Marlborough HRC 10 January 2014 – R 5
ID: JCA10813
Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 10 January 2014
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2014/01/10
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of race 5, the “Hirepool Discretionary Handicap Trot” Information A6457 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault under Rule 869(2)(a). The information stated “ you used your whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be improper by using your whip when your foot was free of the sulky foot rest over a considerable distance”. Mr Trotter signed the Information admitting the breach, confirmed this at the hearing and also that, following an earlier discussion with the Stipendiary Stewards, he was aware of, and understood, the “Use of Whip Guidelines”.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner”
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault used the side-on and head-on films to identify Mr Trotter at approximately the 400m mark. He said his left leg could be seen hanging down and not in the sulky foot rest. He said as he turned into the home straight he started using his whip. He said his foot remained out of the foot rest until approximately the 250m mark and during that time he struck his horse 11-12 times albeit not forcefully which was a clear breach of the “Use of Whip Guidelines”. Mr Renault confirmed the number of strikes was not the issue - it was that the horse had been struck with the whip whilst Mr Trotter had one foot out of the sulky foot rest.
Mr Trotter sought clarification that the charge was specifically for hitting the horse whilst his foot was out of the sulky foot rest rather than for excessive use of the whip and that was confirmed to him. He said he was not hitting the horse but the cropper on the back of the tail. It was pointed out to Mr Trotter that the “Use of Whip Guidelines” were clear in that, even though he might not have hit his horse but rather the gear on the horse’s tail, he was using his whip in an improper manner in that he was using the whip whilst having one foot out of the sulky foot rest.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Trotter drives his own horses and had had 4 drives this season and 8 last season and had not previously breached the improper component of the Rule. He said Mr Trotter had breached Rule 867 on 25 April 2013 when he was fined $150 for having one foot out of the foot rest for approximately 200m of the final 400m of a race. Mr Renault said the Stewards considered today’s breach to be in the low/mid range and submitted a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Trotter had no submissions to make on penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and notes Mr Trotter did not have his left foot in the sulky foot rest from approximately the 400m mark to approximately the 250m mark over the final stages of the race during which time he stuck his horse with the whip 11-12 times. The use of the whip with a foot out of the sulky foot rest is a clear breach of the “Use of Whip Guidelines” and we note the Stipendiary Stewards placed little emphasis on the number of strikes. The Committee has noted Mr Renault’s comments that Mr Trotter was fined $150 for driving with his foot out of the sulky footrest in April 2013 and also that on that occasion there was no breach of the improper component of Rule 869(2a).
The JCA’s penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a fine of $300. Having taken into account Mr Trotter’s admittance of the breach, his previous clear record under this Rule and having also reviewed recent penalties for similar breaches of this Rule we believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
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: 0b36701463a4fc25e58f7252dd75b6cc
informantnumber: A6457
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Improper Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/01/2014
hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 10 January 2014 - R 5
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 5, the “Hirepool Discretionary Handicap Trot” Information A6457 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault under Rule 869(2)(a). The information stated “ you used your whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be improper by using your whip when your foot was free of the sulky foot rest over a considerable distance”. Mr Trotter signed the Information admitting the breach, confirmed this at the hearing and also that, following an earlier discussion with the Stipendiary Stewards, he was aware of, and understood, the “Use of Whip Guidelines”.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault used the side-on and head-on films to identify Mr Trotter at approximately the 400m mark. He said his left leg could be seen hanging down and not in the sulky foot rest. He said as he turned into the home straight he started using his whip. He said his foot remained out of the foot rest until approximately the 250m mark and during that time he struck his horse 11-12 times albeit not forcefully which was a clear breach of the “Use of Whip Guidelines”. Mr Renault confirmed the number of strikes was not the issue - it was that the horse had been struck with the whip whilst Mr Trotter had one foot out of the sulky foot rest.
Mr Trotter sought clarification that the charge was specifically for hitting the horse whilst his foot was out of the sulky foot rest rather than for excessive use of the whip and that was confirmed to him. He said he was not hitting the horse but the cropper on the back of the tail. It was pointed out to Mr Trotter that the “Use of Whip Guidelines” were clear in that, even though he might not have hit his horse but rather the gear on the horse’s tail, he was using his whip in an improper manner in that he was using the whip whilst having one foot out of the sulky foot rest.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Trotter drives his own horses and had had 4 drives this season and 8 last season and had not previously breached the improper component of the Rule. He said Mr Trotter had breached Rule 867 on 25 April 2013 when he was fined $150 for having one foot out of the foot rest for approximately 200m of the final 400m of a race. Mr Renault said the Stewards considered today’s breach to be in the low/mid range and submitted a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Trotter had no submissions to make on penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and notes Mr Trotter did not have his left foot in the sulky foot rest from approximately the 400m mark to approximately the 250m mark over the final stages of the race during which time he stuck his horse with the whip 11-12 times. The use of the whip with a foot out of the sulky foot rest is a clear breach of the “Use of Whip Guidelines” and we note the Stipendiary Stewards placed little emphasis on the number of strikes. The Committee has noted Mr Renault’s comments that Mr Trotter was fined $150 for driving with his foot out of the sulky footrest in April 2013 and also that on that occasion there was no breach of the improper component of Rule 869(2a).
The JCA’s penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a fine of $300. Having taken into account Mr Trotter’s admittance of the breach, his previous clear record under this Rule and having also reviewed recent penalties for similar breaches of this Rule we believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2a)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Trotter - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d4c5c53bff69c6713626b274c512e884
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 303f0ceb4c70c265acb4d9dda854edba
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 10/01/2014
meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 10 January 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: marlborough-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Marlborough HRC