Archive Decision

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Wellington RC 14 July 2018 – R 6 – Chair, Mr P Williams

ID: JCA11162

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr D Bradley - Jockey

Other Person:
Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8841

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive Use of the Whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 14 July 2018

Meet Chair:
PWilliams

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMoffatt

Race Date:
2018/07/14

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

As Mr Bradley admitted the breach the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Bradley is fined $500.

Facts:

Following the running of race 6, the “Blue Star Parliamentary Handicap”, Information A8841 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham under Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Information stated “D Bradley (Dr Watson) used his whip excessively prior to the 100m”.

Mr Bradley signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the Rule and associated Guidelines under which he was charged.

Rule 638(3)(b) states: 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” state:
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.

Stipendiary Steward, Mr Balcombe showed the head-on view of the race from the 350m mark and highlighted Mr Bradley on “Dr Watson” racing closest to the rail in a group of horses vying for second place. He said from the 350m to the 100m Mr Bradley struck his horse 10 times without the required 5 stride pause.

Mr Bradley said did not disagree with Mr Balcombe’s interpretation of the film and had no further comments to make.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham said Mr Bradley had breached the same Rule at Hastings on 28 April 2018 and had been fined $300. He said the Stewards categorised today’s breach as being in the mid-range but asked the Committee to note the testing conditions being faced by all riders on a heavy 11 track. He said Mr Bradley had badly misjudged his use of the whip and submitted a fine of $500, as stated in the JCA’s Penalty Guide for a second breach of the whip Rule/Guidelines within a 12-month period, was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Bradley said he was aware of the penalty for a second breach of the Rule and had no additional comments to make.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has reviewed the film of the race from the top of the straight to the 100m mark and taken into account the submissions made. This is Mr Bradley’s second breach of the Rule in the last three months. We do not believe the heavy 11 track rating today justifies any reduction from $500 starting point stated in the JCA Penalty Guide. That said, there are also no additional aggravating factors to justify the penalty being greater than the starting point although we do note that Mr Bradley finished third 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: 15c0f58c67c336e9ffc669d373abb948


informantnumber: A8841


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 15/07/2018


hearing_title: Wellington RC 14 July 2018 - R 6 - Chair, Mr P Williams


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 6, the “Blue Star Parliamentary Handicap”, Information A8841 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham under Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Information stated “D Bradley (Dr Watson) used his whip excessively prior to the 100m”.

Mr Bradley signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the Rule and associated Guidelines under which he was charged.

Rule 638(3)(b) states: 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” state:
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.

Stipendiary Steward, Mr Balcombe showed the head-on view of the race from the 350m mark and highlighted Mr Bradley on “Dr Watson” racing closest to the rail in a group of horses vying for second place. He said from the 350m to the 100m Mr Bradley struck his horse 10 times without the required 5 stride pause.

Mr Bradley said did not disagree with Mr Balcombe’s interpretation of the film and had no further comments to make.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Bradley admitted the breach the charge was found proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham said Mr Bradley had breached the same Rule at Hastings on 28 April 2018 and had been fined $300. He said the Stewards categorised today’s breach as being in the mid-range but asked the Committee to note the testing conditions being faced by all riders on a heavy 11 track. He said Mr Bradley had badly misjudged his use of the whip and submitted a fine of $500, as stated in the JCA’s Penalty Guide for a second breach of the whip Rule/Guidelines within a 12-month period, was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Bradley said he was aware of the penalty for a second breach of the Rule and had no additional comments to make.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has reviewed the film of the race from the top of the straight to the 100m mark and taken into account the submissions made. This is Mr Bradley’s second breach of the Rule in the last three months. We do not believe the heavy 11 track rating today justifies any reduction from $500 starting point stated in the JCA Penalty Guide. That said, there are also no additional aggravating factors to justify the penalty being greater than the starting point although we do note that Mr Bradley finished third in the Race.


penalty:

Mr Bradley is fined $500.

hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Bradley - Jockey


Otherperson: Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: a64198893431e5ac0eb00af82c2c4b60


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R6


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 82d0d2faf123fcbce9342276dea90de9


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 14/07/2018


meet_title: Wellington RC - 14 July 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: wellington-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: PWilliams


meet_pm1: NMoffatt


meet_pm2: none


name: Wellington RC