Waimate TC 19 March 2017 – R 6 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA13262
Meet Title:
Waimate TC - 19 March 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Race Date:
2017/03/19
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
Mr Close admitted the charge. The charge is proved.
Penalty:
Mr Close has sought a one-week deferment of the suspension. He is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 26 March 2017 until the conclusion of racing on 2 April 2017.
This is 3 days:
Forbury – 30 March
Addington — 31 March
Methven — 2 April
Facts:
Mr Mulcay, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Close (POSSENTE CAVALLO) used his whip in an excessive manner inside the final 400 metres of race 6, the TYRE GENERAL FILLIES AND MARES MOBILE PACE.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Mulcay showed the head-on and side-on videos of the conclusion of the race. He pointed out Mr Close, driving POSSENTE CAVALLO, hit his horse 14 times with the whip without the reins. This was inside the final 400 metres of the race.
Mr Close confirmed that he had hit the horse 14 times. It was a close finish and he agreed there were some pauses in his action. It was clear that POSSENTE CAVALLO was responding to the whip but the respondent confirmed he was going to have to change his whip action.
Mr Mulcay accepted there were slight pauses in the respondent’s whip action.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Close’s record. This record evidenced a similar charge on 23 February last at Addington where Mr Close was fined $300. He is a busy Canterbury driver with 425 drives last season and 236 to date this season.
Mr Mulcay stated as this is Mr Close’s second breach within a 6-month period, the starting point under the guidelines is a 3 to 5 day suspension.
Mr Close accepted that was the starting point in the Penalty Guide.
Reasons for Penalty:
There are 14 strikes and POSSENTE CAVALLO has responded to these and has run second in the race. The starting point is a 3 to 5 day suspension as in the JCA Penalty Guide.
The Committee has taken guidance from the Walkinshaw decision, where the starting point was 4 days. The strikes there were no more frequent and, significantly, the number of drives the respondent has on average at a meeting is similar to Mr Walkinshaw. It appears on average Mr Close has 4 to 5 drives per meeting.
The starting point is 4 days having regard to the fact that this is the respondent’s second breach in a short time frame and the number of strikes is towards the lower end of the scale. The Committee also gives credit for Mr Close’s early admission of the breach and his co-operation in this matter.
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: 58f94e201b11e0b65a20416e66d28e57
informantnumber: A6287
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/03/2017
hearing_title: Waimate TC 19 March 2017 - R 6 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Mulcay, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Close (POSSENTE CAVALLO) used his whip in an excessive manner inside the final 400 metres of race 6, the TYRE GENERAL FILLIES AND MARES MOBILE PACE.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Mulcay showed the head-on and side-on videos of the conclusion of the race. He pointed out Mr Close, driving POSSENTE CAVALLO, hit his horse 14 times with the whip without the reins. This was inside the final 400 metres of the race.
Mr Close confirmed that he had hit the horse 14 times. It was a close finish and he agreed there were some pauses in his action. It was clear that POSSENTE CAVALLO was responding to the whip but the respondent confirmed he was going to have to change his whip action.
Mr Mulcay accepted there were slight pauses in the respondent’s whip action.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Close admitted the charge. The charge is proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Close’s record. This record evidenced a similar charge on 23 February last at Addington where Mr Close was fined $300. He is a busy Canterbury driver with 425 drives last season and 236 to date this season.
Mr Mulcay stated as this is Mr Close’s second breach within a 6-month period, the starting point under the guidelines is a 3 to 5 day suspension.
Mr Close accepted that was the starting point in the Penalty Guide.
reasonsforpenalty:
There are 14 strikes and POSSENTE CAVALLO has responded to these and has run second in the race. The starting point is a 3 to 5 day suspension as in the JCA Penalty Guide.
The Committee has taken guidance from the Walkinshaw decision, where the starting point was 4 days. The strikes there were no more frequent and, significantly, the number of drives the respondent has on average at a meeting is similar to Mr Walkinshaw. It appears on average Mr Close has 4 to 5 drives per meeting.
The starting point is 4 days having regard to the fact that this is the respondent’s second breach in a short time frame and the number of strikes is towards the lower end of the scale. The Committee also gives credit for Mr Close’s early admission of the breach and his co-operation in this matter.
penalty:
Mr Close has sought a one-week deferment of the suspension. He is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 26 March 2017 until the conclusion of racing on 2 April 2017.
This is 3 days:
Forbury – 30 March
Addington — 31 March
Methven — 2 April
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Close - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d5e9637f5870f5b8b818b5e3679f0073
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 2351d3e787ea7001c159ed3810175fdb
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/03/2017
meet_title: Waimate TC - 19 March 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: waimate-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Waimate TC