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Melbourne in coming weeks will do well to better last Saturday's brilliant Epsom program at Royal Randwick because, among other outstanding features, it was a whip violation-free zone.
Big money brings about a more competitive – if not desperate – attitude from jockeys, geared for what is required in a tight finish or situation that requires extra aggression.
Maybe the outstanding horses, tuned and ridden to the highest standard, lifted Sydney racing on the occasion to a pinnacle where excessive shillelagh was redundant. But Caulfield, Moonee Valley and Flemington promise to be tougher if not better.
Consider the quality of the Randwick winners. Even the Epsom – blighted with a two-kilogram weight spread – taken by Winx had a considerable class edge on Saturday's Toorak at Caulfield, both carrying group 1 status.
However punters will get worthwhile battlegrounds in the south with very strong turnovers anticipated. The next seven weeks is expected to generate at least 20 per cent of TAB Corp's revenue for the year, with as much as $650 million booked in for seven key days, including the Melbourne Cup's anticipated 3000 transactions a second at full throttle.
William Hill is expected to generate more opposition, giving punters the opportunity to bet 20 seconds online after races start, regarded as an "in play" speculation as a means to reverse the turnover tide.
Latest Hill results for Australia showed custom had decreased in Australian currency terms by 23 per cent to $1.02 billion for six months to June 30, figures that hardly indicate a drought or a withdrawal to the home base to the UK where punter flagellation by bookmakers always had plenty in common with riding to hounds and you know who the fox was.
Still, racing is getting touchy about animal issues, particularly horses under the whip, even in the UK where on the flat jockeys are allowed a maximum of seven strokes.
This is restrictive considering the 30 applications by Victor Espinosa in the Kentucky Derby on American Pharaoh, albeit wave was intermingled with strike.
Sir Mark Prescott, described as a sage by Robin Oakley, the learned turf scribe for The Spectator, pointed out whip abuses will never cease until the disqualification of horses where jockeys have broken the whip rules.
"At the moment several top races are won by jockeys who have broken the whip rules while those in second place have obeyed them," Oakley stressed.
Oakley quoted owner Michael Owen: "Is racing the only sport you get rewarded for breaking the rules?"
In Australia new whip rules, removing the distinction between the limit of five forehand and backhand strikes prior to the 100m, will be introduced to Australia in December.
"After careful consideration, we have decided that backhand strikes should be treated in the same way as forehand strikes so as to leave no room for misinterpretation of the rules against excessive use," Racing Australia chairman John Messara explained.
"Importantly, harsher penalties for breaches of the rule will be imposed in a consistent and uniform manner across Australia."
Last spring Zac Purton scored by a neck on Admire Rakti in the $3 million Caulfield Cup and was fined $1500 for using his whip 13 times prior to the 100m in a forehand manner, eight more than permitted.
The jockey was slugged an extra $1500 for using his whip for three consecutive strides on one occasion and two consecutive strides on twice prior to the 100m in a forehand manner.
By comparison Hugh Bowman last Sunday on Preferment in the Turnbull at Flemington was gentle. Preferment won by a short head, with the hoop fined $750 after seven hits prior to the 100 metres, two more than permitted.
