NZ Metro TC 12 May 2017 – R 10 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA11073
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 12 May 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/05/12
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Ms Rasmussen having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Ms Rasmussen was fined the sum of $1,000.00.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series No. 26 2YO Open (Final) (Listed Race), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Ms N C Rasmussen, alleging that, as the driver of THE DEVILS OWN in the race, “she used her whip in an improper manner by applying it over the final stages with her right foot out of the footrest”.
Ms Rasmussen was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300 metres of the race as the field approached the home turn. He pointed out Ms Rasmussen, driving THE DEVILS OWN, racing three places back on the markers in 4th position as the field entered the final straight. She then secured a run between the leader and the runner that had been in the trail. At about the 200 metres, Ms Rasmussen’s right foot dropped from the sulky footrest and remained out until she returned it to the footrest approximately 60 metres before the finishing line. During the time her foot was out of the footrest, Ms Rasmussen used her whip on “numerous occasions”.
Ms Rasmussen said that, on the first couple of occasions on which she used her whip, she did have the reins in her hand. Mr Ydgren accepted that but submitted that, while her foot was out of the rest, Ms Rasmussen used her whip on no more than ten occasions free of the rein, and there were several “taps” right near the line.
Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards were not alleging that the use of the whip had been excessive, rather that Ms Rasmussen had used her whip while her foot was out of the footrest, which amounted to improper use.
Ms Rasmussen explained that the particular sulky was not one she normally uses and she was unable to get far enough forward in it. She had a starter’s assistant tape the seat down prior to the start. Her foot had simply slipped out. She said that she had honestly not realised it had done so until near the finish.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Ms Rasmussen has had 74 drives in the current season, in the 2015/2016 season had 65 drives and, in the 2014/2015 season, 134 drives.
Miss Rasmussen did not have a good record under the Rule, Mr Ydgren said, as she has two breaches for excessive use of the whip in the last 6 months. Those breaches were for a different part of the Rule which concerned the number of strikes and the nature of the whip use, he said. Although the charge of improper use is included under the same Rule, it is different from the charge of excessive use. Mr Ydgren submitted that unnecessary, excessive and improper use are three separate offences, even though included in the same Rule. Ms Rasmussen should not be penalised for her previous breaches of the Rule which were both for excessive use, he submitted.
Mr Ydgren then referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine. However, he said, this was a $200,000 Listed race which warranted a significant uplift from that starting point. Ms Rasmussen has a clear record for “improper use”. Although Ms Rasmussen had admitted the breach, it should be acknowledged that the charge was “indefensible”, Mr Ydgren submitted.
A fine in the vicinity of $1,000 was an appropriate penalty, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Ms Rasmussen stated that she would prefer a fine to a suspension. She freely admitted that she had dropped her foot and it that it was “a big race”. She had no submission to make in respect of the penalty submitted by Mr Ydgren.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee noted the starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $500 fine while, at the same time, noting that that starting point applies in respect of all of unnecessary, excessive or improper use of the whip. We agreed with Mr Ydgren that those three categories should be treated as separate offences. We are aware that they are so treated under the New Zealand Rules of Thoroughbred Racing.
The charge of improper use of the whip is one that is rarely brought and the Committee was not able to find a record of any previous penalty for improper use of the whip in a $200,000 or any major race in circumstances such as the present case. We find the suggested starting point to be not very helpful in the particular circumstances of this case.
Aggravating factors which we can discern are, firstly, the status of the race and the stake payable (a $200,000 Listed race), secondly, the distance over which Ms Rasmussen’s foot was out of the sulky footrest (approximately 140 metres) and, thirdly, the number of times that Ms Rasmussen used her whip over that distance. The latter two factors place the breach in the mid-to-high range, in the Committee’s view.
The only mitigating factors are Ms Rasmussen’s previous good record for improper use of the whip and her very frank admission of the breach. As far as the latter is concerned, we agree with Mr Ydgren that her admission was somewhat inevitable.
In the absence of an appropriate starting point, the Committee needed to tailor-make a penalty that would satisfy the sentencing principles of the need to punish the offender, deter others and to express disapproval of Ms Rasmussen’s actions – that is to say, a penalty that was appropriate taking all factors into account. We considered that a fine was appropriate and we fixed the amount of that fine at $1,000.
We noted Mr Ydgren’s submission for a fine of $1,000 with which Ms Rasmussen appeared to have no objection.
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: 0c6943ff2038d28b5a84b23ced9aa3be
informantnumber: A8973
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Improper use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 16/05/2017
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 12 May 2017 - R 10 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series No. 26 2YO Open (Final) (Listed Race), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Ms N C Rasmussen, alleging that, as the driver of THE DEVILS OWN in the race, “she used her whip in an improper manner by applying it over the final stages with her right foot out of the footrest”.
Ms Rasmussen was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300 metres of the race as the field approached the home turn. He pointed out Ms Rasmussen, driving THE DEVILS OWN, racing three places back on the markers in 4th position as the field entered the final straight. She then secured a run between the leader and the runner that had been in the trail. At about the 200 metres, Ms Rasmussen’s right foot dropped from the sulky footrest and remained out until she returned it to the footrest approximately 60 metres before the finishing line. During the time her foot was out of the footrest, Ms Rasmussen used her whip on “numerous occasions”.
Ms Rasmussen said that, on the first couple of occasions on which she used her whip, she did have the reins in her hand. Mr Ydgren accepted that but submitted that, while her foot was out of the rest, Ms Rasmussen used her whip on no more than ten occasions free of the rein, and there were several “taps” right near the line.
Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards were not alleging that the use of the whip had been excessive, rather that Ms Rasmussen had used her whip while her foot was out of the footrest, which amounted to improper use.
Ms Rasmussen explained that the particular sulky was not one she normally uses and she was unable to get far enough forward in it. She had a starter’s assistant tape the seat down prior to the start. Her foot had simply slipped out. She said that she had honestly not realised it had done so until near the finish.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Ms Rasmussen having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Ms Rasmussen has had 74 drives in the current season, in the 2015/2016 season had 65 drives and, in the 2014/2015 season, 134 drives.
Miss Rasmussen did not have a good record under the Rule, Mr Ydgren said, as she has two breaches for excessive use of the whip in the last 6 months. Those breaches were for a different part of the Rule which concerned the number of strikes and the nature of the whip use, he said. Although the charge of improper use is included under the same Rule, it is different from the charge of excessive use. Mr Ydgren submitted that unnecessary, excessive and improper use are three separate offences, even though included in the same Rule. Ms Rasmussen should not be penalised for her previous breaches of the Rule which were both for excessive use, he submitted.
Mr Ydgren then referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine. However, he said, this was a $200,000 Listed race which warranted a significant uplift from that starting point. Ms Rasmussen has a clear record for “improper use”. Although Ms Rasmussen had admitted the breach, it should be acknowledged that the charge was “indefensible”, Mr Ydgren submitted.
A fine in the vicinity of $1,000 was an appropriate penalty, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Ms Rasmussen stated that she would prefer a fine to a suspension. She freely admitted that she had dropped her foot and it that it was “a big race”. She had no submission to make in respect of the penalty submitted by Mr Ydgren.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee noted the starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $500 fine while, at the same time, noting that that starting point applies in respect of all of unnecessary, excessive or improper use of the whip. We agreed with Mr Ydgren that those three categories should be treated as separate offences. We are aware that they are so treated under the New Zealand Rules of Thoroughbred Racing.
The charge of improper use of the whip is one that is rarely brought and the Committee was not able to find a record of any previous penalty for improper use of the whip in a $200,000 or any major race in circumstances such as the present case. We find the suggested starting point to be not very helpful in the particular circumstances of this case.
Aggravating factors which we can discern are, firstly, the status of the race and the stake payable (a $200,000 Listed race), secondly, the distance over which Ms Rasmussen’s foot was out of the sulky footrest (approximately 140 metres) and, thirdly, the number of times that Ms Rasmussen used her whip over that distance. The latter two factors place the breach in the mid-to-high range, in the Committee’s view.
The only mitigating factors are Ms Rasmussen’s previous good record for improper use of the whip and her very frank admission of the breach. As far as the latter is concerned, we agree with Mr Ydgren that her admission was somewhat inevitable.
In the absence of an appropriate starting point, the Committee needed to tailor-make a penalty that would satisfy the sentencing principles of the need to punish the offender, deter others and to express disapproval of Ms Rasmussen’s actions – that is to say, a penalty that was appropriate taking all factors into account. We considered that a fine was appropriate and we fixed the amount of that fine at $1,000.
We noted Mr Ydgren’s submission for a fine of $1,000 with which Ms Rasmussen appeared to have no objection.
penalty:
Ms Rasmussen was fined the sum of $1,000.00.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N M Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms N C Rasmussen - Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a4eea29cedaa4f8451e8a6e4da41a09b
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
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meetid: ef13c89fb0db9a526cca7073c78603bc
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meetdate: 12/05/2017
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 12 May 2017
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meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
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name: NZ Metro TC