Gordon Elliott has slammed British racing’s newly toughened whip rules as “scary” and is worried there might not be enough jockeys available to ride in the Grand National at Aintree.
The new rules result in horses being disqualified if the whip is used four or more times above the permitted level, and there are also increased penalties for riders found in breach.
20 jockeys were banned last week after the BHA's newly created whip review committee met for the first time — while one horse became the first ever to be retrospectively disqualified.
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With just two weeks until the start of the Cheltenham Festival, Elliott is massively concerned that a horse could lose a big race at the meeting if a jockey breaks the whip rules.
“I think it’s scary. It’s actually something that really worries me,” said Elliott.
“It’s one thing that I actually lie in bed now thinking about at night. You could win a Gold Cup and then lose it the next day.
“It’s hard to believe. It’s like Brexit coming in. That came in and no one realised what was going to happen and that’s what’s after happening here.
"My biggest worry is for an owner, they pay all the training fees, buy a horse and do everything they can to win at the Olympics, which is Cheltenham, and then could get a race taken off them for doing absolutely nothing.
“We could lose owners out of the game over this."
The whip rules are more lenient in Ireland meaning Irish-based jockeys travelling to the Festival will need to be very familiar with the sanctions they face for a rules breach.
“How in this day and age we’ve got to two weeks before Cheltenham and this is only coming in. I don’t think it’s a brilliant thing, but if it came in at the start of the season then you could live with it.
“Jockeys could now miss the English National if they’re suspended over it at Cheltenham.
"It could actually get to a stage where there might not be 40 jockeys available to ride in the Grand National. I can’t understand it at all,” added Elliott.
The 44-year-old hopes to bring a team of 60 horses to Cheltenham in a bid to add to his 34 Festival winners — which puts him joint-fifth on the all-time list.
He is currently 8/1 to be the top trainer at this year’s Festival, which would be the third time he has achieved the feat.
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