Banks Peninsula TC 29 January 2017 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA12073
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 29 January 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp
Race Date:
2017/01/29
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr McMillan having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr McMillan was fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Dakins Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T M McMillan, alleging that Mr McMillan, as the driver of SKY CITY KING in the race, “used his whip excessively over the final 400 metres”.
Mr McMillan had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that the breach was admitted. Mr Renault advised the Committee that Mr McMillan did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horsemen must show distinct pauses between the whip being used. The horseman shall interrupt the use of his/her whip by using any of the following alternative actions:
• A rein in each hand while using the whip – not continuous.
Mr Renault showed a video replay of the final stages of the race inside the final 400 metres. He pointed out Mr McMillan, driving SKY CITY KING, improving 3-wide outside the leaders as the field entered the home straight. From that point Mr McMillan used his whip approximately 15 times. Mr Renault pointed out that all strikes were with the whip hand on the rein, but the strikes were continuous, Mr Renault submitted. Mr McMillan had explained to the Stewards that he was unaware that continuous use of the whip with the rein in hand was in breach of the Guidelines, Mr Renault said. The Committee noted that SKY CITY KING had finished in 4th placing.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr McMillan has had 9 drives in the current season and had a total of 70 in the 2015/2016 season. His record over that period was clear so his record was good, Mr Renault said. He submitted that Mr McMillan should receive credit for that record and his admission of the breach. While the number was quite high, the strikes were not free of the rein. Stewards were submitting that a fine of $300 would be appropriate, Mr Renault said.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $500 fine as provided in the Penalty Guide. There were no aggravating factors. The breach, in the Committee’s view, was in the low-to-mid range. Mitigating factors were Mr McMillan’s admission of the breach and his good driving record. The Committee was satisfied that a combination of those two factors warranted a discount in the sum of $200.
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: 2de56bccf359899bf28cddc1516a4990
informantnumber: A6274
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/01/2017
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 29 January 2017 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Dakins Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T M McMillan, alleging that Mr McMillan, as the driver of SKY CITY KING in the race, “used his whip excessively over the final 400 metres”.
Mr McMillan had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that the breach was admitted. Mr Renault advised the Committee that Mr McMillan did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horsemen must show distinct pauses between the whip being used. The horseman shall interrupt the use of his/her whip by using any of the following alternative actions:
• A rein in each hand while using the whip – not continuous.
Mr Renault showed a video replay of the final stages of the race inside the final 400 metres. He pointed out Mr McMillan, driving SKY CITY KING, improving 3-wide outside the leaders as the field entered the home straight. From that point Mr McMillan used his whip approximately 15 times. Mr Renault pointed out that all strikes were with the whip hand on the rein, but the strikes were continuous, Mr Renault submitted. Mr McMillan had explained to the Stewards that he was unaware that continuous use of the whip with the rein in hand was in breach of the Guidelines, Mr Renault said. The Committee noted that SKY CITY KING had finished in 4th placing.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr McMillan having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr McMillan has had 9 drives in the current season and had a total of 70 in the 2015/2016 season. His record over that period was clear so his record was good, Mr Renault said. He submitted that Mr McMillan should receive credit for that record and his admission of the breach. While the number was quite high, the strikes were not free of the rein. Stewards were submitting that a fine of $300 would be appropriate, Mr Renault said.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $500 fine as provided in the Penalty Guide. There were no aggravating factors. The breach, in the Committee’s view, was in the low-to-mid range. Mitigating factors were Mr McMillan’s admission of the breach and his good driving record. The Committee was satisfied that a combination of those two factors warranted a discount in the sum of $200.
penalty:
Mr McMillan was fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: T M McMillan, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4d6aef0b1b3e53f7c49264d3bb79f93b
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0281723f7b7a6434f639873ef418cd7a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 29/01/2017
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 29 January 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: GClapp
meet_pm2: none
name: Banks Peninsula TC