Matamata RC 29 December 2018 – R 2 – Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
ID: JCA13562
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Matamata RC - 29 December 2018
Meet Chair:
NMcCutcheon
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2018/12/29
Race Number:
R 2
Decision:
The charge was upheld.
Penalty:
Ms Thornton’s Jockey’s Licence was suspended from the close of racing on 2 January 2019 up to the end of racing on 13 January 2019.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2 (KR Bell Electrical 1200), Information No.A11076 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Informant that Ms Thornton the rider of INSIDER used her whip with the arm above shoulder height.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A Rider shall not: (b) Strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
Ms Thornton said that she understood the Rule and confirmed that she denied the breach of the Rule.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Oatham showed the film replays and said that it was clear that Ms Thornton’s whip was above the shoulder on a number of occasions. He said that it was extravagant whip action particularly late in the race with some of the strikes being applied with force. He added that the Whip Guidelines were an international agreement to which New Zealand was a signatory.
Ms Thornton said that she disagreed with Mr Oatham and felt that the strikes were okay.
Summation
Mr Williamson in summing up said that Mr Oatham had given a full explanation and that in the Stewards' opinion Ms Thornton was clearly in breach of the whip guidelines and had also hit her horse with considerable force.
Ms Thornton did not respond when given the opportunity to do so by the Chairman.
Reasons for Decision:
The film evidence clearly showed that Ms Thornton had used the whip above shoulder height 5 times prior to the 100m and 8 times during the last 100m. It was also evident that she had struck her mount with considerable force.
The Committee was satisfied that Ms Thornton’s whip use was in breach of the Rule and the whip guidelines.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said that the record showed that Ms Thornton had two prior breaches of the Rule during the last 12 months, those being on 20.1.18 when a $600 fine was imposed and on 6.2.18 when a 4-day suspension and a fine of $750 was imposed. Mr Williamson said that Ms Thornton had also been warned a number of times regarding her whip use.
The only comment by Ms Thornton was that she asked for a deferment of a suspension until after racing on 2 January 2019.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took into account the following matters when considering quantum of penalty:
• Ms Thornton’s record
• The extravagant manner in which the whip was used
• The considerable force applied
• The public perception
• Animal Welfare
• The JCA Penalty Guidelines
After giving due consideration to all of those matters it was determined that an 8 riding-day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Decision Date: 01/01/2019
Publish Date: 01/01/2019
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: 4615e002971c2620eee26cb2d220b760
informantnumber: A11076
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/01/2019
hearing_title: Matamata RC 29 December 2018 - R 2 - Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2 (KR Bell Electrical 1200), Information No.A11076 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Informant that Ms Thornton the rider of INSIDER used her whip with the arm above shoulder height.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A Rider shall not: (b) Strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
Ms Thornton said that she understood the Rule and confirmed that she denied the breach of the Rule.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Oatham showed the film replays and said that it was clear that Ms Thornton’s whip was above the shoulder on a number of occasions. He said that it was extravagant whip action particularly late in the race with some of the strikes being applied with force. He added that the Whip Guidelines were an international agreement to which New Zealand was a signatory.
Ms Thornton said that she disagreed with Mr Oatham and felt that the strikes were okay.
Summation
Mr Williamson in summing up said that Mr Oatham had given a full explanation and that in the Stewards' opinion Ms Thornton was clearly in breach of the whip guidelines and had also hit her horse with considerable force.
Ms Thornton did not respond when given the opportunity to do so by the Chairman.
reasonsfordecision:
The film evidence clearly showed that Ms Thornton had used the whip above shoulder height 5 times prior to the 100m and 8 times during the last 100m. It was also evident that she had struck her mount with considerable force.
The Committee was satisfied that Ms Thornton’s whip use was in breach of the Rule and the whip guidelines.
Decision:
The charge was upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said that the record showed that Ms Thornton had two prior breaches of the Rule during the last 12 months, those being on 20.1.18 when a $600 fine was imposed and on 6.2.18 when a 4-day suspension and a fine of $750 was imposed. Mr Williamson said that Ms Thornton had also been warned a number of times regarding her whip use.
The only comment by Ms Thornton was that she asked for a deferment of a suspension until after racing on 2 January 2019.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took into account the following matters when considering quantum of penalty:
• Ms Thornton’s record
• The extravagant manner in which the whip was used
• The considerable force applied
• The public perception
• Animal Welfare
• The JCA Penalty Guidelines
After giving due consideration to all of those matters it was determined that an 8 riding-day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Ms Thornton’s Jockey’s Licence was suspended from the close of racing on 2 January 2019 up to the end of racing on 13 January 2019.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms T Thornton - Licensed Jockey rider of INSIDER
Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7db8d78b9f3ad238fdaa724869694987
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ef9c04af1912fe666a2929438d489a54
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 29/12/2018
meet_title: Matamata RC - 29 December 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: matamata-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Matamata RC