Luke Nolan Does It Without Whips

Leading Jockey Luke Nolen proved to a big Derby Day crowd yesterday that you don't have to whip it to win it. He urged his filly, Headway, home to a thrilling finish without using the whip once.

The Australian's Patrick Smith wrote:
"Luke Nolen won the Coolmore Stud Stakes on Headway. He won only with the filly's last stride in a desperate finish, but the jockey had not hit the horse once with the whip. Headway does not fancy being struck. She resents the pain and withdraws from the contest. So Nolen drove the filly to a Group I win and $300,000, urging the horse with hands alone. It was a piece of riding that debunked the argument at the height of the whip debate that jockeys could not control the urge to flog horses in tight finishes." Read full article here. Luke's currently on the RSPCA Poor Form Guide - for recording recent breaches of the new whip rules. We'd like to take him off it so will be watching with interest for some repeat performances at Flemington tomorrow. {sidebar id=3}Unfortunately, three jockeys were reprimanded for excessive use of the whip during Derby Day on Saturday:
• Hugh Bowman on Sterling Prince (reprimanded under the provisions of AR137A(5)(a)(ii) for using his whip eight times prior to the 100m which is three more than permissible)
• Noel Harris on Six O'clock News (reprimanded under the provisions of AR137A(5)(a)(ii) for using his whip nine times prior to the 100m which is four more than permissible)
• Darren Gauci on News Alert (reprimanded under the provisions of AR137A(5)(a)(ii) for using his whip eight times prior to the 100m which is three times more than permissible) Hugh and Noel have been added to the RSPCA Poor Form Guide. Darren was already on it.