Racing Victoria chief executive Andrew Jones,who joined the organisation after the whips imbroglio,said the dispute was nonsensical.
“I don’t understand it at all,” he toldThe Age andThe Sydney Morning Herald. “I would have thought we would want to be working together on whip reform as an industry.
“I don’t understand blocking that,and I doubly don’t understand using that as a pretence to exclude Racing Victoria from Racing Australia. That is just crazy to me.”
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V’landys described rule changes to limit whip use as “superfluous and window dressing”,citing Victoria Racing’s previous public comments that padded whips don’t hurt horses.
He said Racing NSW had no choice but to take Victoria and Queensland’s departure from nationally agreed whip rules up with Racing Australia.
“Racing NSW has not attempted to exclude Racing Victoria,Greg Nichols nor Racing Queensland and its representatives,” he said. “What Racing NSW has done is,as a matter of principle,raised its concerns when those jurisdictions,unable to get their way at the meetings of Racing Australia,have attempted to get around the constitution of Racing Australia and the Australian Rules of Racing.