Anybody got an answer for this? It happens so often, e.g., Mig on Proud Kate R1 at Aqueduct yesterday. In this case the horse in the lead to deep stretch, but it happens in a lot of situations and from lots of talented and experienced jockeys. Mig's hands cold from being in front all the way? Tossing the whip because he fouled earlier? Tossing the whip because he knew he'd asked everything he could of the horse and it had to do the rest itself? Proof of something to his trainer or the owner? This seems to happen all the time in the stretch--is it just a geniuinely hard thing to keep hold of the whip in the stretch? If anyone knows a jock and can get an answer, I'd really like to know.

The jock loses the win 9 times out of ten during the hand transfer. Most if not all wear grip gloves and while it is cold I sincerely doubt there is a connection between cold hands and loss of a whip..A jock does not dispose of the whip in the late stages for a hand ride either. They simply lose it and it is part of the game. Every jock loses a whip here and there.The only jock I have ever seen lose a whip on purpose was the infamous Larry Samuel...that was due to him also trying to lose a battery with the other hand and he dropped both.

Thanks Lukeydog.

A lot of jocks practice switching the whip from one hand to the other, I can imagine it is not an easy task on a 30% day going 35 miles per hour.