HR Waikato 1 December 2016 – R 6 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA11617
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 1 December 2016
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2016/12/01
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
As the breach was admitted we found the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a term of suspension on Mr MacKinnon to begin after racing finished that evening and to conclude after racing at Palmerston North on 15 December 2016 - a 3 day suspension.
Racemeetings included in this suspension are:
9 December - Alexandra Park
13 December - Palmerston North
15 December - Palmerston North
Mr MacKinnon confirmed to the Committee that he had no driving engagements at the Alexandra Park meeting on 2 December 2016 and therefore that day was not included in his suspension.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the GREENS TAPWARE HANDICAP TROT, an Information was presented by Mr Muirhead alleging that Junior Driver, Mr J MacKinnon used his whip excessively when driving KD HALL.
Mr MacKinnon was present at the hearing and was assisted by Senior Horseman Mr S Abernethy. Mr MacKinnon acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(2)(a) states ' No Horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified KD HALL, driven by Mr MacKinnon, as it entered the final straight. Mr Muirhead stated that in the run to the finish, Mr MacKinnon had struck KD HALL with the whip 18 times. He added that new guidelines in respect of whip useage by drivers had come into effect that day, and the guidelines were now that within the final 400 metres, drivers were not to strike their horses with their whip more than 10 times. Mr Muirhead said that while the number of strikes were excessive, he did not consider there had been much vigour used in most of those strikes.
Mr MacKinnon said that he had in fact only struck the horse 4-5 times, with most of his whip action being 'running' the whip through the horses tail or waving the whip at the horse.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr MacKinnon's driving record which showed one previous breach of this Rule on 11 November 2016 when he was fined $350. Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Penalty Guide, which provides for a suspension of between 3-5 days for a 2nd breach of this Rule within 6 months. He stated that it was to Mr MacKinnon's credit that he had admitted the breach, and asked that the Committee take into account that he is Junior Driver.
Mr MacKinnon told the Committee that he did not have any committments with the next 7 days and could start any suspension immediately.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties. To Mr MacKinnon's credit is that he has admitted the breach. We took issue with Mr MacKinnon's statement that he had only struck the horse 4-5 times: it was pointed out to Mr MacKinnon that the perception of the viewing public is that each strike would have been applied to the horse. Mr MacKinnon is a Junior Driver, however it is a fact that he is facing the second charge in similar circumstances in a short period of time. Also viewed as an aggravating factor is the fact that KD HALL went on to win the race in question. Given the admission by Mr MacKinnon, and the fact that the Committee accepted that not all of the strikes hit the horse, we did not uplift Mr MacKinnon's penalty from the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 3 days.
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: 205636b1600558b00a3add7591154634
informantnumber: A3745
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excess use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/12/2016
hearing_title: HR Waikato 1 December 2016 - R 6 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the GREENS TAPWARE HANDICAP TROT, an Information was presented by Mr Muirhead alleging that Junior Driver, Mr J MacKinnon used his whip excessively when driving KD HALL.
Mr MacKinnon was present at the hearing and was assisted by Senior Horseman Mr S Abernethy. Mr MacKinnon acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(2)(a) states ' No Horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified KD HALL, driven by Mr MacKinnon, as it entered the final straight. Mr Muirhead stated that in the run to the finish, Mr MacKinnon had struck KD HALL with the whip 18 times. He added that new guidelines in respect of whip useage by drivers had come into effect that day, and the guidelines were now that within the final 400 metres, drivers were not to strike their horses with their whip more than 10 times. Mr Muirhead said that while the number of strikes were excessive, he did not consider there had been much vigour used in most of those strikes.
Mr MacKinnon said that he had in fact only struck the horse 4-5 times, with most of his whip action being 'running' the whip through the horses tail or waving the whip at the horse.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach was admitted we found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr MacKinnon's driving record which showed one previous breach of this Rule on 11 November 2016 when he was fined $350. Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Penalty Guide, which provides for a suspension of between 3-5 days for a 2nd breach of this Rule within 6 months. He stated that it was to Mr MacKinnon's credit that he had admitted the breach, and asked that the Committee take into account that he is Junior Driver.
Mr MacKinnon told the Committee that he did not have any committments with the next 7 days and could start any suspension immediately.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties. To Mr MacKinnon's credit is that he has admitted the breach. We took issue with Mr MacKinnon's statement that he had only struck the horse 4-5 times: it was pointed out to Mr MacKinnon that the perception of the viewing public is that each strike would have been applied to the horse. Mr MacKinnon is a Junior Driver, however it is a fact that he is facing the second charge in similar circumstances in a short period of time. Also viewed as an aggravating factor is the fact that KD HALL went on to win the race in question. Given the admission by Mr MacKinnon, and the fact that the Committee accepted that not all of the strikes hit the horse, we did not uplift Mr MacKinnon's penalty from the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 3 days.
penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a term of suspension on Mr MacKinnon to begin after racing finished that evening and to conclude after racing at Palmerston North on 15 December 2016 - a 3 day suspension.
Racemeetings included in this suspension are:
9 December - Alexandra Park
13 December - Palmerston North
15 December - Palmerston North
Mr MacKinnon confirmed to the Committee that he had no driving engagements at the Alexandra Park meeting on 2 December 2016 and therefore that day was not included in his suspension.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J MacKinnon - Junior Horseman driver of KD HALL
Otherperson: Mr S Abernethy - Open Horseman assisting Mr MacKinnon
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: cb20da58376f50282639e3ee6649b71b
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: e93eda031ca4433cd76f2b682afb9a0a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 01/12/2016
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 1 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato