Wellington RC 19 January 2019 – R 7 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA12247
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2019/01/19
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As Mr McNab admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McNab’s jockey’s license is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 26th up to and including racing on Friday, February 15th. The Committee calculated this to be an 11-day suspension incorporating two premier days.
Facts:
Following Race 7 (JR & N Berkett Telegraph Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that jockey M McNab used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.
Rule 638(3)(b) 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” provide:
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.
At the outset of the hearing Mr McNab confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham played the videos and showed Mr McNab racing in a position just behind the leaders. Passing the 250m mark of the race, Mr McNab drew his whip and from that point up until the 100m used it approximately 11 times.
Mr McNab accepted as accurate the Stewards’ assessment of the number of strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr McNab’s second breach in one day and his third breach in 12 months. He asked the Committee to take into account the Group 1 status of the race and the fact that Mr McNab won the race narrowly by a very bare nose. (Mr Oatham added that the rider of the second horse had also been charged with excessive use of the whip).
Mr Oatham submitted that due to these aggravating factors there should be an uplift from the starting point of 6-8 days suspension as outlined in the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees. He said the Committee might also consider combining a suspension with a monetary penalty.
Mr McNab said he didn’t usually get charged for overusing his stick, and he wasn’t a big user of the stick, so had no real explanation for today’s breaches of the rules.
In light of a possible suspension, Mr McNab advised of riding commitments through until Saturday, January 26th.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty the Committee adopted a starting point of 6-8 national riding days.
Aggravating factors were the Group 1 status and stake of the race, and the fact that Mr McNab won the race. While the number of strikes was not as high as his previous breach, a further aggravating factor was that Mr McNab was facing a second breach on the same day. Excessive use of the whip must be discouraged in every race, and it concerns that some riders appear to throw caution to the wind when the stakes are higher. This could be perceived as a “win at all cost” attitude.
In our opinion, the aggravating factors are significant and therefore require a substantial uplift from the starting point. The Committee did consider imposing a fine as an additional penalty but ultimately believed that an increased term of suspension was an appropriate penalty.
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: 46223f20a98a3331ce47dd14fa79b7a2
informantnumber: A12124
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2019
hearing_title: Wellington RC 19 January 2019 - R 7 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 7 (JR & N Berkett Telegraph Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that jockey M McNab used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.
Rule 638(3)(b) 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” provide:
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.
At the outset of the hearing Mr McNab confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham played the videos and showed Mr McNab racing in a position just behind the leaders. Passing the 250m mark of the race, Mr McNab drew his whip and from that point up until the 100m used it approximately 11 times.
Mr McNab accepted as accurate the Stewards’ assessment of the number of strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr McNab admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr McNab’s second breach in one day and his third breach in 12 months. He asked the Committee to take into account the Group 1 status of the race and the fact that Mr McNab won the race narrowly by a very bare nose. (Mr Oatham added that the rider of the second horse had also been charged with excessive use of the whip).
Mr Oatham submitted that due to these aggravating factors there should be an uplift from the starting point of 6-8 days suspension as outlined in the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees. He said the Committee might also consider combining a suspension with a monetary penalty.
Mr McNab said he didn’t usually get charged for overusing his stick, and he wasn’t a big user of the stick, so had no real explanation for today’s breaches of the rules.
In light of a possible suspension, Mr McNab advised of riding commitments through until Saturday, January 26th.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty the Committee adopted a starting point of 6-8 national riding days.
Aggravating factors were the Group 1 status and stake of the race, and the fact that Mr McNab won the race. While the number of strikes was not as high as his previous breach, a further aggravating factor was that Mr McNab was facing a second breach on the same day. Excessive use of the whip must be discouraged in every race, and it concerns that some riders appear to throw caution to the wind when the stakes are higher. This could be perceived as a “win at all cost” attitude.
In our opinion, the aggravating factors are significant and therefore require a substantial uplift from the starting point. The Committee did consider imposing a fine as an additional penalty but ultimately believed that an increased term of suspension was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McNab’s jockey’s license is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 26th up to and including racing on Friday, February 15th. The Committee calculated this to be an 11-day suspension incorporating two premier days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M McNab - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0cde0f86c0edc5fb2c5f24f877463277
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
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meetid: bdcaf483a4b85413aa8ba83606ededa9
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meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/01/2019
meet_title: Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC