Masterton RC 19 November 2011 – R 1
ID: JCA13620
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Masterton RC - 19 November 2011
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2011/11/19
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As the breach of the Rule was admitted the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
The Committee believes a fine is an appropriate penalty and Mr Ward is fined $200.
Charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
Facts:
Following the running of race 1, information A3456 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal under rule 638(3)(b). The information stated that “Apprentice M Ward used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200m”. Mr Ward signed the information stating that he did admit the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the rule under which he was charged.
Rule 638(3)(b) states “A rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper”.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Neal, using the head and side on films, indicated to the Committee the point near the 450m mark where the alleged breach began. He said Mr Ward riding “PRIMED AND READY” was running last in the 10 horse field. He said that from the point of the turn to the 200m mark Mr Ward used his whip almost continuously and was clearly in breach of the “6 on 6 off” guidelines that all jockeys were aware of. He said that whilst the strikes were not vicious and the horse was not unduly punished Mr Ward had nevertheless breached the “excessive” component of Rule 638(3)(b).
Mr Ward said that he used the whip as he thought the horse was not trying hard enough. To a question from the Committee Mr Taylor confirmed his riding instructions to Mr Ward were to “keep the horse going”.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Ward had no previous race riding charges in the previous 12 months. He said Mr Ward was still learning his craft but he had clearly exceeded the guidelines advised to jockeys in relation to their use of the whip. He reiterated the blows were not firm and conceded that Mr Ward had been making an effort to keep his horse going. He submitted that a fine recognizing this was Mr Ward’s first offence under this Rule would be appropriate.
Mr Ward had nothing to say other than he had been trying to get the best out of his horse for Mr Taylor but agreed he had breached the Rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the available head and side on views of the incident and taken into account the submissions of both parties. The Committee counted 14 almost uninterrupted strikes from the point of the turn to the 200m mark on a horse that was running last at the time, had no chance of improving and didn’t respond to the whip. The Committee does not believe the strikes were particularly forceful but all were clearly visible to the TV audience and would not have looked good to the viewing public. The Committee have also taken into account this is Mr Ward’s first breach of this Rule. The Committee is aware that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a first offence under this Rule is $300. We are also aware that in recent months the range of fine for breaches of this rule has ranged from $150 to $500.
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: 4ea48eafdb29503c27a0f490557b54a3
informantnumber: A3456
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/11/2011
hearing_title: Masterton RC 19 November 2011 - R 1
charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
facts:
Following the running of race 1, information A3456 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal under rule 638(3)(b). The information stated that “Apprentice M Ward used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200m”. Mr Ward signed the information stating that he did admit the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the rule under which he was charged.
Rule 638(3)(b) states “A rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Neal, using the head and side on films, indicated to the Committee the point near the 450m mark where the alleged breach began. He said Mr Ward riding “PRIMED AND READY” was running last in the 10 horse field. He said that from the point of the turn to the 200m mark Mr Ward used his whip almost continuously and was clearly in breach of the “6 on 6 off” guidelines that all jockeys were aware of. He said that whilst the strikes were not vicious and the horse was not unduly punished Mr Ward had nevertheless breached the “excessive” component of Rule 638(3)(b).
Mr Ward said that he used the whip as he thought the horse was not trying hard enough. To a question from the Committee Mr Taylor confirmed his riding instructions to Mr Ward were to “keep the horse going”.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach of the Rule was admitted the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Ward had no previous race riding charges in the previous 12 months. He said Mr Ward was still learning his craft but he had clearly exceeded the guidelines advised to jockeys in relation to their use of the whip. He reiterated the blows were not firm and conceded that Mr Ward had been making an effort to keep his horse going. He submitted that a fine recognizing this was Mr Ward’s first offence under this Rule would be appropriate.
Mr Ward had nothing to say other than he had been trying to get the best out of his horse for Mr Taylor but agreed he had breached the Rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the available head and side on views of the incident and taken into account the submissions of both parties. The Committee counted 14 almost uninterrupted strikes from the point of the turn to the 200m mark on a horse that was running last at the time, had no chance of improving and didn’t respond to the whip. The Committee does not believe the strikes were particularly forceful but all were clearly visible to the TV audience and would not have looked good to the viewing public. The Committee have also taken into account this is Mr Ward’s first breach of this Rule. The Committee is aware that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a first offence under this Rule is $300. We are also aware that in recent months the range of fine for breaches of this rule has ranged from $150 to $500.
penalty:
The Committee believes a fine is an appropriate penalty and Mr Ward is fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(B)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Ward - Licensed Apprentice Jockey
Otherperson: Mr J Taylor - Licensed Trainer of PRIMED AND READY and assisting Mr Ward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7e55190e9c9e19464f1b397b259246fa
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0559b6cbf029ac11004d57f886d86862
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/11/2011
meet_title: Masterton RC - 19 November 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "PWilliams", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "140", "Total": "86.8", "kmprice": 86.799999999999997, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: masterton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Masterton RC