Getting your player ready...
Del Mar is taking the sting out of its whips. Today, it will become the first California racetrack to require riding crops that don’t raise welts. The whips, made of softer leather or fabric, are supposed to get the horse’s attention with a popping noise rather than by inflicting pain. “With the old crop, if you knew how to use it, it was fine,” Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said. “Sometimes, though, in the heat of battle you might make a mistake. With these new riding crops, it really eliminates that possibility. They make noise, but they are all cushion and don’t cause any harm to the horse.” The Associated Press
