Riverton RC 2 April 2018 – R 6 – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA11376
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Riverton RC - 2 April 2018
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2018/04/02
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
Mr Skerrett has admitted the charge and it is found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Skerrett is fined $300.
Facts:
Following the running of race 6 the Bruce Thomas @ Harcourts & Riverside Rentals Maiden stewards charged Mr D Skerrett (Wentworth) with a breach of excessive use of the whip in that he “…used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100m.”
Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) reads: A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(i) unnecessary (ii) or excessive (iii) or improper
The guidelines read: 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 a 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.
Mr Skerrett admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr McLaughlin, with the aid of the videos, stated that in the home straight Mr Skerrett used his whip nine times without any respite. Mr Tidmarsh stated the Guidelines were clear that a whip can be used only five times, before a break of five strides. Mr Skerrett had not done this.
Mr Skerrett stated he had got a bit carried away with the whip.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh said Mr Skerrett had an excellent record under the rule with no previous breach for some time. Up until today he’d had 11 rides and had ridden 14 times last season. The JCA Penalty Guide recommended a $300 fine for a first offence. However, he said Mr Skerrett was not in a position to pay a fine and he sought a suspension of five national riding days. A suspension would include Riccarton on the 7th April where Mr Skerrett may have rides.
Mr Skerrett submitted he would prefer a suspension of his licence as opposed to a fine as any fine would severely impact on him and his family. He worked several jobs and rode track work for Mr Taplin. He said Mr Taplin was considering taking horses to Riccarton on the 7th April and he would miss those rides if he was suspended.
Mr Taplin stated he had 6-7 horses in work and had raced three of them today. He was considering taking one horse to Riccarton on April 7th. He said Mr Skerrett would have been engaged to ride that horse if it started.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Skerrett admitted a breach of excessive use of the whip. While Mr Skerrett rides infrequently he had an excellent record with no previous breach of the rule. The JCA Penalty Guide for a first offence is a standard fine of $300. However, Mr Tidmarsh submitted that due to Mr Skerrett’s financial situation the committee may consider a five day suspension as an alternative. Mr Skerrett submitted any fine would severely impact on his family and he would prefer a suspension. He based this submission on him securing engagements at Riccarton on the 7th April for local trainer Mr Taplin. Mr Taplin stated he was probably going to start one runner at that meeting.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines on r 368 (3) (b) (ii) are a guide only, but the committee has a discretion if it chooses to use it if there are exceptional circumstances. While we are aware of Mr Skerrett’s financial situation, the promise of a ride at Riccarton is not enough to impose a suspension. After taking into account all the submissions we don’t find any exceptional circumstances that warrant a departure from the guideline for a first offence breach of the rule.
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: 190ea836440fbb6fb2b3a81631b08979
informantnumber: A10440
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 05/04/2018
hearing_title: Riverton RC 2 April 2018 - R 6 - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 6 the Bruce Thomas @ Harcourts & Riverside Rentals Maiden stewards charged Mr D Skerrett (Wentworth) with a breach of excessive use of the whip in that he “…used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100m.”
Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) reads: A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(i) unnecessary (ii) or excessive (iii) or improper
The guidelines read: 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 a 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.
Mr Skerrett admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr McLaughlin, with the aid of the videos, stated that in the home straight Mr Skerrett used his whip nine times without any respite. Mr Tidmarsh stated the Guidelines were clear that a whip can be used only five times, before a break of five strides. Mr Skerrett had not done this.
Mr Skerrett stated he had got a bit carried away with the whip.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Skerrett has admitted the charge and it is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh said Mr Skerrett had an excellent record under the rule with no previous breach for some time. Up until today he’d had 11 rides and had ridden 14 times last season. The JCA Penalty Guide recommended a $300 fine for a first offence. However, he said Mr Skerrett was not in a position to pay a fine and he sought a suspension of five national riding days. A suspension would include Riccarton on the 7th April where Mr Skerrett may have rides.
Mr Skerrett submitted he would prefer a suspension of his licence as opposed to a fine as any fine would severely impact on him and his family. He worked several jobs and rode track work for Mr Taplin. He said Mr Taplin was considering taking horses to Riccarton on the 7th April and he would miss those rides if he was suspended.
Mr Taplin stated he had 6-7 horses in work and had raced three of them today. He was considering taking one horse to Riccarton on April 7th. He said Mr Skerrett would have been engaged to ride that horse if it started.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Skerrett admitted a breach of excessive use of the whip. While Mr Skerrett rides infrequently he had an excellent record with no previous breach of the rule. The JCA Penalty Guide for a first offence is a standard fine of $300. However, Mr Tidmarsh submitted that due to Mr Skerrett’s financial situation the committee may consider a five day suspension as an alternative. Mr Skerrett submitted any fine would severely impact on his family and he would prefer a suspension. He based this submission on him securing engagements at Riccarton on the 7th April for local trainer Mr Taplin. Mr Taplin stated he was probably going to start one runner at that meeting.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines on r 368 (3) (b) (ii) are a guide only, but the committee has a discretion if it chooses to use it if there are exceptional circumstances. While we are aware of Mr Skerrett’s financial situation, the promise of a ride at Riccarton is not enough to impose a suspension. After taking into account all the submissions we don’t find any exceptional circumstances that warrant a departure from the guideline for a first offence breach of the rule.
penalty:
Mr Skerrett is fined $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Skerrett - Class A Jockey
Otherperson: Mr J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b4b9cc9ac3fb311339da0eea23bcbec9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 963c151e488eabd51f84ce6cde0f977b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/04/2018
meet_title: Riverton RC - 2 April 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: riverton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: PKnowles
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Riverton RC