Northland HRC 3 January 2013 – R 6
ID: JCA14520
Meet Title:
Northland TC - 3 January 2013
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2013/01/03
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
As Mr MacKinnon admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, we impose a $175 fine on Mr MacKinnon.
Charge:
Following race 6, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 869(2)(a). The informant, Mr Muirhead alleged that Mr MacKinnon used his whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive through the final straight when driving AMERICAN GRACE.
Mr Muirhead read the rule and Mr MacKinnon acknowledged that he understood it.
Facts:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by using the available films. He told the committee that Mr MacKinnon, whilst driving the third place horse AMERICAN GRACE, used his whip excessively by striking his horse approximately 30 times in the final straight.
Mr Ferguson said that Mr MacKinnon was not using his whip in an aggressive manner, he believed it was competitive driving. He said the fact the race was run on a grass track with a 400 metre straight was a mitigating factor.
Mr MacKinnon said when the Stewards showed him the replay of the race he acknowledged his use of the whip did not look good.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr MacKinnon's record which showed he had 25 drives with no breach under this rule. He submitted that the JCA guidelines established a starting point of this nature at 6 drives or $300 fine. He submitted this was too high for a Junior Horseman with a small number of drives and a clear record. He submitted the breach should be assessed as mid to high range.
Mr Ferguson submitted that Mr MacKinnon should be given credit for his admission of the breach, his clear record and his Junior Horseman status. He submitted a fine less than $200 would be appropriate.
Reasons for Penalty:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We reviewed the breach and determined that Mr MacKinnon used his whip approximately 30 times. The mitigating factors are Mr MacKinnon's admission of the breach, his clear record and his Junior Horseman status. The aggravating fact was the number of strikes which were clearly outside the guidelines. We assessed the breach as mid range noting that the strikes were not with force. We advised Mr MacKinnon that any further breaches of this rule would result in a higher penalty and expected him to learn from his error of judgement. Taking into account all the above factors we assess an appropriate penalty is a $175 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: 8d438be62a4f7f22f6cf34e318b7198c
informantnumber: A2375
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/12/2012
hearing_title: Northland HRC 3 January 2013 - R 6
charge:
Following race 6, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 869(2)(a). The informant, Mr Muirhead alleged that Mr MacKinnon used his whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive through the final straight when driving AMERICAN GRACE.
Mr Muirhead read the rule and Mr MacKinnon acknowledged that he understood it.
facts:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by using the available films. He told the committee that Mr MacKinnon, whilst driving the third place horse AMERICAN GRACE, used his whip excessively by striking his horse approximately 30 times in the final straight.
Mr Ferguson said that Mr MacKinnon was not using his whip in an aggressive manner, he believed it was competitive driving. He said the fact the race was run on a grass track with a 400 metre straight was a mitigating factor.
Mr MacKinnon said when the Stewards showed him the replay of the race he acknowledged his use of the whip did not look good.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr MacKinnon admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr MacKinnon's record which showed he had 25 drives with no breach under this rule. He submitted that the JCA guidelines established a starting point of this nature at 6 drives or $300 fine. He submitted this was too high for a Junior Horseman with a small number of drives and a clear record. He submitted the breach should be assessed as mid to high range.
Mr Ferguson submitted that Mr MacKinnon should be given credit for his admission of the breach, his clear record and his Junior Horseman status. He submitted a fine less than $200 would be appropriate.
reasonsforpenalty:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We reviewed the breach and determined that Mr MacKinnon used his whip approximately 30 times. The mitigating factors are Mr MacKinnon's admission of the breach, his clear record and his Junior Horseman status. The aggravating fact was the number of strikes which were clearly outside the guidelines. We assessed the breach as mid range noting that the strikes were not with force. We advised Mr MacKinnon that any further breaches of this rule would result in a higher penalty and expected him to learn from his error of judgement. Taking into account all the above factors we assess an appropriate penalty is a $175 fine.
penalty:
Accordingly, we impose a $175 fine on Mr MacKinnon.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J MacKinnon - Junior Horseman driver of AMERICAN GRACE
Otherperson: Mr P Ferguson - Senior Horseman assisting Mr MacKinnon
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c423d91e24d45bdd7e85fc12f02c0b94
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: fca9c05694d59e29d9ec2336e1a9348c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/01/2013
meet_title: Northland TC - 3 January 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: northland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Northland TC