Gore HRC 28 August 2011 – R 4 (heard at Winton on 9 September 2011)
ID: JCA12486
Meet Title:
Gore HRC - 28 August 2011
Meet Chair:
NSkelt
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADennis
Race Date:
2011/08/28
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
The committee accordingly found the charge of excess use of the whip proved.
Penalty:
Taking into account all of these factors Mr A F Hunter is fined the sum of $150.00.
Charge:
Following the running of Race 4 an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr C J Allison against Mr A F Hunter alleging a breach of rule 869(2)(a). The information alleged that Mr Hunter had used his whip excessively in the run home of Race 4 whilst driving Elation Franco.
Facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the videos that Mr Hunter had in fact used the whip excessively on the run home. Mr Allison maintained that Mr Hunter had struck Elation Franco some 20 times and that most of these strikes occurred in the last 150 metres and that they were without pause.
Mr Allison used the film to show that Mr Hunter had initially struck the horse two-three times followed by a brief pause then again two-three times followed by another brief pause but that the continued use of the whip from then on was in his opinion excessive.
Mr Hunter in giving evidence maintained that his horse would not have won if he had not driven it that way and that he was attempting to get the ultimate effort from his horse because it had not won a race in the past twelve months. He also stated that he did not dispute the number of strikes but that the last three or four whip movements were simply a flourish of the tail.
Mr Hunter also inquired of Mr Allison how many strikes were deemed to be excessive under the rule 869(2)(a).
Mr Allison replied that there were no specific guidelines but that the number of twenty strikes was generally accepted to be excessive.
Mr Hunter submitted that the rule was unclear and that there should be some give and take, that it was a cloudy area that his horse had taken no harm and that because it was a first offence he asked for some leniency.
Submissions for Decision:
As above
Reasons for Decision:
The committee, having heard all the evidence and viewing the films, was satisfied that Mr A F Hunter did use his whip excessively in the home straight, striking Elation Franco approximately twenty times. The film clearly showed Mr Hunter struck the horse without interruption from shortly after entering the home straight up to the winning post.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Allison advised the committee that Mr A F Hunter was an experienced driver with an excellent record. He considered the breach to be at the lower end of the scale, that it was a first offence and that Mr Hunter's excellent driving record over many decades should be taken into account in fixing penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty we considered all of the submissions. Mr Hunter used his whip excessively and in our opinion a fine should be imposed. We adopted a starting point of $200.00 but took into account Mr Hunter's excellent driving record.
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: 61dc4efab3dafdedb575eda31e09d393
informantnumber: 68883
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/09/2011
hearing_title: Gore HRC 28 August 2011 - R 4 (heard at Winton on 9 September 2011)
charge:
Following the running of Race 4 an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr C J Allison against Mr A F Hunter alleging a breach of rule 869(2)(a). The information alleged that Mr Hunter had used his whip excessively in the run home of Race 4 whilst driving Elation Franco.
facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the videos that Mr Hunter had in fact used the whip excessively on the run home. Mr Allison maintained that Mr Hunter had struck Elation Franco some 20 times and that most of these strikes occurred in the last 150 metres and that they were without pause.
Mr Allison used the film to show that Mr Hunter had initially struck the horse two-three times followed by a brief pause then again two-three times followed by another brief pause but that the continued use of the whip from then on was in his opinion excessive.
Mr Hunter in giving evidence maintained that his horse would not have won if he had not driven it that way and that he was attempting to get the ultimate effort from his horse because it had not won a race in the past twelve months. He also stated that he did not dispute the number of strikes but that the last three or four whip movements were simply a flourish of the tail.
Mr Hunter also inquired of Mr Allison how many strikes were deemed to be excessive under the rule 869(2)(a).
Mr Allison replied that there were no specific guidelines but that the number of twenty strikes was generally accepted to be excessive.
Mr Hunter submitted that the rule was unclear and that there should be some give and take, that it was a cloudy area that his horse had taken no harm and that because it was a first offence he asked for some leniency.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
As above
reasonsfordecision:
The committee, having heard all the evidence and viewing the films, was satisfied that Mr A F Hunter did use his whip excessively in the home straight, striking Elation Franco approximately twenty times. The film clearly showed Mr Hunter struck the horse without interruption from shortly after entering the home straight up to the winning post.
Decision:
The committee accordingly found the charge of excess use of the whip proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Allison advised the committee that Mr A F Hunter was an experienced driver with an excellent record. He considered the breach to be at the lower end of the scale, that it was a first offence and that Mr Hunter's excellent driving record over many decades should be taken into account in fixing penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty we considered all of the submissions. Mr Hunter used his whip excessively and in our opinion a fine should be imposed. We adopted a starting point of $200.00 but took into account Mr Hunter's excellent driving record.
penalty:
Taking into account all of these factors Mr A F Hunter is fined the sum of $150.00.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr CJ Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr AF Hunter - Driver of ELATION FRANCO
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d5fc40fd90011fb92c66ca7ab6f4fe24
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: f67e44b194aae2e7926d92a4517bdf92
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/08/2011
meet_title: Gore HRC - 28 August 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: gore-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: NSkelt
meet_pm1: ADennis
meet_pm2: none
name: Gore HRC