WHEN American rock band Devo recorded their hit single “Whip it. Whip it good”, they clearly didn't have Australian racing's new whip rule in mind.

At the Sunshine Coast last Saturday two horses (Rosella and Stonecast) dead-heated in a Class 3 Handicap, but a protest was lodged by the trainer and jockey of Stonecast that Rosella's jockey, Taylor Williams, used the whip three more times than permitted prior to the 100m mark.

Stonecast's trainer Jack Duncan and jockey Sarah Eilbeck asked to view the photo finish and it was during this time that steward Daniel Aurisch alerted them that Williams had exceeded the whip limitations.

The highly controversial whip rule states no jockey can whip its horse more than five times prior to the 100m point, and Aurisch had no hesitation in pulling Williams up on it.

“We had to weigh up the circumstances. We had one rider obeying the rules and the other breaking it,” Aurisch said.

“If there was a margin between them, the result may well have been different, but being a dead-heat, it gave us no room to move.

“If we didn't use the rule in this case, we never would.”

This is the first time a horse has lost a race due to breaking the whip rule. Jockeys are being fined left, right and centre, but never have connections and punters lost their money because of this rule.

With this precedent in mind, jockeys will now have to be aware of how many times they have hit their mount throughout the race, as if their job wasn't hard enough already. Popular racing figures including champion jockey Damien Oliver have stated their disgust at the rule.

Oliver said “the stupid whip rules” were to blame for his mount being beaten. Top Queensland trainer Rob Heathcote was also outraged by the decision at Caloundra on Saturday and he thinks jockeys should take strike action.

“In the cauldron of battle, jockeys are expected to concentrate on counting up until a certain point in a race? It's a ludicrous rule,” Heathcote said.

“Common sense should prevail. Does this mean every time we have a close finish we are headed to a protest situation? It's an embarrassment to our industry that we have got to this stage. We are pandering to people who don't understand our industry.”

We have two major gripes with this rule. The first involves how many times you're allowed to hit your horse, and our second gripe relates to protests and punters.

Firstly, the rule states the rider is not allowed to whip their mount more than five times prior to that 100m mark – this is irregardless of how long the race is and what horse you're riding.

Let's take a look at a hypothetical situation which could turn the game on its head, if it hasn't already. It's the 2016 Melbourne Cup and a horse is showing no real ability to keep up with the field. The first thing a jockey does is whip their horse to get them focused on the race, and here's where the new whip rule comes into action.

Should the jockey give his horse a couple of whips at the 2400m point, they have only a few whips left before they get to the final 100m. This denies connections and punters of the horse a fair chance to win the race.

The whip rule was introduced because certain groups were sick of seeing horses whipped too many times throughout the race, but most casual race fans only take notice of a horse being whipped in the final stretch, so why can jockeys whip their mounts with reckless abandon in the final 100m and not before?

The rule has seemingly been made by people with no riding experience. When jockeys have to think about their actions in an extremely dangerous sport, it won't end well for all involved.

Our second gripe focuses on protests and punters. Will we have trainers and jockeys looking at replays each and every race before submitting a protest? Jockeys are continually breaking the whip rule, to which they get fined for, but if you look back at every race last Saturday, you can find multiple occasions where jockeys hit their mounts more than five times before the 100m.

How does this affect punters? How do trainer, jockeys and punters know when a protest will be lodged? If the margin is close for any place-bearing dividend, are connections within their rights to protest the whip rule? Saturday's ruling would suggest they are, and that is no fun for anyone.

Luckily for punters at Sportsbet.com.au, it doesn't matter if your horse loses a protest, but for punters that haven't signed up, they're in for a nervous season.

Race fans are now forced to watch their horse during the run and see how many times the jockey whips the horse. That's no way to watch racing and it only creates more controversy as we head into The Championships in April.

When big races are decided by this rule, it will turn to game as we know it into a protest fest. We'll have multiple TV monitors set up for connections to look at opposition riders. In an act by the Sunshine Coast stewards, we now have a crisis in Australian horse racing and it needs changing immediately.