Forbury Park TC 1 June 2017 – R 7 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA13450
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 1 June 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Race Date:
2017/06/01
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As the breach is admitted, it is found to be proved.
Penalty:
Ms Butt wants the suspension to commence as soon as possible. She is suspended from driving from the end of the meeting on 4 June up to and including 11 June. This is 2 days.
Facts:
Mr Tidmarsh alleged that Ms K Butt (BUSHIDO) used her whip excessively inside the final 400 metres of race 7, the JUST ESSENCE CATERING JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE.
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that on the home bend with some 220 metres to race, Ms Butt, used her whip with the reins continuously. He counted the number strikes as being 18. He said these were quite repetitive and there was only one very brief pause. There was no distinct pause as is required when the whip is being used with rein.
Ms Butt said her horse had gone rough and there was a brief pause between the 5th and 6th strikes. Her horse was responding to the whip and had finished 2nd. She said she was swishing the reins as well.
Mr Cox said it was very good performance by the horse as Ms Butt had been three wide parked from the 1000 metres. He said BUSHIDO had responded to the stick when the respondent had asked it for an effort.
Mr Tidmarsh replied that all Ms Butt had to do was to break her whip action up more by using the reins and ensuring there were distinct pauses.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced Ms Butt’s record, which showed it had been five months since the previous breach. This was on 2 January 2017 at Central Otago where the fine was $300. He said the number of strikes was at the higher end and referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of 3 to 5 days’ suspension.
Ms Butt said she wanted to drive at Nelson and had paid for accommodation there. This was non-refundable. She emphasised she had thought she was driving within the Rules and would ensure that her whip action was modified to come within them.
Reasons for Penalty:
There are 18 continuous strikes. Ms Butt has failed to break up her whip action and has thus fallen foul of the whip rule. She believed because she was using the rein together with the whip, she was within the rule. She accepts now that her actions were not. It is difficult when imposing penalty where the breach has occurred as a consequence of the whip and the reins having been used in tandem. It is the continuous nature rather than number of strikes that causes a driver to be in breach.
The starting point is 3 days. There is no uplift. Having regard to the fact that it is 5 months since the previous breach and the respondent’s ready and open admission of the breach, the penalty is 2 days’ suspension.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 38ef430d2764f09d11e7de9cda379a0d
informantnumber: A9369
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/06/2017
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 1 June 2017 - R 7 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Tidmarsh alleged that Ms K Butt (BUSHIDO) used her whip excessively inside the final 400 metres of race 7, the JUST ESSENCE CATERING JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE.
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that on the home bend with some 220 metres to race, Ms Butt, used her whip with the reins continuously. He counted the number strikes as being 18. He said these were quite repetitive and there was only one very brief pause. There was no distinct pause as is required when the whip is being used with rein.
Ms Butt said her horse had gone rough and there was a brief pause between the 5th and 6th strikes. Her horse was responding to the whip and had finished 2nd. She said she was swishing the reins as well.
Mr Cox said it was very good performance by the horse as Ms Butt had been three wide parked from the 1000 metres. He said BUSHIDO had responded to the stick when the respondent had asked it for an effort.
Mr Tidmarsh replied that all Ms Butt had to do was to break her whip action up more by using the reins and ensuring there were distinct pauses.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach is admitted, it is found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced Ms Butt’s record, which showed it had been five months since the previous breach. This was on 2 January 2017 at Central Otago where the fine was $300. He said the number of strikes was at the higher end and referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of 3 to 5 days’ suspension.
Ms Butt said she wanted to drive at Nelson and had paid for accommodation there. This was non-refundable. She emphasised she had thought she was driving within the Rules and would ensure that her whip action was modified to come within them.
reasonsforpenalty:
There are 18 continuous strikes. Ms Butt has failed to break up her whip action and has thus fallen foul of the whip rule. She believed because she was using the rein together with the whip, she was within the rule. She accepts now that her actions were not. It is difficult when imposing penalty where the breach has occurred as a consequence of the whip and the reins having been used in tandem. It is the continuous nature rather than number of strikes that causes a driver to be in breach.
The starting point is 3 days. There is no uplift. Having regard to the fact that it is 5 months since the previous breach and the respondent’s ready and open admission of the breach, the penalty is 2 days’ suspension.
penalty:
Ms Butt wants the suspension to commence as soon as possible. She is suspended from driving from the end of the meeting on 4 June up to and including 11 June. This is 2 days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms K Butt - Junior Horsewoman and driver of BUSHIDO
Otherperson: Mr J Cox - Open Horseman, assisting Ms Butt
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c1dab84eca5c78646d4ac22902446aeb
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: e692eadd2e3fb1b00bc525f194dfdefc
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 01/06/2017
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 1 June 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC