Nelson HRC 11 June 2017 – R 9 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA11604
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 11 June 2017
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2017/06/11
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Penalty:
Mr Cox is suspended for three driving days from the close of racing on Friday 16 June 2017 to the close of racing on Sunday 25 June 2017 - the three meetings being Oamaru (18 June 2017), Forbury Park (22 June 2017) and Blenheim at Addington (25 June 2017).
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the “Crowe Horwath Handicap Pace”, Information 9558 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman, Mr J Cox. The Information stated “Mr Cox used his whip excessively over the concluding stages”.
Mr Cox signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it by ticking and signing the box stating “I do not wish to be present at the hearing of this Information”.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
The “Use of the Whip Guidelines” effective from 1 December 2016 provides:
“........The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines......”
Using the side-on film of the final 400m of the race Stipendiary Steward, Mr Quirk highlighted Mr Cox racing three back on the markers as the field entered the home straight for the final time.
Mr Wallis then said in the run to the line Mr Cox could be seen to strike his horse “It’s All Over Now” 12 times albeit with a couple of brief pauses.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr Cox was a busy driver having had over 410 drives so far this season and 550 drives last season. He also stated that Mr Cox had previously breached this Rule on 10 February 2017 at Addington and had been suspended for 3 days. Mr Wallis also said that when Mr Cox indicated he did not wish to appear at the hearing he said in the event he were to be suspended he would like a 5 day deferment to allow him to drive at Addington on Friday 16 June 2017.
Mr Wallis said it was the Stewards’ submission that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a term of suspension and that it be for 3 driving days.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide states the starting point for a second and subsequent breach of this rule within 6 months is a 3-5-day suspension. The Committee believes this breach is in the low-mid range due to the number of strikes being 12 and the force which was also in low-mid range. We note that Mr Cox finished the race in 2nd place being beaten by 1¼ lengths into that position but after careful consideration we do not believe those factors justify any increase from a 3 day starting point.
We note that Mr Cox has admitted the breach and also chose not to appear before us. He did this after seeing the film of the final 400m of the race that was shown to the Committee during the hearing and realising that it clearly showed him using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of the race. As such we do not believe there are any mitigating factors that justify a reduction in the starting point of a 3 day suspension.
Mr Cox’s request for a 5-day deferment of the commencement of his suspension is granted in terms of Rule 1304.
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: 24d4bcf0bbf5600a1ec830b0ef465f68
informantnumber: 9558
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/06/2017
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 11 June 2017 - R 9 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the “Crowe Horwath Handicap Pace”, Information 9558 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman, Mr J Cox. The Information stated “Mr Cox used his whip excessively over the concluding stages”.
Mr Cox signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it by ticking and signing the box stating “I do not wish to be present at the hearing of this Information”.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
The “Use of the Whip Guidelines” effective from 1 December 2016 provides:
“........The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines......”
Using the side-on film of the final 400m of the race Stipendiary Steward, Mr Quirk highlighted Mr Cox racing three back on the markers as the field entered the home straight for the final time.
Mr Wallis then said in the run to the line Mr Cox could be seen to strike his horse “It’s All Over Now” 12 times albeit with a couple of brief pauses.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr Cox was a busy driver having had over 410 drives so far this season and 550 drives last season. He also stated that Mr Cox had previously breached this Rule on 10 February 2017 at Addington and had been suspended for 3 days. Mr Wallis also said that when Mr Cox indicated he did not wish to appear at the hearing he said in the event he were to be suspended he would like a 5 day deferment to allow him to drive at Addington on Friday 16 June 2017.
Mr Wallis said it was the Stewards’ submission that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a term of suspension and that it be for 3 driving days.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide states the starting point for a second and subsequent breach of this rule within 6 months is a 3-5-day suspension. The Committee believes this breach is in the low-mid range due to the number of strikes being 12 and the force which was also in low-mid range. We note that Mr Cox finished the race in 2nd place being beaten by 1¼ lengths into that position but after careful consideration we do not believe those factors justify any increase from a 3 day starting point.
We note that Mr Cox has admitted the breach and also chose not to appear before us. He did this after seeing the film of the final 400m of the race that was shown to the Committee during the hearing and realising that it clearly showed him using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of the race. As such we do not believe there are any mitigating factors that justify a reduction in the starting point of a 3 day suspension.
Mr Cox’s request for a 5-day deferment of the commencement of his suspension is granted in terms of Rule 1304.
penalty:
Mr Cox is suspended for three driving days from the close of racing on Friday 16 June 2017 to the close of racing on Sunday 25 June 2017 - the three meetings being Oamaru (18 June 2017), Forbury Park (22 June 2017) and Blenheim at Addington (25 June 2017).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Cox - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr R Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 97972e9ed99c7e993003359a8cf5db3b
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
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meetdate: 11/06/2017
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 11 June 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC