Wellington RC 13 January 2018 – R 8 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA14283
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 13 January 2018
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2018/01/13
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
As Mr Waddell admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Mr Waddell is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 20th up to and including racing on Wednesday, January 31st. In addition he is fined the sum of $600.
Facts:
Following Race 8 (Tui-Backing Winners Since 1889 Anniversary, Group 3), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that J Waddell used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.
A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the breach using the head-on video. He counted Mr Waddell’s whip use to be 9 strikes in succession between the 200 and 100m.
Mr Waddell agreed that was an accurate calculation.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Waddell’s record under the whip rule since the implementation of new guidelines in August 2017:
27/10/17 $300
8/11/17 $500
He described Mr Waddell’s whip use as being quite forceful and said he won the race by only a nose margin. From the Stewards’ perspective the breach sat at, or just below midrange. Mr Oatham submitted that since the breach occurred in a Group 3 race, and Mr Waddell won the race, the Committee should consider a monetary penalty in addition to any suspension. Prizemoney for first place was $40,625 and for second place $13,000.
Mr Waddell said he was “bitterly disappointed” in himself and had being trying hard to address this aspect of his riding. He explained his actions as a vigorous ride in a tight finish and expressed remorse that, in winning the race, he had breached the whip guidelines.
When asked for upcoming riding commitments Mr Waddell advised that he was engaged to ride KAWI next Saturday but that he also had commitments in the Karaka Million race on Saturday January 27th. In order to ride at both meetings Mr Waddell asked the Committee if we would consider a 5 day suspension and a large fine, in the vicinity of $5000.
The Committee sought the view of the RIU regarding Mr Waddell’s request. Mr Oatham said the Stewards did not generally support riders having fines imposed in lieu of suspensions.
Reasons for Penalty:
The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
Mr Waddell struck his mount 9 times without respite. Factoring in the manner in which he used the whip the Committee believed the breach was more midrange than low midrange. Aggravating factors were the Group 3 status of the race and the fact that Mr Waddell won the race by the narrowest of margins.
We considered Mr Waddell’s request to substitute suspended days for a larger monetary penalty but did not believe it appropriate on this occasion, or fair and consistent to other riders. Taking into account that this was Mr Waddell’s third breach since August and balancing all other factors it was our opinion that an 8 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Waddell’s mount won the race by a narrow margin while all other riders rode within the whip guidelines. It is therefore appropriate that we add a monetary penalty to the period of suspension.
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: 701775fa9179631443ea520091588e08
informantnumber: A8810
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/01/2018
hearing_title: Wellington RC 13 January 2018 - R 8 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 8 (Tui-Backing Winners Since 1889 Anniversary, Group 3), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that J Waddell used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.
A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the breach using the head-on video. He counted Mr Waddell’s whip use to be 9 strikes in succession between the 200 and 100m.
Mr Waddell agreed that was an accurate calculation.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Waddell admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Waddell’s record under the whip rule since the implementation of new guidelines in August 2017:
27/10/17 $300
8/11/17 $500
He described Mr Waddell’s whip use as being quite forceful and said he won the race by only a nose margin. From the Stewards’ perspective the breach sat at, or just below midrange. Mr Oatham submitted that since the breach occurred in a Group 3 race, and Mr Waddell won the race, the Committee should consider a monetary penalty in addition to any suspension. Prizemoney for first place was $40,625 and for second place $13,000.
Mr Waddell said he was “bitterly disappointed” in himself and had being trying hard to address this aspect of his riding. He explained his actions as a vigorous ride in a tight finish and expressed remorse that, in winning the race, he had breached the whip guidelines.
When asked for upcoming riding commitments Mr Waddell advised that he was engaged to ride KAWI next Saturday but that he also had commitments in the Karaka Million race on Saturday January 27th. In order to ride at both meetings Mr Waddell asked the Committee if we would consider a 5 day suspension and a large fine, in the vicinity of $5000.
The Committee sought the view of the RIU regarding Mr Waddell’s request. Mr Oatham said the Stewards did not generally support riders having fines imposed in lieu of suspensions.
reasonsforpenalty:
The updated starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) are:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
Mr Waddell struck his mount 9 times without respite. Factoring in the manner in which he used the whip the Committee believed the breach was more midrange than low midrange. Aggravating factors were the Group 3 status of the race and the fact that Mr Waddell won the race by the narrowest of margins.
We considered Mr Waddell’s request to substitute suspended days for a larger monetary penalty but did not believe it appropriate on this occasion, or fair and consistent to other riders. Taking into account that this was Mr Waddell’s third breach since August and balancing all other factors it was our opinion that an 8 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Waddell’s mount won the race by a narrow margin while all other riders rode within the whip guidelines. It is therefore appropriate that we add a monetary penalty to the period of suspension.
penalty:
Accordingly Mr Waddell is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 20th up to and including racing on Wednesday, January 31st. In addition he is fined the sum of $600.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Waddell - Licensed Rider
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b11ecfb2a78525e6cab9142798893f9e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: d551fd9a19d1cd9c7ea033f476eafbf4
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/01/2018
meet_title: Wellington RC - 13 January 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC