“If you're going to have the whip rule, you have to enforce it - it's just straight-out disqualification!”

Does the whip rule need to change?

The current rule states that jockeys are only allowed to use their whip a maximum of five times prior to the 100m mark, and not in consecutive strides. But once the jockey enters the final 100m, they can use the whip unlimited times.

The punishment for a jockey breaching the whipping rule is a monetary fine and potentially a suspension.

On Saturday, top jockey Chad Schofield used the whip on nine occasions prior to the 100m on Ceolwulf, breaching the rule.

Ceolwulf went on to win the Group 1 Champions Mile off the back of those extra whips, beating Pericles in a photo finish.

This left Pericles fans and punters outraged as Schofield essentially broke the rules to get the Joe Pride-trained gelding over the line.

As a result of the run, Schofield pleaded guilty to two serious rule breaches, copping an 18-meeting ban for careless riding and an 11-meeting suspension for breaching the whipping rules.

Additionally, the now-suspended jockey was handed a $35,000 fine for his actions on Ceolwulf.

This whole ordeal led SEN’s Gerard Whateley to declare that the whipping rule requires a disqualification for the horse and jockey who breached the rule, in their specific race.

“I want to deal with the whip rule,” Whateley told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.

“Chad Schofield was fined $35,000 which is just under half what he gets in prize money.

“He used the whip nine times prior to the 100 metres, which is four more than is permitted.

“So that's just blatant, doesn't care, needs the whip to get the horse going, who's been headed by Pericles, and the only disincentive is a financial disincentive.

“If you're going to have the whip rule, you have to enforce it - it's just straight-out disqualification!”

SENTrack's Gareth Hall added: “Well, you're gonna put that into the rules of racing.

Whateley responded: “That's right, and then you will never have the whip rule breached again.

“If Chad knows that if he uses it more than the five times permitted, then he's out of the race, he won't do it ever!

“But he uses it because that horse needs to lift against Pericles, who's going to beat him.

“We pretend that this is ok. It's not, you either have the rule or you don't.

“It can't be the pirate's guidelines, you either have it and enforce it, or you don't worry about it.”

The conversation continued between Whateley, Hall and trainer Wayne Hawkes questioning the effectiveness of the current rule.

Hall: “The whip rule is there to make sure the game looks cleaner, obviously with the welfare situation, the perception of the game.”

“But unless you put into the rules that the stewards have got the power to disqualify or relegate, then you can't protest because there's no steward in the world that you can go into a steward's room with the optics and say, ‘Well, if Chad Schofield didn't hit or hit that horse too much, then that would have been the difference’.

Whateley: “It's just an absolute - this is the amount of times you're permitted to use it, and if you breach it, you're out."

Hall: “So you gotta put that into the rules, it's black and white."

Whateley: “That’s right!"

Hall: “And so there's no protest, it's just the stewards go, 'You broke the rule, you're relegated'.

“But the rule at the moment is that you have to protest.

“But no steward is gonna uphold a protest like that.

“So, you either change the rules of racing, or you make it clear to the punters out there that if a jockey breaks the whip rule, they're gonna be hurt financially, but we're never going to uphold a protest."

Whateley: “Which is where we are."

Hall: “Yes, at the moment yes."

Whateley: “Because they have to just ask, what do we want from this? Either scrap it or actually enforce it."

Hall: "It's in a grey spot at the moment."

Hawkes: “It’s always been in a grey spot."

Hall: "Because if you've backed Benny Melham (on Pericles) and Benny Melham comes back and goes, ‘Well, I didn't win that because I didn't want to break the whip rules’.

“Now that wasn't the case on Saturday, but then if you back Pericles, you're dirty on the situation because Chad Schofield has broken the rules and won the race."

Whateley: “And your jockey didn't!”

Prominent racehorse owner John O’Neill also chimed in on the dilemma, questioning if the current financial penalty is even really a penalty, as there is nothing stopping an owner from reimbursing the jockey who has been fined.

“The question I ask is, is it really a financial penalty?” O’Neill questioned.

“Because if I’m the owner and I’ve won and I know the jockeys just lost half their purse, you just sling them the money.”