They're on the way...Racing Victoria's general manager of racing ops, Leigh Jordan, says Irish trainer Dermot Weld has already paid the Melbourne Cup third acceptance fee for his mare Profound Beauty. She'll arrive in Melbourne on Saturday along with Mourilyan, Bankable, Warringah, Munsef, and David Hayes' acquisition Changingoftheguard.That stupid whip crisis just won't go away. No surprise! Latest news is that the regulations are in tatters with Victorian stewards about o dump national penalty

They're on the way...Racing Victoria's general manager of racing ops, Leigh Jordan, says Irish trainer Dermot Weld has already paid the Melbourne Cup third acceptance fee for his mare Profound Beauty. She'll arrive in Melbourne on Saturday along with Mourilyan, Bankable, Warringah, Munsef, and David Hayes' acquisition Changingoftheguard.

That stupid whip crisis just won't go away. No surprise! Latest news is that the regulations are in tatters with Victorian stewards about o dump national penalty guidelines following a strong attack on the new rules by Victorian racing's judiciary. Russell Lewis, chairman of the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board, has branded the Australian Racing Board's recommended penalties, which include suspension for jockeys for over-use of the whip, as 'absurd' and 'manifestly excessive'. The RADB yesterday reduced Craig Williams' four-day suspension for over-use of his whip to a $500 fine and also allowed an appeal on the same charge from apprentice Adam McCabe and varied his four-day ban to a $200 fine. The rulings prompted Victoria's chief steward Terry Bailey to claim that Victoria will no longer be bound by the newest penalty guidelines issued last month by the ARB.

What this means is that we are back to 'debacle' in the whip crisis. How will other States impose penalties? Will NSW jockeys face suspensions while Victorian jockeys do not? From the beginning, the whip issue has been poorly handled, poorly thought out, and now it's hit another hurdle. The introduction of padded whips should have been enough to stifle criticism from extremists but.no, the ARB had to push ahead to try to change Aussie racing...and for what purpose? There is now less trust in the game by punters. Are the horses they bet really going to be given every chance to win? Well done to Russell Lewis for throwing down a challenge to the ARB and its leading figures.