THE British Horseracing Authority (BHA) declined to comment further this week on reports it will consider disqualifying horses whose riders seriously breach whip rules in major races.

Britian’s racing rulers are said to be preparing to publish revised set of regulations taking into account recommendations from the BHA’s whip consultation steering group, with the new rules the end product of a review process that included a public consultation last year.

A report in the Daily Mail suggested that any jump jockey who strikes their mount 12 times in a big race could have their horse disqualified and be suspended for up to a month, with flat riders penalised in the same way if they were to strike their mount 11 times, although both codes would allow leeway if a rider demonstrates a need to ensure their safety or that of fellow riders.

In standard races, jump jockeys are currently limited to eight strikes of the whip with flat jockeys restricted to seven before punishments are handed out. Jockeys in Ireland are limited to eight strikes of the whip in both codes.

The introduction of these rules is likely to prove unpopular with bookmakers and punters, with the disqualification of horses in high profile races is likely to prove controversial in the mainstream.

In the Grand National in April, winning rider Sam Waley-Cohen was suspended for nine days and fined £400 for using his whip above the permitted level from after jumping the last fence and in the incorrect place on the run to the line. Under the new sanctions, the horse may well have been disqualified.

However, racing officials have long been uneasy that jockeys can effectively break the rules in the higher profile races, using their whip more than they normally would in order to win first and face a ban later, not least the concerns of how a horse is being treated in this situation. The argument for an introduction of a rule that would see a horse disqualified if their jockey breaches a limit of whip strikes is that it will prove a deterrent to largely eradicate this sort of offence from the game.

A date for publication of the report is yet to be announced and a BHA spokesperson said: “The whip report is due for publication in the near future. We will not comment on speculation around its contents.”