HR Waikato 15 March 2015 – R 9
ID: JCA11862
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 15 March 2015
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2015/03/15
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
As this breach was admitted we found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $550 on Mr Abernethy.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE FILLIES & MARES MOBILE PACE an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 869(2)(a).
The Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay, alleged that Licensed Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy used his whip excessively when driving RIVERBOAT SUE over the concluding stages of the race.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:'No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Abernethy was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he admitted the breach and that he was conversant with the relevant Rule.
Using the available video films Mr Mulcay demonstrated the incident. He pointed out that at approximately 300 metres from the finish RIVERBOAT SUE driven by Mr Abernethy was in second last position. He pointed out that Mr Abernethy had then turned his whip and commenced to drive with his free hand while applying the whip to the horse. RIVERBOAT SUE maintained a strong run outside the other horses and eventually finished in 2nd place. Mr Mulcay identified that Mr Abernethy had struck the horse at least 23 times without any real respite from near the 300 metre mark to the finish. He told the Committee that this was clearly unacceptable and was a clear breach of the Rules.
Mr Abernethy acknowledged the number of strikes, saying that he had struck the horse 17 times in the home straight. He added that he considered that if he had shown some respite from striking the horse prior to the straight he would not be in breach of the Rules.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Abernethy's driving record which showed 3 previous breaches of this Rule within the last 12 months. The most recent of these was on 11 December 2014 when he was fined $400. Mr Mulcay added that Mr Abernethy could be given some credit as he had not breached the Rule within the last 3 months. He added that Mr Abernethy had a high number of drives at most meetings in the North Island. Mr Mulcay submitted that the Stewards felt an appropriate fine would be $600, or asked the Committee to consider a combination of a fine of $400 and 1 days suspension.
Mr Abernethy, after considering his position, requested that the matter be dealt with by way of a fine. He asked the Committee to take into account his clear record over the past 3 months.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took into account all of the submissions relating to an appropriate penalty in this matter. We noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines showed a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension for a 2nd breach of this Rule within 12 months.
We give credit to Mr Abernethy for his admission and his clear record over the previous 3 months.
However we believe this breach was mid to high level in severity, given that the horse was finishing down the outside of the field and to be struck this many times was not a 'good look' for viewers and onlookers. Overall we believed Mr Abernethy's record of breaches of this Rule to be a poor one. Given all of these factors we believed a substantial fine would have to be imposed.
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: 26f9c762494317482cae928c372ac150
informantnumber: A3665
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excess whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/03/2015
hearing_title: HR Waikato 15 March 2015 - R 9
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE FILLIES & MARES MOBILE PACE an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 869(2)(a).
The Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay, alleged that Licensed Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy used his whip excessively when driving RIVERBOAT SUE over the concluding stages of the race.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:'No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Abernethy was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he admitted the breach and that he was conversant with the relevant Rule.
Using the available video films Mr Mulcay demonstrated the incident. He pointed out that at approximately 300 metres from the finish RIVERBOAT SUE driven by Mr Abernethy was in second last position. He pointed out that Mr Abernethy had then turned his whip and commenced to drive with his free hand while applying the whip to the horse. RIVERBOAT SUE maintained a strong run outside the other horses and eventually finished in 2nd place. Mr Mulcay identified that Mr Abernethy had struck the horse at least 23 times without any real respite from near the 300 metre mark to the finish. He told the Committee that this was clearly unacceptable and was a clear breach of the Rules.
Mr Abernethy acknowledged the number of strikes, saying that he had struck the horse 17 times in the home straight. He added that he considered that if he had shown some respite from striking the horse prior to the straight he would not be in breach of the Rules.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As this breach was admitted we found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Abernethy's driving record which showed 3 previous breaches of this Rule within the last 12 months. The most recent of these was on 11 December 2014 when he was fined $400. Mr Mulcay added that Mr Abernethy could be given some credit as he had not breached the Rule within the last 3 months. He added that Mr Abernethy had a high number of drives at most meetings in the North Island. Mr Mulcay submitted that the Stewards felt an appropriate fine would be $600, or asked the Committee to consider a combination of a fine of $400 and 1 days suspension.
Mr Abernethy, after considering his position, requested that the matter be dealt with by way of a fine. He asked the Committee to take into account his clear record over the past 3 months.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took into account all of the submissions relating to an appropriate penalty in this matter. We noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines showed a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension for a 2nd breach of this Rule within 12 months.
We give credit to Mr Abernethy for his admission and his clear record over the previous 3 months.
However we believe this breach was mid to high level in severity, given that the horse was finishing down the outside of the field and to be struck this many times was not a 'good look' for viewers and onlookers. Overall we believed Mr Abernethy's record of breaches of this Rule to be a poor one. Given all of these factors we believed a substantial fine would have to be imposed.
penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $550 on Mr Abernethy.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Abernethy - Licensed Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 1532ca2c6ce86769cb3b632d38d3e1c9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
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:
meetid: f4e56a15c2c2a29150dd7b1a0bbe0520
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/03/2015
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 15 March 2015
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