Archive Decision

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Ashburton RC 19 October 2019 – R 6 – Chair, Mr S Ching

ID: JCA11196

Applicant:
J Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
L Innes Licensed (Class A) Rider

Information Number:
A11534

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of the whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Ashburton RC - 19 October 2019

Meet Chair:
SChing

Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson

Race Date:
2019/10/19

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

The charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Innes is fined the sum of $600.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Valachi Downs 1400, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham, against Licensed Class A Rider, Mr L Innes, alleging that as the rider of MAGNIFY in the race, used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Innes was present at the hearing of the information and confirmed he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham, showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Innes riding MAGNIFY racing midfield, approximately 4 off the rail, as the field entered the home straight. Mr Oatham showed that from near the 300m, Mr Innes drew the whip and struck MAGNIFY on 10 occasions, prior to the 100m, well over the limit of 5 strikes before the 100m, as prescribed in the Whip Guidelines. Of concern, Mr Oatham stated, was that 6 to 7 of the strikes were consecutive.

Mr Innes stated that he had not ridden at the Ashburton track for some time and had mistaken the 200m mark for the 100m. He also stated that he had not ridden on many race days since the implementation of the new Whip Guidelines.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham told the Committee that the Whip Guidelines had been effective since 7 October, 12 days previous, where all riders' penalty records, in regard to the whip, were reset. Mr Oatham stated that prior to the implication of the new Whip Guidelines, Mr Innes had an excellent record with no whip charges showing over the previous 12 months. He stated that, as riders were adapting to the new Guidelines, some leniency be applied to this case, which was the first to be brought under the new Guidelines. Mr Oatham submitted that consideration be given to adopting the 1st offence starting point of $300 and applying an uplift for the consecutive strikes.

Reasons for Penalty:

The new Whip Guidelines also coincided with new Penalty Guidelines which state that a first breach of this rule, the starting point is a $300 fine. Mr Innes has used his whip on 10 occasions before the 100m which the Penalty Guidelines dictate a 6 National day suspension starting point. We also had to consider the consecutive strikes of 6 to 7 prior to the 100m which normally attracts a starting point of $500. Taking all factors and submissions into consideration, including the short period of time that the new guidelines have been in practice, we were inclined to apply some leniency in this case. We therefore determined that the starting point for this breach was the 1st offence breach of $300, mitigation inclusive. The aggravating factor being the consecutive strikes of 6 to 7, warranted an uplift in penalty, which we set at $300.

We therefore determined that a fine of $600 was an appropriate penalty in this case.

The penalty delivered to Mr Innes today, we determined, should not be seen as a precedent for future breaches of this rule and used to try and mitigate future penalties.

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: 1084b4c7a1485863cf9bc78387f59c48


informantnumber: A11534


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 22/10/2019


hearing_title: Ashburton RC 19 October 2019 - R 6 - Chair, Mr S Ching


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Valachi Downs 1400, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham, against Licensed Class A Rider, Mr L Innes, alleging that as the rider of MAGNIFY in the race, used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Innes was present at the hearing of the information and confirmed he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham, showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Innes riding MAGNIFY racing midfield, approximately 4 off the rail, as the field entered the home straight. Mr Oatham showed that from near the 300m, Mr Innes drew the whip and struck MAGNIFY on 10 occasions, prior to the 100m, well over the limit of 5 strikes before the 100m, as prescribed in the Whip Guidelines. Of concern, Mr Oatham stated, was that 6 to 7 of the strikes were consecutive.

Mr Innes stated that he had not ridden at the Ashburton track for some time and had mistaken the 200m mark for the 100m. He also stated that he had not ridden on many race days since the implementation of the new Whip Guidelines.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

The charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham told the Committee that the Whip Guidelines had been effective since 7 October, 12 days previous, where all riders' penalty records, in regard to the whip, were reset. Mr Oatham stated that prior to the implication of the new Whip Guidelines, Mr Innes had an excellent record with no whip charges showing over the previous 12 months. He stated that, as riders were adapting to the new Guidelines, some leniency be applied to this case, which was the first to be brought under the new Guidelines. Mr Oatham submitted that consideration be given to adopting the 1st offence starting point of $300 and applying an uplift for the consecutive strikes.


reasonsforpenalty:

The new Whip Guidelines also coincided with new Penalty Guidelines which state that a first breach of this rule, the starting point is a $300 fine. Mr Innes has used his whip on 10 occasions before the 100m which the Penalty Guidelines dictate a 6 National day suspension starting point. We also had to consider the consecutive strikes of 6 to 7 prior to the 100m which normally attracts a starting point of $500. Taking all factors and submissions into consideration, including the short period of time that the new guidelines have been in practice, we were inclined to apply some leniency in this case. We therefore determined that the starting point for this breach was the 1st offence breach of $300, mitigation inclusive. The aggravating factor being the consecutive strikes of 6 to 7, warranted an uplift in penalty, which we set at $300.

We therefore determined that a fine of $600 was an appropriate penalty in this case.

The penalty delivered to Mr Innes today, we determined, should not be seen as a precedent for future breaches of this rule and used to try and mitigate future penalties.


penalty:

Mr Innes is fined the sum of $600.


hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: J Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: L Innes Licensed (Class A) Rider


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 4aa02d22c785fd65d841495873851a8b


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: 71ac1e31c45f9cdfede2df18c552de77


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 19/10/2019


meet_title: Ashburton RC - 19 October 2019


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: ashburton-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: SChing


meet_pm1: DAnderson


meet_pm2: none


name: Ashburton RC