Leading jockey Paul Moloney voiced his displeasure at the penalties dished out for whip offences as the first National Hunt meeting to take place under the new guidelines passed without serious incident at Huntingdon.
Moloney used up his full quota of 'hits' when guiding 25-1 chance Tayarat to a game victory in the Frimstone Recycled Aggregates Handicap Hurdle, but crucially stayed within the rules.
The jockey admitted the matter was playing on his mind throughout the two-mile contest and believes not a single rider in the Huntingdon weighing room was happy with the penalties that are in place.
He said: "I was thinking about it the whole way through the race. You are very, very conscious. I turned in and it was on my mind how many hits I had left and it's quite a strange rule for me and quite bizarre.
"I was fairly certain I'd hit him eight times and I gave him the five you're allowed after the last hurdle. I was sure I was right and I have been practising, but then you have to go and watch the video afterwards to make sure.
"The stipendiary steward said afterwards I was bang on and I'm just lucky it worked out. If you hit your horse nine times instead of eight, you end up getting your riding fee taken off you and the prize-money. With petrol and everything else, it will end up costing you £100 to go racing. I think that is very harsh.
"One of the lads was saying to the stipendiary steward today, people in every walk of life make mistakes. The starter can make mistakes and even the stewards make mistakes, but they don't get their wages taken off them.
"If a jockey hits his horse once too many, he doesn't get paid and I think that's a genuine disgrace. The owner and trainer can go home on cloud nine but the jockey has to go home with his tail between his legs. I've got a family to feed and all I can say is not one jump jockey (at Huntingdon) is happy about the penalties."
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