The New Jersey Racing Commission on Friday approved new regulations on whip use that are identical to those approved by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, essentially ending an experiment that allowed riders to use the whip only to prevent accidents. The commission approved the new rules by a vote of 5-1, and they will go into effect at the start of the Monmouth Park meet on May 7. Under the rules, jockeys are limited to using the whip six times, but no more than twice in a row “without giving the horse an opportunity to respond.” Riders can also use the whip an unlimited number of times as long as the jockey has both hands on the reins. New Jersey adopted the nearly complete ban on whip use late in 2020, and the rules went into effect as of the start of the Monmouth meet in 2021. The commission adopted the rules over the objections of representatives of the Jockeys’ Guild, a national organization representing riders. Over the past three years, a number of racing states both large and small have adopted stricter regulations on use of the whip, in large part because of mounting criticism from animal-rights advocates. Nearly all of the states passed regulations that were different from the rules in other states, leading to confusion among riders and horseplayers. New Jersey’s was by far the most restrictive. Although riders were able to carry their whips, the rules prohibited use of the whip to encourage a horse and limited its use to efforts to avoid an accident or a potentially dangerous situation. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority recently received approval from the Federal Trade Commission to enforce dozens of new rules pertaining to safety practices at racetracks, and one of the sets of rules governs use of the whip in the race. Those rules are expected to apply to all racetracks as of July 1, the start date for the organization. The vote came in a special meeting held on Friday after Monmouth Park asked the commission to reconsider its existing rules, citing the July 1 start date of the HISA regulatory structure. The onset of the rules would have had riders using two sets of rules during the same meet if the old regulations were allowed to remain in place.