Ashburton TC 26 December 2011 – R 1
ID: JCA14024
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 26 December 2011
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
JPhelan
Race Date:
2011/12/26
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Thomas admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Thomas’ Junior Horseman’s Licence was suspended for a period commencing after the close of racing on 31 December 2011, up to and including 8 January 2012 – effectively, 2 driving days (Nelson TC on 6 and 8 January 2012).
Charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Garth Jemmett Construction Limited Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Horseman, Mr B M Thomas, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that Mr Thomas, as the driver of DEBS PAL in the race, “used his whip to excess in the home straight”.
Mr Thomas was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach. He was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G D Smith.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out DEBS PAL, driven by Mr Thomas, racing widest on the track as the field turned into the home straight. At that point, Mr Thomas commenced using his whip. Mr Ydgren alleged that Mr Thomas had used his whip a total of approximately 20 times in the home straight which was, simply, too many, he said. The last 4-5 were backhanders to the inside of the horse and were less obvious on the video, Mr Ydgren said. Mr Thomas did not dispute that he had used the whip 20 times.
Mr Smith, on behalf of Mr Thomas, said that Mr Thomas was quite conscious of his whip use. He knew that he was “getting up there” towards the finish and, for that reason, had changed his whip action for the final 4-5 strikes. However, Mr Thomas accepted that it was too many and hence his admission of the breach.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Thomas had breached the Rule on two previous occasions, on 26 April 2011 and 4 August 2011, and had been fined $200 and $250 respectively. It was of concern that this was Mr Thomas’ third breach of the Rule since April, Mr Ydgren said. He submitted that Mr Thomas should receive a term of suspension of his licence of 2 days for the present breach.
The matter of deferment of suspension was discussed. Mr Thomas told the Committee that he had engagements to drive at the meetings of Banks Peninsula Trotting Club on 29 December, Reefton on 30 December and Rangiora on 31 December. He sought a seven-day deferment pursuant to Rule 1304 (1).
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to Mr Thomas’ admission of the breach. However, a significant aggravating factor was Mr Thomas’ poor record under the Rule – this being his third breach in 8 months. The Committee was of the view that this breach was in the low-to-mid range. The Committee agreed with Mr Ydgren that a term of suspension was required as a deterrent. The Committee was satisfied that Mr Thomas had made out a case for deferment of the 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: 8e0b93d3df688f872b93de59de18271e
informantnumber: A5340
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/12/2011
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 26 December 2011 - R 1
charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Garth Jemmett Construction Limited Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Horseman, Mr B M Thomas, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that Mr Thomas, as the driver of DEBS PAL in the race, “used his whip to excess in the home straight”.
Mr Thomas was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach. He was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G D Smith.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out DEBS PAL, driven by Mr Thomas, racing widest on the track as the field turned into the home straight. At that point, Mr Thomas commenced using his whip. Mr Ydgren alleged that Mr Thomas had used his whip a total of approximately 20 times in the home straight which was, simply, too many, he said. The last 4-5 were backhanders to the inside of the horse and were less obvious on the video, Mr Ydgren said. Mr Thomas did not dispute that he had used the whip 20 times.
Mr Smith, on behalf of Mr Thomas, said that Mr Thomas was quite conscious of his whip use. He knew that he was “getting up there” towards the finish and, for that reason, had changed his whip action for the final 4-5 strikes. However, Mr Thomas accepted that it was too many and hence his admission of the breach.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Thomas admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Thomas had breached the Rule on two previous occasions, on 26 April 2011 and 4 August 2011, and had been fined $200 and $250 respectively. It was of concern that this was Mr Thomas’ third breach of the Rule since April, Mr Ydgren said. He submitted that Mr Thomas should receive a term of suspension of his licence of 2 days for the present breach.
The matter of deferment of suspension was discussed. Mr Thomas told the Committee that he had engagements to drive at the meetings of Banks Peninsula Trotting Club on 29 December, Reefton on 30 December and Rangiora on 31 December. He sought a seven-day deferment pursuant to Rule 1304 (1).
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to Mr Thomas’ admission of the breach. However, a significant aggravating factor was Mr Thomas’ poor record under the Rule – this being his third breach in 8 months. The Committee was of the view that this breach was in the low-to-mid range. The Committee agreed with Mr Ydgren that a term of suspension was required as a deterrent. The Committee was satisfied that Mr Thomas had made out a case for deferment of the suspension.
penalty:
Mr Thomas’ Junior Horseman’s Licence was suspended for a period commencing after the close of racing on 31 December 2011, up to and including 8 January 2012 – effectively, 2 driving days (Nelson TC on 6 and 8 January 2012).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N M Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr B M Thomas - Licensed Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr G D Smith - Licensed Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 5f9615b670c3e96b061bf28dee4b1e34
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: 28fa6c33be8ed757e402472f49aa0603
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/12/2011
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 26 December 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: JPhelan
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton TC