Oamaru HRC 6 December 2014 – R 8
ID: JCA11041
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 6 December 2014
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2014/12/06
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
As Mr Abernethy had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly Mr Abernethy was fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the Fat Sallys Pub/Restaurant Driver Series Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip in an excessive manner on SCOTLYNN MACH in the home straight.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Mr Abernethy had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted, and he also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and produced video replays that showed Mr Abernethy driving SCOTLYNN MACH who was in contention, one off the pylons at the home turn. Mr Abernethy drew the whip shortly after turning for home and used his whip without any pauses on 21 occasions. He stated that the force used was not excessive and could be described as low, but it the sheer number of strikes without pauses was the reason Mr Abernethy was being charged. He submitted that the breach was low to mid in his opinion.
Mr Abernethy made no submissions on the facts of the case.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr Abernethy had a previous breach of this Rule on March 30 2014 at New Plymouth when fined $200 for excessive use of the whip. He stated Mr Abernethy had 400 drives last season and so far this season 105 drives with Mr Wallis submitting that Mr Abernethy was a busy driver. Due to the time frame since his last breach of this Rule, the number of drives since that breach - approximately 300, his ready admission of the charge and the low level of force with the strikes, Mr Wallis submitted that a fine in the vicinity of $200 be considered.
Mr Abernethy submitted that prior to the breach in March it had been at least 12 months since his previous breach of this rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty we took into consideration as mitigation, Mr Abernethy’s ready admission of the breach, the low level of force used, the number of drives since his last breach and the timeframe of nearly 9 months since this breach. Although the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 for a 2nd breach of this rule within a 12 month period, due to the number of drives and the time frame since his last breach, we determined that a more appropriate starting point was a $300 fine.
In adopting the $300 starting point we were able to give Mr Abernethy a discount of $50 for his ready admission of the breach. We were also able to give Mr Abernethy a further discount of $50 for, in our opinion, the low level of the breach and his record which we determined was good considering the number of drives and timeframe since his last breach.
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: 1398b39e527fe02ab4842b955726e472
informantnumber: A 6328
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rule 869(2)(a)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/12/2014
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 6 December 2014 - R 8
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the Fat Sallys Pub/Restaurant Driver Series Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip in an excessive manner on SCOTLYNN MACH in the home straight.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Mr Abernethy had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted, and he also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and produced video replays that showed Mr Abernethy driving SCOTLYNN MACH who was in contention, one off the pylons at the home turn. Mr Abernethy drew the whip shortly after turning for home and used his whip without any pauses on 21 occasions. He stated that the force used was not excessive and could be described as low, but it the sheer number of strikes without pauses was the reason Mr Abernethy was being charged. He submitted that the breach was low to mid in his opinion.
Mr Abernethy made no submissions on the facts of the case.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Abernethy had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis submitted that Mr Abernethy had a previous breach of this Rule on March 30 2014 at New Plymouth when fined $200 for excessive use of the whip. He stated Mr Abernethy had 400 drives last season and so far this season 105 drives with Mr Wallis submitting that Mr Abernethy was a busy driver. Due to the time frame since his last breach of this Rule, the number of drives since that breach - approximately 300, his ready admission of the charge and the low level of force with the strikes, Mr Wallis submitted that a fine in the vicinity of $200 be considered.
Mr Abernethy submitted that prior to the breach in March it had been at least 12 months since his previous breach of this rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty we took into consideration as mitigation, Mr Abernethy’s ready admission of the breach, the low level of force used, the number of drives since his last breach and the timeframe of nearly 9 months since this breach. Although the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 for a 2nd breach of this rule within a 12 month period, due to the number of drives and the time frame since his last breach, we determined that a more appropriate starting point was a $300 fine.
In adopting the $300 starting point we were able to give Mr Abernethy a discount of $50 for his ready admission of the breach. We were also able to give Mr Abernethy a further discount of $50 for, in our opinion, the low level of the breach and his record which we determined was good considering the number of drives and timeframe since his last breach.
penalty:
Accordingly Mr Abernethy was fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: S Wallis-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J Abernethy-Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 5758539d0918ab80073e82164347fb87
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: efd1e11fb67396cac1ac6647d4bf65de
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 06/12/2014
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 6 December 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC