Uproar over jockey whipping rival horse across face.

A jockey received a 10-day suspension after he was seen whipping a rival horse on the face during a close race. Yuri Yaranga was riding Yo Yo Mon in a race at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia, USA, this month.

Yo Yo Mon took the lead early, but when pressured by Lucky Stepper, Yaranga seemed to bump into the rival horse. According to Equibase, Yaranga was "crowding" his rival near the finish line before "striking foe with whip late." He also seemed to elbow Lucky Stepper’s jockey, Luis Negron.

Yo Yo Mon was disqualified and placed second. Yaranga was found guilty of breaking the state’s racing rules by "causing interference to #8 ‘Lucky Stepper’ and striking said horse across the face during the running of the 8th race on Wednesday."

The incident has caused an outcry, especially after US racing journalist Ray Paulick highlighted it on the The Paulick Report website.

Paulick wrote: 

“Whipping a horse in the face is inexcusable. It is potentially dangerous, revolting, and deserving of far more punishment than Yaranga received from West Virginia stewards.”

He added: 

“After the weak-kneed response by West Virginia stewards to a serious case of what I believe to be conduct detrimental to racing and possible animal cruelty, they should rethink their position. They are not regulating in a way that serves the best interests and safety of the horses or the public.”