With Blake Shinn not getting into a position to really show his persuasive qualities, apprentice Matthew Palmer was the feature whip rider at Canterbury yesterday. Whip use is again under review due to bleats from Melbourne - where, generally, the worst suggestions originate.
Des Gleeson, the retiring Racing Victoria chief steward, is the playmaker. His northern cousin, Ray Murrihy, is hardly in agreement but is only too happy to consider a possible change to nip intervention from outside quarters in the bud.
Thus Murrihy will again ask the NSW Jockeys' Association on Thursday to test "padded whips" from Britain. According to Murrihy they cut down the impact but "make a lot of noise".
"We tried them before but they were unsatisfactory," Murrihy said during the Canterbury program, tame on the slather and whack. Flailing is hardly a necessity in race riding but restrictions placed on jockeys concerning the number of times they can strike a horse take away a crucial element from horsemen.
Some greats found the whip essential while others, such as Scobie Breasley, only seemed to carry it because it was obligatory. It couldn't be suggested that George Moore - more hands, reflexes and heels - be restricted when he felt the application was necessary. Mick Dittman got better results than most with the whip but never marked a horse. Darren Beadman, also very effective, never applies it unnecessarily.
Murrihy believes overseas experience has tempered the strike rate in more recent years. Note Corey Brown on the youngster Aichi in the Canterbury Auditorium Handicap. No doubt the methods of apprentices Daniel Ganderton and Tye Angland yesterday would have satisfied the most stringent anti-application addicts. Ganderton looked very polished on Cartoon Character, giving his mount tender encouragement in the Private Steer Handicap but, with a good margin on the opposition, he could afford to be generous. Angland wasn't flustered into more desperate action on the promising Rotorua in the Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap. Angland scraped Rotorua through an opening that could have well left opposition horsehair on his mount.
But Angland depended more on canny navigation rather than a power game. Under the circumstances the tactic worked admirably for him.
Matthew Palmer, however, was confronted with desperate situations, setting the pace on Park Esteem in the Dancer Handicap and was challenged strongly by Regal Dane. Perhaps Palmer exceeded the British limit for hits over the latter stages but they were necessary. Again he rated Hotel Casino in front in the Filante Handicap and showed commendable strength to keep him going.
Another apprentice, Peter Wells, had to be forceful with the stick on Illuminates but with one clout less she wouldn't have scored in the welter.
Wells, Palmer,Ganderton, and Angland adapted to their situations. The stewards are in the best position to take action against inappropriate use of the whip. Australian racing is the best in the world. Why tamper with it? Asked what he thought about the current furore, Murrihy replied: "The argument down south is people won't go to the races if horses are whipped."
Certainly punters will drop off betting if they feel horses carrying their money haven't been given sufficient help by jockeys - and some need more than others.