Wellington RC 13 January 2018 – R 7 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA12754
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 13 January 2018
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2018/01/13
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As Mr Colgan admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Mr Colgan is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday January 20th up to and including racing on Friday February 2nd. In addition he is fined the sum of $750.
Facts:
Following Race 7, Grant Plumbing Levin Classic (Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that Jockey, V Colgan used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
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.
Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the breach using the head-on video. He counted Mr Colgan’s whip use to be 10 strikes prior to the 100m. There was a brief respite of three strides when Mr Colgan drifted out and made contact with another runner.
Mr Colgan agreed that was an accurate calculation.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Colgan’s record under the whip rule since the implementation of new guidelines in August 2017:
16/8/17 $300
19/8/17 $600
9/9/17 3 day suspension
6/12/17 8 day suspension
He said Mr Colgan had used the whip in a forceful manner and his horse had run second with only a nose margin back to the 3rd placed horse. The Stewards described the breach as midrange. Mr Oatham submitted that since the breach occurred in a Group 1 race, and Mr Colgan ran second, the Committee should consider a monetary penalty in addition to any suspension. Total prizemoney for second place was $43,000 and for third place $21,500.
Mr Colgan declined to make any submissions on penalty but advised of riding commitments through until next Saturday.
Reasons for Penalty:
The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
Of concern to this Committee is that Mr Colgan is facing his 5th charge since August 2017 of excessive use of the whip. This record and the Group 1 status of the race are aggravating factors.
In assessing the seriousness of the breach we considered the manner in which Mr Colgan used the whip, the total number of strikes (10) and the respite given, which was estimated to be approximately three strides. We were satisfied that it sat within the midrange. Balancing up all factors it was our opinion that a 10 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Colgan’s mount finished in second place with a narrow margin back to third place. All other riders rode within the whip guidelines. It is appropriate that we add a monetary penalty to the period of suspension.
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: 54390770b482e8833954138317f46d43
informantnumber: A8809
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/01/2018
hearing_title: Wellington RC 13 January 2018 - R 7 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 7, Grant Plumbing Levin Classic (Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that Jockey, V Colgan used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
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.
Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the breach using the head-on video. He counted Mr Colgan’s whip use to be 10 strikes prior to the 100m. There was a brief respite of three strides when Mr Colgan drifted out and made contact with another runner.
Mr Colgan agreed that was an accurate calculation.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Colgan admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Colgan’s record under the whip rule since the implementation of new guidelines in August 2017:
16/8/17 $300
19/8/17 $600
9/9/17 3 day suspension
6/12/17 8 day suspension
He said Mr Colgan had used the whip in a forceful manner and his horse had run second with only a nose margin back to the 3rd placed horse. The Stewards described the breach as midrange. Mr Oatham submitted that since the breach occurred in a Group 1 race, and Mr Colgan ran second, the Committee should consider a monetary penalty in addition to any suspension. Total prizemoney for second place was $43,000 and for third place $21,500.
Mr Colgan declined to make any submissions on penalty but advised of riding commitments through until next Saturday.
reasonsforpenalty:
The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
Of concern to this Committee is that Mr Colgan is facing his 5th charge since August 2017 of excessive use of the whip. This record and the Group 1 status of the race are aggravating factors.
In assessing the seriousness of the breach we considered the manner in which Mr Colgan used the whip, the total number of strikes (10) and the respite given, which was estimated to be approximately three strides. We were satisfied that it sat within the midrange. Balancing up all factors it was our opinion that a 10 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Colgan’s mount finished in second place with a narrow margin back to third place. All other riders rode within the whip guidelines. It is appropriate that we add a monetary penalty to the period of suspension.
penalty:
Accordingly Mr Colgan is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday January 20th up to and including racing on Friday February 2nd. In addition he is fined the sum of $750.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr Vinnie Colgan - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6d1fcba0eed1f448eef7cfbe6757537e
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:
race_pm2:
meetid: d551fd9a19d1cd9c7ea033f476eafbf4
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/01/2018
meet_title: Wellington RC - 13 January 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC