Racing: Jockey Club to tighten rule on riding out to the finish

Newmarket July Meeting: Racing's rulers respond after odds-on favourite throws away victory but there are no mistakes from Hannon team

In the aftermath of Tony Culhane's disastrous failure to ride out to the line at Pontefract on Tuesday, the Jockey Club is to trial a rule in which all riders must push their mounts to the finish.

From 12 November, jockeys on the all-weather will have to inform local stewards of a reason if they do not ride out to the line. It is a policy which may be adopted across the sport.

The announcement of the new system comes in the wake of Culhane's surrender of an eight-length lead on the hot favourite True Courage after he stopped riding. He was given a 21-day suspension, which will remain as the maximum penalty for the offence.

"If in the culture of British racing jockeys are always riding out to the line then it is much less likely that they are going to get caught out by not fulfilling their professional obligations," Malcolm Wallace, the Jockey Club's director Of regulation, said here on the July Course yesterday.

"If a jockey is riding out hands and heels to the line there is still plenty of petrol flowing through the engine. If someone comes to challenge him, if necessary, he can redouble his efforts to keep the horse going. We saw an instance yesterday whereby a jockey completely stopped and the horse lost all momentum. He had no chance of getting it going again.

Discussions with the National Trainers' Federation will determine whether riding out to the line should be adopted as a principle across the board. "It's not something we will look at until after we have trialled this mandatory reporting of jockeys," Wallace added. "The first and important thing to do is to get into the culture of jockeys reporting. If we go further, the welfare aspect will not be prejudiced. Welfare is paramount."

The rule appeared to be already in force here yesterday in a July Stakes which resulted in a mass scramble to the line dominated by Richard Hannon. The trainer finished first and second with Mister Links and Tacitus and was slightly troubled that fifth-home Tizzy May's rough passage had denied him a clean sweep.

Hannon has earned the right to be greedy because this season he is turning the dormitory lights out on a unusually talented two-year-old intake at East Everleigh. The trainer has so many high-quality horses among his 80 juveniles that he is running out of Group contests to run them in.

"I know there are problems in having three runners in the same race, but what can I do about it?" he said. "They are all good colts and their owners were keen to have a go at this race. They all have different owners and who am I to say they may not run their horses where they want to.

"I don't like it, but there's not a lot I can do about it. Things may change after this as they may take different paths. Six furlongs is the right trip for the winner at the moment, but Tacitus could go up to seven furlongs or a mile. Mister Links could go for the big sales race at Doncaster. That's worth a stack of money.

"We've done very well buying our horses [for this season] and I couldn't be more delighted with the way they are running. Two-year-olds drag each other along don't they? You get two or three nice horses going and more start coming in behind them. I tell you, I've still got some more, expensive horses."

There are, as yet, no names available. Breeding, as is often the case in racing, seems to be everything as we try to establish the identities of the fast ones to come. "I've a couple of King Of Kings and a Danehill which are all lovely horses and coming along nicely," he said. "We've got the ammunition all right."

There is plenty of gear too at the Arundel stables of John Dunlop, who celebrated his 63rd birthday by recording a double to add to the success of Millenary on the first day of the meeting. Bonecrusher could be in line for an autumn return to these environs for the Cambridgeshire, while Tashawak, the winner of the Group Two Falmouth Stakes, has even loftier targets.

"I suppose that now we shall have to look at taking on the older fillies and colts over a mile," Dunlop said. "There is nowhere else to go for her." He made it sound like a problem.