Manawatu HRC 15 December 2016 – R 4 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA10990
Meet Title:
Manawatu HRC - 15 December 2016
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2016/12/15
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the “Linton Street Mobile Pace” Information A3776 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Ms A Donnelly. The Information stated “in that she used her whip excessively driving “Prime Silver” over the concluding stages of the race”.
Ms Donnelly signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was the case and also that she understood the Rule she had been charged under.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Ms Donnelly also confirmed to the Committee she was aware of, and understood, the new Use of Whip Guidelines recently issued by Harness Racing New Zealand which came into force on 1 December 2016. Those Guidelines include the following:-
“The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines".
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Mulcay asked Mr Muirhead to play the side-on film and identified Ms Donnelly driving “Prime Silver” running in third position with approximately 350m to run. Mr Mulcay said at that point Ms Donnelly activated gear and commenced to drive with a free hand and started using the whip. To a question from the Committee Mr Muirhead estimated Ms Donnelly then struck her horse 17 times in the run to the finish line.
Ms Donnelly admitted that she had “gone over the 10” but it was very hard to look where you are going, work out where you are and keep count of the number of times the whip is used. She also said she thought she had hit the horse only 13 times.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay said he was aware that the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He asked the Committee to take into account Ms Donnelly’s admittance of the breach and that she had not previously breached this Rule and submitted the Stewards believed a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty.
Ms Donnelly asked the Committee to take into account her clear record when considering the penalty. She also indicated she would prefer a fine to a suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 350m of the race. The Committee believes the Stipendiary Stewards count of 17 strikes is somewhat conservative and we believe there was a minimum of 20 strikes of the whip. Such action constitutes a clear breach of the Rule and the recently promulgated Use of Whip Guidelines. The Committee also believes that the number of strikes places the offending above the midpoint and towards the upper end of the scale. The Committee notes Ms Donnelly, who has had less than 20 drives this season, had 174 last season and 136 in the 2014/2015 season, has a clear record in relation to this Rule and has admitted today’s breach.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. The Committee considered whether to impose a fine or a suspension and after taking into account all the factors detailed above we believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 1270be28a40f82ba2319de78b4eb5a6c
informantnumber: A3776
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/12/2016
hearing_title: Manawatu HRC 15 December 2016 - R 4 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the “Linton Street Mobile Pace” Information A3776 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Ms A Donnelly. The Information stated “in that she used her whip excessively driving “Prime Silver” over the concluding stages of the race”.
Ms Donnelly signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was the case and also that she understood the Rule she had been charged under.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Ms Donnelly also confirmed to the Committee she was aware of, and understood, the new Use of Whip Guidelines recently issued by Harness Racing New Zealand which came into force on 1 December 2016. Those Guidelines include the following:-
“The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines".
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Mulcay asked Mr Muirhead to play the side-on film and identified Ms Donnelly driving “Prime Silver” running in third position with approximately 350m to run. Mr Mulcay said at that point Ms Donnelly activated gear and commenced to drive with a free hand and started using the whip. To a question from the Committee Mr Muirhead estimated Ms Donnelly then struck her horse 17 times in the run to the finish line.
Ms Donnelly admitted that she had “gone over the 10” but it was very hard to look where you are going, work out where you are and keep count of the number of times the whip is used. She also said she thought she had hit the horse only 13 times.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay said he was aware that the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He asked the Committee to take into account Ms Donnelly’s admittance of the breach and that she had not previously breached this Rule and submitted the Stewards believed a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty.
Ms Donnelly asked the Committee to take into account her clear record when considering the penalty. She also indicated she would prefer a fine to a suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 350m of the race. The Committee believes the Stipendiary Stewards count of 17 strikes is somewhat conservative and we believe there was a minimum of 20 strikes of the whip. Such action constitutes a clear breach of the Rule and the recently promulgated Use of Whip Guidelines. The Committee also believes that the number of strikes places the offending above the midpoint and towards the upper end of the scale. The Committee notes Ms Donnelly, who has had less than 20 drives this season, had 174 last season and 136 in the 2014/2015 season, has a clear record in relation to this Rule and has admitted today’s breach.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. The Committee considered whether to impose a fine or a suspension and after taking into account all the factors detailed above we believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a) and Use of Whip Guidelines
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms A Donnelly - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr J Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7e3865121ca094d579a0981761865308
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: d64ed58b13077541ceaa24307f987813
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/12/2016
meet_title: Manawatu HRC - 15 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: manawatu-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Manawatu HRC