Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 2 December 2017 – R 2 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA10695

Applicant:
Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr J Parkes - Class A Licensed Jockey

Other Person:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A9495

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of the whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 2 December 2017

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott

Race Date:
2017/12/02

Race Number:
R2

Decision:

As Mr Parkes admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Parkes had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 9 December and conclude after racing on 17 December 2017 (6 national riding days).

Facts:

Following the running of race 2, Withers & Co Chartered Accountants 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Parkes used the whip excessively on his mount BOMBARD prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Parkes acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not:

(ii) 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” provides:

Without affecting the generality of Rule 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. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Parkes and showed that he struck his mount 8 times prior to the 100 metres. He said there was pauses for 4 strides but not for the required 5 strides.

Mr Parkes accepted the quantity of strikes.

In response to a question from Mr Parkes, Mr Oatham described the breach as low range.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Williamson said that Mr Parkes had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.

16/9/2017 - $300 fine

22/10/2017 - $1,200 fine (Group 1 race and his mount won the race)

Mr Williamson said that a suspension in line with the JCA Penalty Guide would be appropriate.

Mr Parkes advised the Committee that he was engaged to ride COLDPLAY on 9 December and sought a 7 day deferment to any proposed suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.

The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii) are:

1st breach $300

2nd breach $500

3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension.

The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.

There were no aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Parkes’ admission of the breach, the number of strikes (8) was low range and the force applied was low to mid-range. It is important to note the expectation is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.

BOMBARD ran 3rd in the race.

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: 10841876a3ba91517157db7d6713fc87


informantnumber: A9495


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 04/12/2017


hearing_title: Auckland RC 2 December 2017 - R 2 - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 2, Withers & Co Chartered Accountants 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Parkes used the whip excessively on his mount BOMBARD prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Parkes acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not:

(ii) 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” provides:

Without affecting the generality of Rule 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. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Parkes and showed that he struck his mount 8 times prior to the 100 metres. He said there was pauses for 4 strides but not for the required 5 strides.

Mr Parkes accepted the quantity of strikes.

In response to a question from Mr Parkes, Mr Oatham described the breach as low range.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Parkes admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Williamson said that Mr Parkes had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.

16/9/2017 - $300 fine

22/10/2017 - $1,200 fine (Group 1 race and his mount won the race)

Mr Williamson said that a suspension in line with the JCA Penalty Guide would be appropriate.

Mr Parkes advised the Committee that he was engaged to ride COLDPLAY on 9 December and sought a 7 day deferment to any proposed suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.

The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii) are:

1st breach $300

2nd breach $500

3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension.

The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.

There were no aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Parkes’ admission of the breach, the number of strikes (8) was low range and the force applied was low to mid-range. It is important to note the expectation is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.

BOMBARD ran 3rd in the race.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Parkes had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 9 December and conclude after racing on 17 December 2017 (6 national riding days).


hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Parkes - Class A Licensed Jockey


Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 85cbcfa41aa90d4ef2e1f150fafc6b22


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R2


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 818d83cd999c7a783f300d28cf5454e4


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 02/12/2017


meet_title: Auckland RC - 2 December 2017


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: BScott


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC