Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

R Rotorua 13 April 2018 – R 3 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA12714

Applicant:
Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mrs K McCulloch - Licensed Jockey

Other Person:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A7341

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Racing Rotorua - 13 April 2018

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott

Race Date:
2018/04/13

Race Number:
R3

Decision:

As Mrs McCulloch admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mrs McCulloch had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 13 April and conclude after racing on 26 April 2018.

April 14 – Te Rapa and April 15 Invercargill were not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.

Facts:

Following the running of race 3, Motion Entertainment 2yo, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Jones, alleged that Mrs McCulloch permitted her mount PLATINUM RAPPER to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of SAHAR which was checked near the 100 metres.

Mrs McCulloch acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He said that when Mrs McCulloch swapped her whip over she permitted her mount to shift out near the 100 metres when only ¾ of a length clear of SAHAR. He said this resulted in that runner receiving a reasonably severe check. He added that Mrs McCulloch’s mount was having its first start and was still green.

Mrs McCulloch said that her mount was green and when she pulled her whip through the horse ducked out. She added that she was a bit rusty after having a long layoff and she was a bit slow to react to the outward shift.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Jones produced Mrs McCulloch’s record which showed no previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months. He categorised the level of carelessness as above mid-range.

Mrs McCulloch advised that she had no firm engagements in the next 7 days and any proposed suspension could start immediately.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

When reviewing the video footage we observed that Mrs McCulloch struck PLATINUM RAPPER once with the whip and she permitted her mount to shift out near the 100 metres. Mrs McCulloch erred in continuing to ride her mount forward when it was shifting out and as a consequence Mr Cameron, the rider of SAHAR, was forced to firmly restrain his mount for several strides when badly checked. The video footage showed that Mrs McCulloch was only ¾ of a length clear of SAHAR. The Committee deemed the level of carelessness displayed by Mrs McCulloch was in the mid to high range.

The Committee adopted 9 national riding days as the appropriate starting point.

The mitigating factor was Mrs McCulloch’s admission of the breach for which she was afforded a 1 day reduction.

The Committee viewed Mrs McCulloch’s record as a neutral factor because she has had only 4 rides this season.

After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that an 8 day suspension was appropriate.

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: 4dabb2d92067586b7a6ecf3093cf17a1


informantnumber: A7341


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 13/04/2018


hearing_title: R Rotorua 13 April 2018 - R 3 - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 3, Motion Entertainment 2yo, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Jones, alleged that Mrs McCulloch permitted her mount PLATINUM RAPPER to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of SAHAR which was checked near the 100 metres.

Mrs McCulloch acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He said that when Mrs McCulloch swapped her whip over she permitted her mount to shift out near the 100 metres when only ¾ of a length clear of SAHAR. He said this resulted in that runner receiving a reasonably severe check. He added that Mrs McCulloch’s mount was having its first start and was still green.

Mrs McCulloch said that her mount was green and when she pulled her whip through the horse ducked out. She added that she was a bit rusty after having a long layoff and she was a bit slow to react to the outward shift.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mrs McCulloch admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Jones produced Mrs McCulloch’s record which showed no previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months. He categorised the level of carelessness as above mid-range.

Mrs McCulloch advised that she had no firm engagements in the next 7 days and any proposed suspension could start immediately.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.

When reviewing the video footage we observed that Mrs McCulloch struck PLATINUM RAPPER once with the whip and she permitted her mount to shift out near the 100 metres. Mrs McCulloch erred in continuing to ride her mount forward when it was shifting out and as a consequence Mr Cameron, the rider of SAHAR, was forced to firmly restrain his mount for several strides when badly checked. The video footage showed that Mrs McCulloch was only ¾ of a length clear of SAHAR. The Committee deemed the level of carelessness displayed by Mrs McCulloch was in the mid to high range.

The Committee adopted 9 national riding days as the appropriate starting point.

The mitigating factor was Mrs McCulloch’s admission of the breach for which she was afforded a 1 day reduction.

The Committee viewed Mrs McCulloch’s record as a neutral factor because she has had only 4 rides this season.

After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that an 8 day suspension was appropriate.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mrs McCulloch had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 13 April and conclude after racing on 26 April 2018.

April 14 – Te Rapa and April 15 Invercargill were not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mrs K McCulloch - Licensed Jockey


Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: a846021647fcc17675f101792c853ade


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R3


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 452995f7c27949be161ef22b406ccabf


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 13/04/2018


meet_title: Racing Rotorua - 13 April 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: racing-rotorua


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: BScott


meet_pm2: none


name: Racing Rotorua