Auckland TC 28 July 2017 – R 3 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA11229
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 28 July 2017
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2017/07/28
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
We therefore find the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a fine of $350 on Mr Cornwall. He was advised that a further breach of this Rule within 6 months would result in a suspension.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Lane Neave WWW.LANENEAVE.CO.NZ. Handicap Trot 2200, an Information was presented by Mr Mulcay, in which he alleged that Open Horseman Mr S Cornwall, driving ANZAC had used his whip excessively inside the final 400m of the race.
Mr Cornwall was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule. He advised the Committee that he did not admit the breach.
Mr Cornwall further advised the Committee that he was aware of the Official Notice from Harness Racing NZ, dated 10 November 2016, in which the guidelines to the use of the whip in races had been changed. The important feature of the changes, which came into effect on 1 December 2016, was that the whip was not to be used more than 10 times within the final 400m of a race.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides that ' No horseman in any race shall use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner'.
Submissions for Decision:
Using the available video films, Mr Mulcay identified the horse ANZAC driven by Mr Cornwall as the field neared the 400m in the subject race. He stated that the Stewards had no problem with the manner of Mr Cornwall's driving until the 200m point. He said that from that point, Mr Cornwall had used a free hand action with his whip, commenced to strike the horse and near the finish had used a ' rapid fire' action. Mr Mulcay pointed out that the horse had been struck with the whip more than 10 times in the last 200m of the race, which constituted a breach of the Rules. Mr Mulcay added that when the Stewards interviewed Mr Cornwall after the race, he had denied actually striking the horse with his whip. Mr Cornwall had no questions of Mr Mulcay.
Mr Cornwall told the Committee that the horse was a 'bludger', that it was 'no bloody good' and that it would not have run 3rd if he had not used his whip. He added that in his opinion it was obvious on the films that he had not been hitting the horse with his whip.
In summing up Mr Mulcay stated that it was clear that Mr Cornwall had used his whip continuously, free of the rein, from about the 100m mark.
Mr Cornwall stated that he did not believe he had breached the Guidelines under the current Rule.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee took note of the evidence of both parties. We viewed the films a number of times, and it was clear on the films that Mr Cornwall had used his whip on the horse at least 14 times within the last 400m of the race. We had no doubt that the horse was being struck by Mr Cornwall.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay submitted that under the JCA Penalty Guidelines, a first breach of this Rule called for a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He stated that as Mr Cornwall had not admitted this breach, the Stewards did not believe he should be credited with any reduction of whatever penalty the Committee considered appropriate.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Cornwall had no prior breaches of this Rule which had been dealt with by the JCA. However in October 2016 Mr Cornwall had been fined $200 for his whip use in an organised trial/work-out. He added that the Stewards believed he could be given credit for an otherwise clear record.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Cornwall had had 10 raceday drives in the 2016-2017 season, and approximately 95 lifetime drives.
Mr Cornwall asked that the Committee consider a suspension as an appropriate penalty for this breach.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties. We confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension for the first breach of this Rule by a driver. We determined that we would deal with this breach by way of a fine, as was usual throughout New Zealand, except for exceptional circumstances; which did not exist in this case.
We did not factor in the fine incurred at a workout/trial as mentioned by Mr Mulcay, however we noted that it had occurred.
A first breach of this Rule, where the number of strikes is in the region of 14-as in this case-has attracted a fine of $300 by JCA Committees since the Guidelines were introduced in December 2016.
We did not penalise Mr Cornwall for wishing to defend this charge. However we were unable to apply any benefit for an admission as is usually the case. We did give Mr Cornwall credit for having a clear record as far as JCA hearings were concerned relative to this Rule.
We therefore considered an uplift on the 'standard' fine was appropriate.
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: 12b6ea98f78300eab16875bf081149da
informantnumber: A9127
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Using whip excessively
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 29/07/2017
hearing_title: Auckland TC 28 July 2017 - R 3 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Lane Neave WWW.LANENEAVE.CO.NZ. Handicap Trot 2200, an Information was presented by Mr Mulcay, in which he alleged that Open Horseman Mr S Cornwall, driving ANZAC had used his whip excessively inside the final 400m of the race.
Mr Cornwall was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule. He advised the Committee that he did not admit the breach.
Mr Cornwall further advised the Committee that he was aware of the Official Notice from Harness Racing NZ, dated 10 November 2016, in which the guidelines to the use of the whip in races had been changed. The important feature of the changes, which came into effect on 1 December 2016, was that the whip was not to be used more than 10 times within the final 400m of a race.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides that ' No horseman in any race shall use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner'.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Using the available video films, Mr Mulcay identified the horse ANZAC driven by Mr Cornwall as the field neared the 400m in the subject race. He stated that the Stewards had no problem with the manner of Mr Cornwall's driving until the 200m point. He said that from that point, Mr Cornwall had used a free hand action with his whip, commenced to strike the horse and near the finish had used a ' rapid fire' action. Mr Mulcay pointed out that the horse had been struck with the whip more than 10 times in the last 200m of the race, which constituted a breach of the Rules. Mr Mulcay added that when the Stewards interviewed Mr Cornwall after the race, he had denied actually striking the horse with his whip. Mr Cornwall had no questions of Mr Mulcay.
Mr Cornwall told the Committee that the horse was a 'bludger', that it was 'no bloody good' and that it would not have run 3rd if he had not used his whip. He added that in his opinion it was obvious on the films that he had not been hitting the horse with his whip.
In summing up Mr Mulcay stated that it was clear that Mr Cornwall had used his whip continuously, free of the rein, from about the 100m mark.
Mr Cornwall stated that he did not believe he had breached the Guidelines under the current Rule.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee took note of the evidence of both parties. We viewed the films a number of times, and it was clear on the films that Mr Cornwall had used his whip on the horse at least 14 times within the last 400m of the race. We had no doubt that the horse was being struck by Mr Cornwall.
Decision:
We therefore find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay submitted that under the JCA Penalty Guidelines, a first breach of this Rule called for a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He stated that as Mr Cornwall had not admitted this breach, the Stewards did not believe he should be credited with any reduction of whatever penalty the Committee considered appropriate.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Cornwall had no prior breaches of this Rule which had been dealt with by the JCA. However in October 2016 Mr Cornwall had been fined $200 for his whip use in an organised trial/work-out. He added that the Stewards believed he could be given credit for an otherwise clear record.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Cornwall had had 10 raceday drives in the 2016-2017 season, and approximately 95 lifetime drives.
Mr Cornwall asked that the Committee consider a suspension as an appropriate penalty for this breach.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties. We confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension for the first breach of this Rule by a driver. We determined that we would deal with this breach by way of a fine, as was usual throughout New Zealand, except for exceptional circumstances; which did not exist in this case.
We did not factor in the fine incurred at a workout/trial as mentioned by Mr Mulcay, however we noted that it had occurred.
A first breach of this Rule, where the number of strikes is in the region of 14-as in this case-has attracted a fine of $300 by JCA Committees since the Guidelines were introduced in December 2016.
We did not penalise Mr Cornwall for wishing to defend this charge. However we were unable to apply any benefit for an admission as is usually the case. We did give Mr Cornwall credit for having a clear record as far as JCA hearings were concerned relative to this Rule.
We therefore considered an uplift on the 'standard' fine was appropriate.
penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a fine of $350 on Mr Cornwall. He was advised that a further breach of this Rule within 6 months would result in a suspension.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Cornwall, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6edbb54ae9492d14b982fac86d634d9f
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4809a1609e02313ec3dccc930c36a9b0
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/07/2017
meet_title: Auckland TC - 28 July 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC