I had made a new year's resolution to be positive in 2010 but it hasn't even lasted a week. In the space of four days I have attended two Carnival of Cup meetings in country New South Wales and while both meetings were brilliant, the new whip rules need immediate attention.

Ben Lang was fined $200 at Leeton on New Years Day for his use of the whip in the closing stages on his drive Perfect Jenna while a number of fines were handed out at Young on Sunday night. When I spoke with Chief Steward Michael Beattie on Monday night he reported that there had been 14 breaches of the new rules. I am an advocate of change and the horses' welfare is a very important issue, don't get me wrong, but Harness Racing Australia has gone way too far.

I have spoken with many horsemen since the inception of the new rules and I can't find too many that like them. Barry Lew has made it quite clear that he will be forced to retire Karloo Mick before the Inter Dominion series if something isn't done in the near future. Here is a horse that has had more than 100 starts, has never had a serious injury and is looked after like a king at the Lew's Dubbo property. Barry's wife Rhonda even commented at the presentation after winning the Young Cup that the horse now lives in the house with Barry while she has moved into the stables. He hasn't been mistreated a day in his life however when he races he needs to be driven aggressively and hit with the whip to be "switched on" and shown that he is taking part in a serious race. He has raced in group one company for the last seven years and has been driven the same way but now because of these inadequate new rules his racing career is in jeopardy. Not only do I feel sorry for Barry Lew who feels like he has been backed into a corner on the issue but I feel sorry for the punters who will lose their money when he is beaten because of the change in rules.

Speak to any professional sportsmen and they will explain that a repetitive routine is of paramount importance to their performance on the field. The type of boots a footballer wears, the brand of bat a cricketer uses, the way a tennis player has her ankle strapped. These are all vitally important to their performance in their chosen sport. Imagine Ricky Ponting being forced to use a type of bat this he was uncomfortable with. Do you think he would perform at his best? How do you think a nine year old gelding that is so used to a routine is going to react when it is totally changed?

Some other trainers are more concerned about the new longer whips, when used in a flicking motion, causing injury to the horse. These new longer whips when used correctly can be stinging and can leave dreadful marks on the horse's rump. It won't take long before the animal welfare groups catch on either.

The group I believe get the roughest deal out of the new whip rules are the punters! Harness racing is dominated by leaders and a large percentage of front runners win races. Forget the names of those involved but there has been a racing incident since the inception of the new whip rules which is quite concerning to me. Two horses drew the front row, both are leaders and grow a leg when in front. Driver A draws barrier one, follows the new rules to the letter, Driver B draws wide on the track and as he engages in an early speed battle decides to give his horse a crack with the whip with a free hand. As a result the horse drawn wider on the track crossed the horse drawn on the inside and the leader went on to win while the other horse finished a close fourth or fifth. Under the new rules, the stewards have the power to lodge a protest against a result should they deem the use of the whip changed the result of any particular race. It would have been a very brave steward to lodge a protest in the scenario I have described earlier but I think it's terribly unfair for Driver A who has followed the rules yet has been crossed by a rival driver that has broken the rules. The use of the whip 50 metres after the start changed the whole make-up of the race and the poor punters who backed Driver A did their money because Driver B broke the rules!

When new whip rules were brought into the galloping industry, the jockeys stuck together and had a number of the Australian Racing Board's hard line laws changed yet still the new rules have pleased the animal welfare people. Sure there does need to be change to the way the whip is used in harness racing but our administrators have gone way too far and I hope the industry is smart enough to stick together and work out some new rules so punters aren't chased away.

Racing this week is highlighted by a return to Maitland for the Inter City Pace. There looks to be two leading hopes with Deadsetlucky and Ghadasbest the standouts while the Rixon trained Just Cuddles isn't without a hope if the favoured pair go silly. It should be a huge night up in the Hunter Valley on Saturday night and if you don't have anything on then do yourself a favour and get out to the meeting.

The South Australian Pacing Cup will be also be run on Saturday night and while the field is yet to be finalised it does look Smoken Up's race to lose. The rivals that defeated him in the New Zealand Cup, the Miracle Mile and the Victoria Cup won't be there and Lance Justice will just be hoping for a good barrier draw. Catch you next week.