Waikato RC 23 December 2017 – R 4 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA13439
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 23 December 2017
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones
Race Date:
2017/12/23
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
As Mr Elliot admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Elliot had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 28 December and conclude after racing on 3 January 2018.
Facts:
Following the running of race 4, Foster Construction 2100, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Elliot used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres when riding WILIJONMCBRIDE.
Mr Elliot acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach. Mr Elliot was assisted at the hearing by his employer Mr Rogerson
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: 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” provides:
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 Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Elliot and showed that he struck his mount 14 times prior to the 100 metres. He said at no time did Mr Elliot give his mount the required respite of 5 strides.
Mr Elliot said that WILIJONMCBRIDE had not been trying in his previous starts and the horse needed to be ridden with vigour. He accepted that he struck his mount 14 times.
Mr Rogerson said that he had asked Mr Elliot to ride WILIJONMCBRIDE “hard”. He said that it is a fine line because if Mr Elliot had “sat on” his mount the horse would have run last and not in 2nd place which earned the connections $5,500.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said that Mr Elliot’s had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.
26/10/2017 - $300 fine
27/10/2017 - $500 fine
Mr Williamson said that the starting point for a 3rd breach of this Rule was a 6 day suspension. He asked the Committee to take into account that Mr Elliot would be missing a Group 1 race on 1 January at Ellerslie.
Mr Rogerson asked the Committee to consider the circumstances regarding WILIJONMCBRIDE and he stated that the horse had not helped Mr Elliot. He said that Mr Elliot’s record under this Rule had improved dramatically and he would miss riding in the Auckland Cup/Railway if a 6 day suspension was imposed. He asked the Committee to consider imposing a 4 day suspension and in addition a $500 fine so Mr Elliot could ride at Ellerslie on 1 January 2018.
Mr Elliot advised the Committee that he had confirmed engagements for Timaru on 28 December. He asked if he could be released from those rides. The Committee told him that the deferment Rule was introduced to protect the interests of connections who had engaged the rider in the 7 day period and he had an obligation to fulfil his Timaru engagements because the declaration for riders had closed.
Mr Elliot recognised this fact when it was explained to him.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.
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 day suspension.
The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.
There were no aggravating factors.
The only mitigating fact was Mr Elliot’s admission of the breach.
When reviewing the incident the Committee observed that the 14 strikes were broken into 2 parts. From the 400 to 200 metres there were 6 strikes with some limited respite. From the 200 to the 100 there were 8 strikes with the last 6 strikes being in succession and with some strong force applied. WILIJONMCBRIDE ran 2nd in the race.
The Committee carefully considered Mr Rogerson’s submission that Mr Elliot receive a 4 day suspension and in addition a $500 fine. This was to enable Mr Elliot to ride in the feature races on 1 January at the Auckland Racing Club. The Committee deemed that it would be inappropriate as there were no compelling grounds to depart from the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 6 to 8 days. Further 1 January would only be day 4 of Mr Elliot’s suspension with him having confirmed riding engagements on 28 December at Timaru.
We are mindful that all riders wish is to compete on Premier/Iconic racedays. Therefore the importance of those meeting should be in the forefront of the Jockey’s minds, causing them to be even more cautious not to breach the Rules.
It is important to note the expectation for this Rule is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.
According we impose a 6 national riding day suspension which is consistent with several similar recent cases.
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: 3780c9a925127bf5321993eb99bb3b97
informantnumber: A9500
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/12/2017
hearing_title: Waikato RC 23 December 2017 - R 4 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 4, Foster Construction 2100, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Elliot used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres when riding WILIJONMCBRIDE.
Mr Elliot acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach. Mr Elliot was assisted at the hearing by his employer Mr Rogerson
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: 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” provides:
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 Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Elliot and showed that he struck his mount 14 times prior to the 100 metres. He said at no time did Mr Elliot give his mount the required respite of 5 strides.
Mr Elliot said that WILIJONMCBRIDE had not been trying in his previous starts and the horse needed to be ridden with vigour. He accepted that he struck his mount 14 times.
Mr Rogerson said that he had asked Mr Elliot to ride WILIJONMCBRIDE “hard”. He said that it is a fine line because if Mr Elliot had “sat on” his mount the horse would have run last and not in 2nd place which earned the connections $5,500.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Elliot admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said that Mr Elliot’s had 2 previous breaches of this Rule since 1 August 2017.
26/10/2017 - $300 fine
27/10/2017 - $500 fine
Mr Williamson said that the starting point for a 3rd breach of this Rule was a 6 day suspension. He asked the Committee to take into account that Mr Elliot would be missing a Group 1 race on 1 January at Ellerslie.
Mr Rogerson asked the Committee to consider the circumstances regarding WILIJONMCBRIDE and he stated that the horse had not helped Mr Elliot. He said that Mr Elliot’s record under this Rule had improved dramatically and he would miss riding in the Auckland Cup/Railway if a 6 day suspension was imposed. He asked the Committee to consider imposing a 4 day suspension and in addition a $500 fine so Mr Elliot could ride at Ellerslie on 1 January 2018.
Mr Elliot advised the Committee that he had confirmed engagements for Timaru on 28 December. He asked if he could be released from those rides. The Committee told him that the deferment Rule was introduced to protect the interests of connections who had engaged the rider in the 7 day period and he had an obligation to fulfil his Timaru engagements because the declaration for riders had closed.
Mr Elliot recognised this fact when it was explained to him.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
New whip guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.
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 day suspension.
The Committee adopted 6 national riding days as the starting point.
There were no aggravating factors.
The only mitigating fact was Mr Elliot’s admission of the breach.
When reviewing the incident the Committee observed that the 14 strikes were broken into 2 parts. From the 400 to 200 metres there were 6 strikes with some limited respite. From the 200 to the 100 there were 8 strikes with the last 6 strikes being in succession and with some strong force applied. WILIJONMCBRIDE ran 2nd in the race.
The Committee carefully considered Mr Rogerson’s submission that Mr Elliot receive a 4 day suspension and in addition a $500 fine. This was to enable Mr Elliot to ride in the feature races on 1 January at the Auckland Racing Club. The Committee deemed that it would be inappropriate as there were no compelling grounds to depart from the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 6 to 8 days. Further 1 January would only be day 4 of Mr Elliot’s suspension with him having confirmed riding engagements on 28 December at Timaru.
We are mindful that all riders wish is to compete on Premier/Iconic racedays. Therefore the importance of those meeting should be in the forefront of the Jockey’s minds, causing them to be even more cautious not to breach the Rules.
It is important to note the expectation for this Rule is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.
According we impose a 6 national riding day suspension which is consistent with several similar recent cases.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Elliot had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 28 December and conclude after racing on 3 January 2018.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Elliot - Apprentice Jockey
Otherperson: Mr G Rogerson - assisting Mr Elliot, Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b61b46652da6fdd20cec67a4790b1bd0
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 05113ea3788cd829a0a267171b954a48
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 23/12/2017
meet_title: Waikato RC - 23 December 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: waikato-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: GJones
meet_pm2: none
name: Waikato RC