Canterbury R 5 August 2017 – R 9 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA14516
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 5 August 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/08/05
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Mr Lowry having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Lowry is fined the sum of $250.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Gold Club Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr J R Lowry, alleging that Mr Lowry, as the rider of LONDONDERRY AIR in the race, “used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres”.
Mr Lowry was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr D M Walsh. Mr Lowry indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach. He also confirmed that he was aware of the Guidelines regarding acceptable use of the whip effective from 1 August 2017.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
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 Stipendiary Steward, Mr J M McLaughlin, show video replays of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He began with the rear-on view and pointed out LONDONDERRY AIR, ridden by Mr Lowry, racing 3-wide outside the leaders as the field entered the final straight. Shortly thereafter, Mr Lowry commenced using his whip. He used it five times and then, without pushing for five strides, used it on a further five occasions prior to the 100 metres without pushing for the required five strides, Mr McLaughlin said, well outside of the guidelines.
Mr Lowry told the Committee that he had been away for four weeks. He had been accustomed to observing the restrictions prior to the 200 metres and he had not made the necessary adjustment on this occasion, he said.
Mr Walsh submitted that Mr Lowry had clearly been “a bit rusty”, not displaying his usual “polished style”. He may have been trying to keep the horse straight, as it was drifting out in the run home, but he may have been better to have put the whip away, Mr Walsh said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham told the Committee that Mr Lowry had a clear record under the Rule going back 12 months. The breach was towards the lower end of the scale and he submitted that a fine not too dissimilar to the Cowan and Weatherley fines earlier in the day was appropriate, $250-300.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. There were no aggravating factors, in the Committee’s view, justifying any uplift to that starting point. Although the breach was in the low-end range, we have not applied any reduction in the starting point.
Mitigating factors are Mr Lowry’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
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: 8ceeb0ed7187569a59a9088a00b671e2
informantnumber: A8699
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/08/2017
hearing_title: Canterbury R 5 August 2017 - R 9 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Gold Club Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr J R Lowry, alleging that Mr Lowry, as the rider of LONDONDERRY AIR in the race, “used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres”.
Mr Lowry was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr D M Walsh. Mr Lowry indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach. He also confirmed that he was aware of the Guidelines regarding acceptable use of the whip effective from 1 August 2017.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
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 Stipendiary Steward, Mr J M McLaughlin, show video replays of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He began with the rear-on view and pointed out LONDONDERRY AIR, ridden by Mr Lowry, racing 3-wide outside the leaders as the field entered the final straight. Shortly thereafter, Mr Lowry commenced using his whip. He used it five times and then, without pushing for five strides, used it on a further five occasions prior to the 100 metres without pushing for the required five strides, Mr McLaughlin said, well outside of the guidelines.
Mr Lowry told the Committee that he had been away for four weeks. He had been accustomed to observing the restrictions prior to the 200 metres and he had not made the necessary adjustment on this occasion, he said.
Mr Walsh submitted that Mr Lowry had clearly been “a bit rusty”, not displaying his usual “polished style”. He may have been trying to keep the horse straight, as it was drifting out in the run home, but he may have been better to have put the whip away, Mr Walsh said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Lowry having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham told the Committee that Mr Lowry had a clear record under the Rule going back 12 months. The breach was towards the lower end of the scale and he submitted that a fine not too dissimilar to the Cowan and Weatherley fines earlier in the day was appropriate, $250-300.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. There were no aggravating factors, in the Committee’s view, justifying any uplift to that starting point. Although the breach was in the low-end range, we have not applied any reduction in the starting point.
Mitigating factors are Mr Lowry’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
penalty:
Mr Lowry is fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J R Lowry, Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B)
Otherperson: D M Walsh, Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 76b788e05f7ce34e239df892a85c5f4c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 496f04e56d6f1300f3404258e96c497f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 05/08/2017
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 5 August 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing