Whether you believe in the rule depends where you stand. Those in racing believe the rules already in place offer sufficient protection for the horse, while those charged with the long-term promotion of racing hold the view that perception of the public is all that matters.
Is that a correct stance. Well, no one has asked a horse yet if the new padded whips, introduced a couple of years ago, are less painful or cruel but the general perception is you could swipe your grandmother with one with little damage.
It might not sound it, but this issue is actually quite complicated.
Less complex was when racing at large listened too closely to the animal welfare brigade and lowered the height of the hurdles in Australian racing, the perception being that it would create greater safety for horses.
That was ridiculous and came from the total ignorance of the do-gooders. More fatalities resulted simply because - and this should have been realised by everyone from the start - that lowering the hurdles meant jockeys rode horses into the obstacles faster and there was no time to get the landing gear down if even a slight mistake was made.
One side to the whip argument is that when owners are paying A$100-plus a day to have their horse trained should they then not have the right to have that horse ridden the way it needs to be to win a race, right up to the A$6 million Melbourne Cup.
The lobbyists will say it's the same for every jockey, but it's not a level playing field because every horse is different. Some don't need the whip at all to produce their best and others need plenty to switch their minds on.
One of Australia's best Damien Oliver, a strong whip rider but not a basher, calls the new rule "ridiculous and a farce".
Craig Williams, much more a hands and heels jock, believes the rule doesn't go far enough in that jockeys retain unrestricted use of the whip in the final 100m.
These measures are always well-intentioned, but you wouldn't want to own a horse beaten a head in a Melbourne Cup and hear the jockey say: "If only I could have used the whip a couple of more times on the home bend to get him into the race earlier we'd have won."
Jockeys associations across Australia have met in recent days to decide whether to take industrial action over the new rule, but at the weekend decided more harm would be done by striking and have pledged to attempt to work within the rules.
In New Zealand you see very little whip use before the home bend.
The rule here is a jockey can use the whip on six consecutive strides at any part of the race then the rider must place the whip hand back on the reins for six consecutive strides.
From the 200m whip use is unrestricted provided the horse is in contention for a stake-bearing place.
