Archive Decision

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R Te Aroha 14 November 2017 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA11365

Applicant:
Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr O Bosson - Licensed Rider

Other Person:
Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A7332

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Racing Te Aroha - 14 November 2017

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Race Date:
2017/11/14

Race Number:
R1

Decision:

As Mr Bosson admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Bosson had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 2 December and conclude after racing on 10 December 2017 (6 national riding days).

Facts:

Following the running of race 1, Te Aroha Liquor Centre 1600, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Jones, alleged that Mr Bosson used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres when riding UNNAMEABLE.

Mr Bosson acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: 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” provides:
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.

Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Bosson and showed that he struck his mount 8 times from the 200 metres to the 100 metres. He said there was some pauses between the strikes and the incident was at the very low end but to be consistent with other riders this breach fits the same category.

Mr Bosson said the 8 strikes were “back handers” and they were not hard hits.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Jones said that Mr Bosson had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.

23/8/2017 - $300 fine

22/10/2017 - $1,000 fine (10 strikes, Group 1 race and his mount run 2nd)

Mr Jones said to Mr Bosson’s credit he admitted the breach and the charge was at the low end of the scale.

Mr Bosson advised that on 11 November at Riccarton he was suspended from the close of racing on 18 November, up to and including racing on 2 December 2017.

Mr Bosson sought clarification of the updated starting points for excessive use of the whip and inquired if the penalty included national days. The Committee advised Mr Bosson with the necessary details and Mr Bosson made no submissions on penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.

The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension.

The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.

There were no aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Bosson’s admission of the breach, the number of strikes (8) was low range and the force applied was low. It is important to note the expectation is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.

UNNAMEABLE ran 2nd 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: 1a123a04850c84e09b9fc5b41888b50b


informantnumber: A7332


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 14/11/2017


hearing_title: R Te Aroha 14 November 2017 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 1, Te Aroha Liquor Centre 1600, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Jones, alleged that Mr Bosson used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres when riding UNNAMEABLE.

Mr Bosson acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: 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” provides:
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.

Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Bosson and showed that he struck his mount 8 times from the 200 metres to the 100 metres. He said there was some pauses between the strikes and the incident was at the very low end but to be consistent with other riders this breach fits the same category.

Mr Bosson said the 8 strikes were “back handers” and they were not hard hits.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Bosson admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Jones said that Mr Bosson had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.

23/8/2017 - $300 fine

22/10/2017 - $1,000 fine (10 strikes, Group 1 race and his mount run 2nd)

Mr Jones said to Mr Bosson’s credit he admitted the breach and the charge was at the low end of the scale.

Mr Bosson advised that on 11 November at Riccarton he was suspended from the close of racing on 18 November, up to and including racing on 2 December 2017.

Mr Bosson sought clarification of the updated starting points for excessive use of the whip and inquired if the penalty included national days. The Committee advised Mr Bosson with the necessary details and Mr Bosson made no submissions on penalty.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.

The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension.

The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.

There were no aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Bosson’s admission of the breach, the number of strikes (8) was low range and the force applied was low. It is important to note the expectation is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.

UNNAMEABLE ran 2nd in the race.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Bosson had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 2 December and conclude after racing on 10 December 2017 (6 national riding days).


hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr O Bosson - Licensed Rider


Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 53d01ff41c58c3e6030200d28d0f8a9a


race_expapproval:


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race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R1


submittochair:


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race_km:


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meetid: 9067fc6e02517b578f7b01f6182c328c


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


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meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 14/11/2017


meet_title: Racing Te Aroha - 14 November 2017


meet_expappcomment:


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tracklocation: racing-te-aroha


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


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meet_pm2: none


name: Racing Te Aroha