Nelson HRC 11 June 2017 – R 6 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA12521
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 11 June 2017
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2017/06/11
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
As Mr May admitted the breach of the Rule it was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr May is suspended for three driving days from the close of racing on Sunday 18 June 2017 to the close of racing on Thursday 29 June 2017 - the three meetings being Forbury Park (22 June 2017), Blenheim at Addington (25 June 2017) and Forbury Park (29 June 2017).
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the “Westport TC/Reefton TC Mobile Pace”, Information 9557 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman, Mr R May. The Information stated “Mr May used his whip excessively over the final 400metres”.
Mr May signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it by ticking the box stating “I do not wish to be present at the hearing of this Information”.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
The “Use of the Whip Guidelines” effective from 1 December 2016 provides:
“........The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines......”
Using the side-on film of the final 400m of the race Stipendiary Steward, Mr Quirk highlighted Mr May racing in the lead as the field entered the home straight for the final time. Mr Wallis then said Mr May could be seen to remove the deafeners on his horse “Bella Jones" and then strike his horse once. Mr Wallis then said Mr May briefly put his hand back on the rein and then during the run to the line struck his horse a further 12 times albeit with a couple of brief pauses.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr May was a busy driver having had over 610 drives so far this season and 656 drives last season. He also stated that Mr May had previously breached this Rule on 28 December 2016 at Westport and had been fined $400. Mr Wallis also said when Mr May indicated he did not wish to appear at the hearing he said in the event he were to be suspended he would like a 7 day deferment to allow him to drive at Oamaru on Sunday, 18 June 2017.
Mr Wallis said it was the Stewards’ submission that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a term of suspension and that it be for 3 driving days. He said any penalty of 3 days would include meetings at Forbury Park and whilst Mr May had not driven at that track for every meeting this season he had done so recently and the Stewards had no objection to the Forbury Park meetings being included in the period of suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide states the starting point for a second and subsequent breach of this rule within 6 months is a 3-5-day suspension. The Committee believes this breach is in the low-mid range due to the number of strikes being 13 and the force which was also in low-mid range. We note that Mr May finished the race in 3rd place being beaten a neck and a neck into that position but after careful consideration we do not believe those factors justify any increase from a 3 day starting point.
We note that Mr May has admitted the breach and also chose not to appear before us. He did this after seeing the film of the final 400m of the race that was shown to the Committee during the hearing and realising that it clearly showed him using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of the race. As such we do not believe there are any mitigating factors that justify a reduction in the starting point of a 3 day suspension.
Mr May’s request for a 7-day deferment of the commencement of his suspension is granted in terms of Rule 1304.
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: 67e7c840f6b266e2c86c386de04fee11
informantnumber: 9557
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/06/2017
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 11 June 2017 - R 6 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the “Westport TC/Reefton TC Mobile Pace”, Information 9557 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman, Mr R May. The Information stated “Mr May used his whip excessively over the final 400metres”.
Mr May signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it by ticking the box stating “I do not wish to be present at the hearing of this Information”.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
The “Use of the Whip Guidelines” effective from 1 December 2016 provides:
“........The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines......”
Using the side-on film of the final 400m of the race Stipendiary Steward, Mr Quirk highlighted Mr May racing in the lead as the field entered the home straight for the final time. Mr Wallis then said Mr May could be seen to remove the deafeners on his horse “Bella Jones" and then strike his horse once. Mr Wallis then said Mr May briefly put his hand back on the rein and then during the run to the line struck his horse a further 12 times albeit with a couple of brief pauses.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr May admitted the breach of the Rule it was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr May was a busy driver having had over 610 drives so far this season and 656 drives last season. He also stated that Mr May had previously breached this Rule on 28 December 2016 at Westport and had been fined $400. Mr Wallis also said when Mr May indicated he did not wish to appear at the hearing he said in the event he were to be suspended he would like a 7 day deferment to allow him to drive at Oamaru on Sunday, 18 June 2017.
Mr Wallis said it was the Stewards’ submission that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a term of suspension and that it be for 3 driving days. He said any penalty of 3 days would include meetings at Forbury Park and whilst Mr May had not driven at that track for every meeting this season he had done so recently and the Stewards had no objection to the Forbury Park meetings being included in the period of suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide states the starting point for a second and subsequent breach of this rule within 6 months is a 3-5-day suspension. The Committee believes this breach is in the low-mid range due to the number of strikes being 13 and the force which was also in low-mid range. We note that Mr May finished the race in 3rd place being beaten a neck and a neck into that position but after careful consideration we do not believe those factors justify any increase from a 3 day starting point.
We note that Mr May has admitted the breach and also chose not to appear before us. He did this after seeing the film of the final 400m of the race that was shown to the Committee during the hearing and realising that it clearly showed him using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of the race. As such we do not believe there are any mitigating factors that justify a reduction in the starting point of a 3 day suspension.
Mr May’s request for a 7-day deferment of the commencement of his suspension is granted in terms of Rule 1304.
penalty:
Mr May is suspended for three driving days from the close of racing on Sunday 18 June 2017 to the close of racing on Thursday 29 June 2017 - the three meetings being Forbury Park (22 June 2017), Blenheim at Addington (25 June 2017) and Forbury Park (29 June 2017).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R May - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr R Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: fca6ae898327ee483b45a0789e3f5844
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f61766f0f58b7a6d1c8b099bfb5e96a2
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/06/2017
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 11 June 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC