Archive Decision

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Counties RC 24 May 2017 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA14490

Applicant:
Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr H McNeill - Licensed Class D Rider

Other Person:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8871

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Unnecessary use of the whip

Rules:
638(3)(b)(i0

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Counties RC - 24 May 2017

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Race Date:
2017/05/24

Race Number:
R 1

Decision:

As Mr McNeill admitted the breach the Committee find the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mr McNeill was fined $300.

The Committee advised Mr McNeill with respect to excessive or unnecessary use of the whip where the rider is a repeat offender, a separate starting point is recommended for a 2nd plus breach (within a period of 6 months) of a 3 – 5 riding day suspension.

Facts:

Following the running of race 1, Ssangyong, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i). The Informant, Mr Coles, alleged that Mr McNeill used the whip in an unnecessary manner on his mount TAMA AKARANA.

Mr McNeil acknowledged that he understood the Rule and admitted the breach.

Rule 638(3) (b) provides A Rider shall not:

(i) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary.

Mr Oatham demonstrated on the video films that Mr McNeill used his whip 9 times in the home straight. He said the strikes were not continuous and numerically not great but they were with some force when TAMA AKARANA was clearly not responding. He further said that Mr McNeill persisted with the whip until the 100 metre mark which was unnecessary.

Mr McNeill said the breach was pretty obvious when viewing the video films. He stated that he felt his mount was staying on okay, however he admitted after reviewing the incident his mount was not improving.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Coles said that Mr McNeill had a clear record under this Rule and he should be given credit for his admission of the breach. He submitted a fine in line with the level of the offence.

The Committee advised Mr McNeill that the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension as the starting point for a 1st offence whip breach.

Mr McNeill agreed that a fine would be an appropriate penalty. He said that he had been riding for 2 seasons with no whip breach.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Committee adopted the JCA Penalty Guide which recommends a $500 fine as the starting point for a 1st offence whip breach.
The mitigating factors were Mr McNeill’s admission of the breach and his clear record under this Rule. However, it was evident when reviewing the incident that the strikes were unnecessary given that TAMA AKARANA was out of contention and not making up any ground.

The Committee referred to the JCA listing of penalties for unnecessary whip breaches before fixing penalty.

The Committee reminded Mr McNeill that public perception was paramount regarding the whip Rule.
After taking into account all the above the Committee considered an appropriate and consistent penalty on this occasion was a $300 fine.

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: 896f583b9c7bc5921d7dff9e483e3264


informantnumber: A8871


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Unnecessary use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 24/05/2017


hearing_title: Counties RC 24 May 2017 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 1, Ssangyong, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i). The Informant, Mr Coles, alleged that Mr McNeill used the whip in an unnecessary manner on his mount TAMA AKARANA.

Mr McNeil acknowledged that he understood the Rule and admitted the breach.

Rule 638(3) (b) provides A Rider shall not:

(i) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary.

Mr Oatham demonstrated on the video films that Mr McNeill used his whip 9 times in the home straight. He said the strikes were not continuous and numerically not great but they were with some force when TAMA AKARANA was clearly not responding. He further said that Mr McNeill persisted with the whip until the 100 metre mark which was unnecessary.

Mr McNeill said the breach was pretty obvious when viewing the video films. He stated that he felt his mount was staying on okay, however he admitted after reviewing the incident his mount was not improving.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr McNeill admitted the breach the Committee find the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Coles said that Mr McNeill had a clear record under this Rule and he should be given credit for his admission of the breach. He submitted a fine in line with the level of the offence.

The Committee advised Mr McNeill that the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension as the starting point for a 1st offence whip breach.

Mr McNeill agreed that a fine would be an appropriate penalty. He said that he had been riding for 2 seasons with no whip breach.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Committee adopted the JCA Penalty Guide which recommends a $500 fine as the starting point for a 1st offence whip breach.
The mitigating factors were Mr McNeill’s admission of the breach and his clear record under this Rule. However, it was evident when reviewing the incident that the strikes were unnecessary given that TAMA AKARANA was out of contention and not making up any ground.

The Committee referred to the JCA listing of penalties for unnecessary whip breaches before fixing penalty.

The Committee reminded Mr McNeill that public perception was paramount regarding the whip Rule.
After taking into account all the above the Committee considered an appropriate and consistent penalty on this occasion was a $300 fine.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mr McNeill was fined $300.

The Committee advised Mr McNeill with respect to excessive or unnecessary use of the whip where the rider is a repeat offender, a separate starting point is recommended for a 2nd plus breach (within a period of 6 months) of a 3 – 5 riding day suspension.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(3)(b)(i0


Informant: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr H McNeill - Licensed Class D Rider


Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: ccf589bade2307225cd37fefab1c1ee3


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 1


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


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race_pm2:


meetid: 472f83e5034790ad03edd8c942cabd57


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 24/05/2017


meet_title: Counties RC - 24 May 2017


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: counties-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: none


meet_pm2: none


name: Counties RC