Counties RC 24 September 2017 – R 4 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA11675
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Counties RC - 24 September 2017
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones
Race Date:
2017/09/24
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
As Ms Fawcett admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Ms Fawcett was fined $350.
Facts:
Following the running of race 4, Healthvision 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Fawcett used her whip excessively when riding CALL ME BOB prior to the 100 metres.
Ms Fawcett acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach. Ms Fawcett confirmed that she was aware of the new whip Guidelines and was assisted at the hearing by Mr N Harris.
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” effective 1 August 2017 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 Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Fawcett and showed that she struck her mount 17 times prior to the 100m. He said there was no force applied and he defined the strikes as “slaps”. He said there were breaks of 3 to 4 strides but not for the minimum 5 strides.
Ms Fawcett acknowledged that she struck her mount 17 times and stated that she was eager to win the race.
Mr Harris said that it would be a good learning curve for Ms Fawcett.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Fawcett had a clear record under this Rule and noted that there were breaks of 3 to 4 strides. He said that he would leave the penalty up to Committee.
The Committee advised Ms Fawcett the JCA Penalty Guide starting points for excessive use of the whip.
Ms Fawcett and Mr Harris made no submissions on penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The starting point for a 1st breach of this Rule is a $300 fine. That level of fine assumes a good record and admission of the breach, otherwise the fine should be higher. The expectation is that no reduction in penalty is applied unless there are exceptional circumstances.
We believe the 17 strikes were well outside the allowable guidelines and on that basis an uplift in penalty was required.
When reviewing the incident it was clear that the 17 strikes were applied with minimal force and they were not continuous.
The mitigating factors were Ms Fawcett’s clear record under this Rule and her admission of the breach.
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: 2204ed004401cc31dda07e4502357e1c
informantnumber: A9474
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/09/2017
hearing_title: Counties RC 24 September 2017 - R 4 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 4, Healthvision 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Fawcett used her whip excessively when riding CALL ME BOB prior to the 100 metres.
Ms Fawcett acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach. Ms Fawcett confirmed that she was aware of the new whip Guidelines and was assisted at the hearing by Mr N Harris.
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” effective 1 August 2017 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 Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Fawcett and showed that she struck her mount 17 times prior to the 100m. He said there was no force applied and he defined the strikes as “slaps”. He said there were breaks of 3 to 4 strides but not for the minimum 5 strides.
Ms Fawcett acknowledged that she struck her mount 17 times and stated that she was eager to win the race.
Mr Harris said that it would be a good learning curve for Ms Fawcett.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Fawcett admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Fawcett had a clear record under this Rule and noted that there were breaks of 3 to 4 strides. He said that he would leave the penalty up to Committee.
The Committee advised Ms Fawcett the JCA Penalty Guide starting points for excessive use of the whip.
Ms Fawcett and Mr Harris made no submissions on penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The starting point for a 1st breach of this Rule is a $300 fine. That level of fine assumes a good record and admission of the breach, otherwise the fine should be higher. The expectation is that no reduction in penalty is applied unless there are exceptional circumstances.
We believe the 17 strikes were well outside the allowable guidelines and on that basis an uplift in penalty was required.
When reviewing the incident it was clear that the 17 strikes were applied with minimal force and they were not continuous.
The mitigating factors were Ms Fawcett’s clear record under this Rule and her admission of the breach.
penalty:
Ms Fawcett was fined $350.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms J Fawcett - Apprentice Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Harris - Apprentice Jockey Mentor assisting Ms Fawcett, Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a93b0c155a6a40212394bba86bb2adb0
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 8b0c8ebd3952f0e44a8da93cf2b90506
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 24/09/2017
meet_title: Counties RC - 24 September 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: counties-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: GJones
meet_pm2: none
name: Counties RC