.

At the moment, I feel the punishments levied have been draconian and unless the punishment is tempered then there will be trouble ahead.

The jump racing at Exeter is poorly attended today, probably due to the good-to-firm going. There is only one horse from my Alert List running, and it is CAPTAIN DASH in the 3:40 (won on Friday in a canter). There is a front-runner in the race who could set a fast early pace - Run Along Boy - and he may take some catching. It is a pity there are only 6 running as the rank outsider - Consulate - looked like he was recapturing some form LTO and he'll be staying-on. All-in-all, I cannot have CAPTAIN DASH at 13/8 as I think he’s more of a 9/4 chance. Being a hold-up horse early-on, he will likely trade much longer in-running and I may leave a small wager on after the off (say at 9.00) and see if it’s taken.

Thanks for reading this blog to all new visitors.

The blog takes a lot of effort to maintain and I hope that readers of the blog get enjoyment from it too. If you have had a successful wager on the back of what you’ve read here, then please make a contribution as an expression of thanks. Feel free to tell those who you think may find the blog of interest and value and, if you are a regular visitor, please add the blog to your list of favourites.

Remember!
Betting on horseracing should be a pleasurable experience - never bet more than you can afford to lose.

Thanks from Wayward Lad.