Taranaki TC 17 March 2015 – R 5
ID: JCA14639
Meet Title:
Taranaki TC - 17 March 2015
Meet Chair:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2015/03/17
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
The charge preferred against Mr Pyers was proved.
Penalty:
Mr Pyers was fined $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5 (The John Devlin Memorial Fillies & Mares Mobile Pace) Information No. A7453 was filed with the Judicial Committee. The Information read that driver Mr A Pyers dropped his foot from the sulky foot rest (right) early in the run home and applied the whip.
Rule 869(2) (a) reads:
No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary excessive or improper manner.
Rule 867 reads:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose.
Mr Muirhead also referred to the use of the whip guidelines under the heading Improper Use of The Whip, which includes using the whip while having a foot out of the footrest.
Mr Pyers said that he understood the rules and added that he initially admitted the breach but wished to amend that to one of not admitting the breach. As a result the charge was heard as a defended hearing.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead showed all films and said that early in the run home that Mr Pyers dropped his foot from the footrest (right) and then hit his horse. He said that the foot remained out of the rest for approximately 100 to 150m. He added that early on it appeared that Mr Pyers' whip became entangled in some gear. He said that when the whip became free that Mr Pyers had hit his horse twice while his foot was out of the rest.
Mr Pyers for his part said that he was not aware that he could not use the whip while his foot was out of the footrest. He said that his whip got caught in the release cord and that his foot slipped out of the rest. He said that he did not drop his foot to hit the horse and that he had hit the horse after his foot had slipped down from the rest. He said that as he was going to be in the money he gave his horse a couple of cracks and then put his foot back in the rest.
Reasons for Decision:
The film evidence was very clear in that early in the run home Mr Pyers' right foot became adrift from the footrest and remained out of the rest for no less than 100m. It could be seen that Mr Pyers' whip did become caught up in some gear but when freed Mr Pyers struck his horse with the whip on at least two occasions. Mr Pyers' drive LADY MARIA finished in 3rd position.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead said that the breach was toward the lower end and added that Mr Pyers' record was very good. He submitted that a fine of $200 would be a suitable penalty.
Mr Pyers said that $200 was a lot of money and said that what he did was very minor and that any fine should be minimal.
Reasons for Penalty:
After taking into account the JCA starting point of $300 and considering all penalty submissions the committee deemed that a fine commensurate with a minor breach would be imposed.
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: 9e7f42f83497ae2e3f374097e15cfd7d
informantnumber: A7453
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Applied whip when foot out of footrest
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/03/2015
hearing_title: Taranaki TC 17 March 2015 - R 5
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5 (The John Devlin Memorial Fillies & Mares Mobile Pace) Information No. A7453 was filed with the Judicial Committee. The Information read that driver Mr A Pyers dropped his foot from the sulky foot rest (right) early in the run home and applied the whip.
Rule 869(2) (a) reads:
No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary excessive or improper manner.
Rule 867 reads:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose.
Mr Muirhead also referred to the use of the whip guidelines under the heading Improper Use of The Whip, which includes using the whip while having a foot out of the footrest.
Mr Pyers said that he understood the rules and added that he initially admitted the breach but wished to amend that to one of not admitting the breach. As a result the charge was heard as a defended hearing.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead showed all films and said that early in the run home that Mr Pyers dropped his foot from the footrest (right) and then hit his horse. He said that the foot remained out of the rest for approximately 100 to 150m. He added that early on it appeared that Mr Pyers' whip became entangled in some gear. He said that when the whip became free that Mr Pyers had hit his horse twice while his foot was out of the rest.
Mr Pyers for his part said that he was not aware that he could not use the whip while his foot was out of the footrest. He said that his whip got caught in the release cord and that his foot slipped out of the rest. He said that he did not drop his foot to hit the horse and that he had hit the horse after his foot had slipped down from the rest. He said that as he was going to be in the money he gave his horse a couple of cracks and then put his foot back in the rest.
reasonsfordecision:
The film evidence was very clear in that early in the run home Mr Pyers' right foot became adrift from the footrest and remained out of the rest for no less than 100m. It could be seen that Mr Pyers' whip did become caught up in some gear but when freed Mr Pyers struck his horse with the whip on at least two occasions. Mr Pyers' drive LADY MARIA finished in 3rd position.
Decision:
The charge preferred against Mr Pyers was proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead said that the breach was toward the lower end and added that Mr Pyers' record was very good. He submitted that a fine of $200 would be a suitable penalty.
Mr Pyers said that $200 was a lot of money and said that what he did was very minor and that any fine should be minimal.
reasonsforpenalty:
After taking into account the JCA starting point of $300 and considering all penalty submissions the committee deemed that a fine commensurate with a minor breach would be imposed.
penalty:
Mr Pyers was fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a) and 867
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A Pyers - Driver of LADY MARIA
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a683b5bcc060d9946478a8077094f88c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: cb861d105165678d57836fad6df30ddb
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 17/03/2015
meet_title: Taranaki TC - 17 March 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: taranaki-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Taranaki TC