What is a weight cloth?

In any horse race, a jockey must, subject to any weight ‘claim’, carry at least the weight shown on the racecard. Accordingly, jockeys ‘weigh out’, along with all the equipment they will carry in a race, including the saddle, in front of a racecourse official known as the ‘Clerk of the Scales’. In the event that the combined weight of the jockey and his/her equipment is lighter than the weight shown on the racecard, additional weight, in the form of thin lead weights supplied by the racecourse, is added to make up the difference.

In this case, the horse is question wears a special cloth, known as a weight cloth, beneath the saddle. The weight cloth fits securely underneath the saddle and typically has two or more pockets into which lead weights can be placed to distribute the additional ‘dead weight’ evenly. Most racehorse trainers prefer their horses to carry as little ‘dead weight’ as possible, on the grounds that it is more difficult to carry than the ‘live weight’ of a jockey, which can move relative to the horse. Nevertheless, in situations where the weight of the jockey doesn’t closely match the weight allocated, a weight cloth is an unobtrusive solution, which creates no distraction for horse or rider.

Why Does a Jockey Use a Whip?

Basically, there are two reasons a jockey uses a whip: to steer and make the horse go faster.

In bygone days of horse racing, you may well have seen a jockey use the whip much more vigorously than today.

Animal welfare was in its infancy and the desire to win come at all costs. The whip was used as a ‘tool’ to encourage a horse to go faster. In essence, punished to run faster, the goal to win.

The whip has been associated with animal cruelty.

These days, the spectacle of a horse being hit countless times is a less common sight.

In 2011, the British Horse Racing Association changed the whip rules nearly halving the number of times a horse can be struck to 7 strokes for the Flat and 8 for the National Hunt. And a maximum of 5 strokes in the final furlong or after the last obstacle.

Whip rules include:

1) The manner in which the whip was used, including the degree of force

2) The purpose for which the whip was used

3) The distance over which the whip was used and whether the number of times it was used was reasonable and necessary

4) Whether the horse was continuing to respond

If a jockey is in breach of the rules the stewards will give a penalty for the offence resulting in suspension of days racing and/or monetary fine.

These rules are updated on a regular basis.

Thankfully, the days gross abuse of the whip are a thing of the past but animal welfare is an important subject for the protection of horses within racing and the how the use of the whip is viewed and perceived.

There are races which do not allow the use of the whip called ‘hands and heels’ and even if a whip is carried it may only be used in cases where a horse is out of control.

There is scientific evidence that whipping a horse doesn’t make it run faster although others considered the data biased. (It was funded by the RSPCA)

Perhaps the day will come when the use of the whip is abolished.

How many steeplechases did Desert Orchid win?

Foaled in April, 1979, Desert Orchid was a prolific novice hurdler, winning six of his eight starts in 1983/84 and being sent off 7/1 second favourite for the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984. However, it was when switched to fences in 1985/86 that ‘Dessie’, as he became known, started to endear himself to the racing public with his front-running style and bold, attacking jumping.

In a long, illustrious career, characterised by a never-day-die attitude, regardless of distance or going, Desert Orchid won 34 of his 71 starts, over distances ranging from 2 miles to 3 miles 5 furlongs, and amassed over £650,000 in prize money. His 27 wins over fences included the King George VI Chase at Kempton four times, in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990, the Whitbread Gold Cup – now the Bet365 Gold Cup – at Sandown in 1988 and the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in 1990.

However, it was in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989 that Desert Orchid recorded his most famous victory. Despite a left-handed track and heavy, barely raceable going, neither of which was in his favour, Desert Orchid was nevertheless sent off 5/2 favourite for his first attempt in the ‘Blue Riband’ event. Left in the lead by the fall of Ten Plus at the third-last fence, Desert Orchid was soon headed, and looked beaten, until rallying up the Cheltenham hill to beat Yahoo by 1½ lengths.

Did Newmarket once have a National Hunt course?

The simple answer is yes, it did. In the latter years of the nineteenth century, on what is now the Links National Hunt Training Grounds, Colonel Harry McCalmont, who owned the Cheveley Park Estate, laid out a steeplechase course. The first meeting at the course took place on November 29, 1894 and the last on December 28, 1905, three years after the death of McCalmont. Principal races during that period included the Newmarket Grand Military Cup, the Cheveley Cup and the National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup, which would later become a fixture of the National Hunt Meeting at Cheltenham.

Although not in Newmarket itself, National Hunt meetings were staged in the nearby village of Moulton from February 20, 1863 onwards. After a lengthy hiatus, National Hunt racing was revived, albeit briefly, on land owned by Captain James Machell, five miles from Newmarket, in 1879. The two-day meeting, staged on March 20 and March 21, featured the Lanwades Hunters’ Chase and the Trainers’ and Jockey Club Cup, both run over three miles. Thereafter, National Hunt lapsed again until returning, on a more permanent basis, in Newmarket 15 years later.

Machell, though, would find further fame as an owner and trainer of Grand National winners. He owned and trained the 1873 and 1874 winners, Disturbance and Reugny, and owned the 1876 winner, Regal.

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