Grandfather out the whip - Ring in the women...

[dariengrey]

...and Save Our Sport.

\"Horses are naturally competitive... the whip is mostly not needed\"
- Hall of Fame Trainer \'Sunny\' Jim Fitzsimmons

\"Why don\'t I go to the racetrack?  Because they whip the horses\"
- Claire, Los Angeles Resident

Why are there so few women at the racetrack, I used to wonder.  Women love to gamble, women love horses, and women love to dress up and wear stylish hats when they know they are being appreciated in public.  Why then do they (and the children the ones with families would bring with them) stay away from the track in droves?  I am not an expert on thoroughbred horses, but Sunny Jim is.  I am not a woman, but Claire is.  Her sentiment has been echoed at cities and racetracks throughout the country, from Emerald Downs in Seattle to Belmont and Monmouth in the East, and from Pimlico on Preakness Day back out west to Santa Anita.  Women have an intimate and emotional connection with our equine friends that few men share; when they bet on a horse they form a bond with it, and when Chop Chop (jockey Jorge Chavez) lashes a good 20 licks on that horse through the stretch, they feel it with a sharp intensity, enough to keep them away from the sport.

Is it a viable option to phase out (grandfather) the use of whip?  Sunny Jim says it is unnecessary.  How many other great trainers agree with him?  Could racetrack attendance be doubled and even tripled nationwide, via this method?  The whip is dramatic, visually impressive, and brutal.  Does the forum think this could be done, and that we would gain more (in acceptance of the sport for the mainstream, with commensurate advertising dollars for female and family product placement) than we would lose?