Forbury Park TC 30 March 2017 – R 9 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA14246
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 30 March 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2017/03/30
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
Mr McIlwrick admitted the charge. The charge is proved.
Penalty:
Mr McIlwrick is suspended from the end of racing on 2 April up to and including 9 April. These days are:
Forbury Park 6 April
Addington 7 April
Winton 9 April.
Facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr McIlwrick (CLIFTON TACTIC) used his whip in a continuous fashion from the 400 metres in race 9, the PINELEA FARM JUNIOR DRIVERS PACE.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIlwrick stated he had viewed the videos with Mr D Dunn and they had agreed that an admission of the breach was appropriate. Mr Dunn wished to leave the track, and Mr McIlwrick was content for the hearing to proceed without any further assistance. As Mr McIlwrick is an experienced junior horseman, we proceeded to hear the matter.
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that from the 400 metres there were 21 strikes to CLIFTON TACTIC. He said a number of these were with the reins but the Stewards’ concern was that the whip use was continuous. There was a flurry of strikes at the 350 metres and then some quick forehand strikes within the last 100 metres.
Mr McIlwrick stated that Mr Tidmarsh’s assessment of the videos was accurate and he had not realised he had used the whip to the extent that he obviously had in the race.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced Mr McIlwrick’s record, which evidenced 2 previous breaches of this rule. One was prior to the 1 December guidelines and thus is not considered in determining penalty. The second was at Addington on 23 February when he was fined $300 (12 strikes). He is a busy South Island driver with 253 drives last season and 249 drives to date this season. Mr Tidmarsh stated that as this is Mr McIlwrick’s second breach within a 6-month period, the starting point under the guidelines is a 3 to 5 day suspension. He submitted a 3-day suspension was appropriate.
Mr McIlwrick did not disagree with Mr Tidmarsh’s submission.
Reasons for Penalty:
This is an unusual breach of this rule, in that it is not the number of strikes that have brought the respondent in breach of the rule but the relentless nature of his use of the whip. From the 380 metres Mr McIlwrick was always at the horse. His use of the whip was relentless. The strikes were not forceful and some towards the end of the race were corrective in nature to ensure that the horse did not run inwards.
Mr McIlwrick is a busy junior driver and would have 4 or 5 drives on average per meeting. We take a 4-day starting point and after a 1-day discount for his admission of the breach, the penalty is 3 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: 6b92cd3a48b004ccd42288638127a652
informantnumber: A4752
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 04/04/2017
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 30 March 2017 - R 9 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr McIlwrick (CLIFTON TACTIC) used his whip in a continuous fashion from the 400 metres in race 9, the PINELEA FARM JUNIOR DRIVERS PACE.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIlwrick stated he had viewed the videos with Mr D Dunn and they had agreed that an admission of the breach was appropriate. Mr Dunn wished to leave the track, and Mr McIlwrick was content for the hearing to proceed without any further assistance. As Mr McIlwrick is an experienced junior horseman, we proceeded to hear the matter.
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that from the 400 metres there were 21 strikes to CLIFTON TACTIC. He said a number of these were with the reins but the Stewards’ concern was that the whip use was continuous. There was a flurry of strikes at the 350 metres and then some quick forehand strikes within the last 100 metres.
Mr McIlwrick stated that Mr Tidmarsh’s assessment of the videos was accurate and he had not realised he had used the whip to the extent that he obviously had in the race.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr McIlwrick admitted the charge. The charge is proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced Mr McIlwrick’s record, which evidenced 2 previous breaches of this rule. One was prior to the 1 December guidelines and thus is not considered in determining penalty. The second was at Addington on 23 February when he was fined $300 (12 strikes). He is a busy South Island driver with 253 drives last season and 249 drives to date this season. Mr Tidmarsh stated that as this is Mr McIlwrick’s second breach within a 6-month period, the starting point under the guidelines is a 3 to 5 day suspension. He submitted a 3-day suspension was appropriate.
Mr McIlwrick did not disagree with Mr Tidmarsh’s submission.
reasonsforpenalty:
This is an unusual breach of this rule, in that it is not the number of strikes that have brought the respondent in breach of the rule but the relentless nature of his use of the whip. From the 380 metres Mr McIlwrick was always at the horse. His use of the whip was relentless. The strikes were not forceful and some towards the end of the race were corrective in nature to ensure that the horse did not run inwards.
Mr McIlwrick is a busy junior driver and would have 4 or 5 drives on average per meeting. We take a 4-day starting point and after a 1-day discount for his admission of the breach, the penalty is 3 days’ suspension.
penalty:
Mr McIlwrick is suspended from the end of racing on 2 April up to and including 9 April. These days are:
Forbury Park 6 April
Addington 7 April
Winton 9 April.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R McIlwrick - Junior Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d1cf52ea9ba964129e2d7ac6cb3a99e5
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 91005c3c7fedd887417d49a273a607a5
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 30/03/2017
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 30 March 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC