Archive Decision

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Tapanui RC 23 December 2018 – R 1 – Chair, Prof G Hall

ID: JCA10519

Applicant:
Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward

Other Person:
Mr T Moseley - Licensed Jockey assisting Mr Hong, Mr J McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8644

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Exceissive use of the whip

Rules:
638(3)(b)(ii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Tapanui RC - 23 December 2018

Meet Chair:
GHall

Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway

Race Date:
2018/12/23

Race Number:
R 1

Decision:

As Mr Hong has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.

Penalty:

Mr Hong is suspended from riding from the conclusion of the meeting on 30 December 2018 up to and including 7 January 2019.

Facts:

Mr Davidson alleged that Mr Hong used his whip excessively on his mount SECRET POWER prior to the 100 metres in race 1, the ADVANCE AG/PGGW AON INSURANCE HANDICAP.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: “A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent, which is excessive.”

The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
“Without affecting the generality of r 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines: Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres….”

Mr Davidson asked Mr McLaughlin, Stipendiary Steward, to demonstrate the breach using the videos. He pointed out there were 10 strikes before the 100 metres. There was no clear break for five strides. There was essentially no respite for the horse in this time.

Mr Hong said he accepted he had been too aggressive. He knew horses were looming and he was wanting to win the race.

Mr Moseley said Mr Hong is not an aggressive rider and the strikes were not with any strength.

He said Mr Hong accepted he had simply not broken it up enough.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Davidson produced the respondent’s record, which evidenced two previous breaches of this rule in the past 12 months: 6 days on 8 March and 8 days on 30 August. Mr Davidson said the hits were not the strongest but the number and their frequency were where the fault lay.

After consideration, Mr Hong requested a deferment until after the Kurow meeting on 30 December. Mr Davidson had no objection to this.

Reasons for Penalty:

This is the respondent’s third breach of this rule in the past six months. There were 10 strikes before the 100 metres. There was no clear break for five strides. There was little or no respite for the horse in this time.

The starting point in the Penalty Guide for a third or subsequent breach of r 638(3)(b)(ii) is a 6-8 day suspension. We take a starting point at the bottom of this range of 6 days. The repeated nature of the breach is built into the starting point. The hits are not the strongest but they were repetitive. Mr Hong is a busy rider. He has 2 or 3 rides per meeting and it is four months since his previous breach. We see no reason to increase or reduce our 6-day starting point.

JCA Decision Fields (raw)

Dmitry: This section contains all JCA fields migrated from the raw data.

Data from these fields should be mapped appropriately to display amongst the standard fields above; please make note of any values below that are missing in the above standard fields but should be there.

hearingid: 006d59f86936009cf8bd7cb454c3a5fd


informantnumber: A8644


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Exceissive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 27/12/2018


hearing_title: Tapanui RC 23 December 2018 - R 1 - Chair, Prof G Hall


charge:


facts:

Mr Davidson alleged that Mr Hong used his whip excessively on his mount SECRET POWER prior to the 100 metres in race 1, the ADVANCE AG/PGGW AON INSURANCE HANDICAP.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: “A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent, which is excessive.”

The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
“Without affecting the generality of r 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines: Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres….”

Mr Davidson asked Mr McLaughlin, Stipendiary Steward, to demonstrate the breach using the videos. He pointed out there were 10 strikes before the 100 metres. There was no clear break for five strides. There was essentially no respite for the horse in this time.

Mr Hong said he accepted he had been too aggressive. He knew horses were looming and he was wanting to win the race.

Mr Moseley said Mr Hong is not an aggressive rider and the strikes were not with any strength.

He said Mr Hong accepted he had simply not broken it up enough.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Hong has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Davidson produced the respondent’s record, which evidenced two previous breaches of this rule in the past 12 months: 6 days on 8 March and 8 days on 30 August. Mr Davidson said the hits were not the strongest but the number and their frequency were where the fault lay.

After consideration, Mr Hong requested a deferment until after the Kurow meeting on 30 December. Mr Davidson had no objection to this.


reasonsforpenalty:

This is the respondent’s third breach of this rule in the past six months. There were 10 strikes before the 100 metres. There was no clear break for five strides. There was little or no respite for the horse in this time.

The starting point in the Penalty Guide for a third or subsequent breach of r 638(3)(b)(ii) is a 6-8 day suspension. We take a starting point at the bottom of this range of 6 days. The repeated nature of the breach is built into the starting point. The hits are not the strongest but they were repetitive. Mr Hong is a busy rider. He has 2 or 3 rides per meeting and it is four months since his previous breach. We see no reason to increase or reduce our 6-day starting point.


penalty:

Mr Hong is suspended from riding from the conclusion of the meeting on 30 December 2018 up to and including 7 January 2019.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)


Informant: Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer:


Otherperson: Mr T Moseley - Licensed Jockey assisting Mr Hong, Mr J McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: ac3ea0e56bde0d231d112c111dfd617a


race_expapproval:


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race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 1


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 3141789972eb319f9fa12bf45d8db795


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 23/12/2018


meet_title: Tapanui RC - 23 December 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: tapanui-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: GHall


meet_pm1: MConway


meet_pm2: none


name: Tapanui RC