Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

Waikato RC 10 December 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA14701

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr S Weatherley - Apprentice Rider of CALLIGRAPHY, Mr L O'Sullivan - Trainer - assisting his Apprentice Mr Weatherley

Other Person:
Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A7000

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 10 December 2016

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon

Race Date:
2016/12/10

Race Number:
Race 1

Decision:

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

Penalty:

We grant Mr Weatherley’s request to seek a deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).

Accordingly, Mr Weatherley had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 14 December and conclude after racing on 24 December 2016 (5 days).

That period of suspension encompasses meetings at

15 December - Otaki

16 December - Ashburton (Feature)

17 December - Te Rapa / Palmerston North (Premier)

21 December - Tauranga

24 December - New Plymouth

 

 

Facts:

Following the running of race 1, New World Te Rapa Premier, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Weatherley permitted his mount CALLIGRAPHY to shift outwards under pressure inside the final 100 metres causing interference to KEELY BE.

Mr Weatherley acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach. Mr L O’Sullivan assisted Mr Weatherley at the hearing.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He pointed out that Mr Weatherley was clearly riding his mount forward with the whip when it shifted out and interfered with KEELY BE over the final stages of the race. He added that Mr Weatherley made an error of judgement when striking his mount 5 times before attempting to take any corrective action.

Mr Weatherley acknowledged that his horse did shift out under pressure over the final stages of the race. He added that he made an attempt to straighten his mount but acknowledged it was too late.

Mr O’Sullivan said that Mr Weatherley was an inexperienced rider and the interference occurred close to the finish. He said the damage was already done when Mr Weatherley straightened his mount. He believed that CALLIGRAPHY shifted ground when it saw the signs on the inside of the track.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherley’s record which showed 2 previous breaches under this Rule. He said that Mr Weatherley has had considerable success from a lot of rides and he is in demand with Trainers. He described the carelessness as low end but said Mr Weatherley should have taken greater care when his horse was shifting ground. Mr Oatham said that CALLIGRAPHY was relegated from 1st place and he considered this to be an aggravating fact. He said a suspension in line with that would be appropriate.

Mr Weatherley advised that he had upcoming engagements at Matamata on 14 December and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.

In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Weatherley advised that he was intending to ride at Ashburton and Gore next week because he was chasing the Apprentice title.
Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherely’s recent riding history in the South Island which showed he had 7 rides at Banks Peninsula on 30 October.

Mr Oatham said he could accept that Mr Weatherley was intending to ride at Ashburton but there was a question mark over Gore.

Mr O’Sullivan said that Mr Weatherley had booked his airline tickets to the South Island.

The Committee advised Mr O’Sullivan how the calculation of days is applied to suspended riders.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees recommends that the starting point for careless riding for is a 5 day suspension which is adjusted based on the mitigating and aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Weatherley’s admission of the breach and his good record for an Apprentice rider for which he was given a discount.

However, this has to be balanced against the aggravating factors. We reviewed the video footage of the incident and assessed the level of carelessness was low to mid–range. Mr Weatherley erred in continuing to ride his mount forward with the whip for 5 strides when it was shifting outwards. Mr Weatherley’s actions resulted in his mount being relegated from 1st place. We deemed that to be an aggravating fact which warrants an uplift in penalty.

The Committee acknowledge that Mr Weatherley did ride at Banks Peninsula on 30 October. However, we were not satisfied that Gore could be included in the penalty because Mr Weatherley has no history of riding in that region and this fact was explained to him and Mr O’Sullivan.

After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considers an appropriate suspension was 5 days.

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: 7230c93fbf46f287c990415274b97d27


informantnumber: A7000


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 12/12/2016


hearing_title: Waikato RC 10 December 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 1, New World Te Rapa Premier, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Weatherley permitted his mount CALLIGRAPHY to shift outwards under pressure inside the final 100 metres causing interference to KEELY BE.

Mr Weatherley acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach. Mr L O’Sullivan assisted Mr Weatherley at the hearing.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He pointed out that Mr Weatherley was clearly riding his mount forward with the whip when it shifted out and interfered with KEELY BE over the final stages of the race. He added that Mr Weatherley made an error of judgement when striking his mount 5 times before attempting to take any corrective action.

Mr Weatherley acknowledged that his horse did shift out under pressure over the final stages of the race. He added that he made an attempt to straighten his mount but acknowledged it was too late.

Mr O’Sullivan said that Mr Weatherley was an inexperienced rider and the interference occurred close to the finish. He said the damage was already done when Mr Weatherley straightened his mount. He believed that CALLIGRAPHY shifted ground when it saw the signs on the inside of the track.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

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


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherley’s record which showed 2 previous breaches under this Rule. He said that Mr Weatherley has had considerable success from a lot of rides and he is in demand with Trainers. He described the carelessness as low end but said Mr Weatherley should have taken greater care when his horse was shifting ground. Mr Oatham said that CALLIGRAPHY was relegated from 1st place and he considered this to be an aggravating fact. He said a suspension in line with that would be appropriate.

Mr Weatherley advised that he had upcoming engagements at Matamata on 14 December and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.

In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Weatherley advised that he was intending to ride at Ashburton and Gore next week because he was chasing the Apprentice title.
Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherely’s recent riding history in the South Island which showed he had 7 rides at Banks Peninsula on 30 October.

Mr Oatham said he could accept that Mr Weatherley was intending to ride at Ashburton but there was a question mark over Gore.

Mr O’Sullivan said that Mr Weatherley had booked his airline tickets to the South Island.

The Committee advised Mr O’Sullivan how the calculation of days is applied to suspended riders.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees recommends that the starting point for careless riding for is a 5 day suspension which is adjusted based on the mitigating and aggravating factors.

The mitigating factors were Mr Weatherley’s admission of the breach and his good record for an Apprentice rider for which he was given a discount.

However, this has to be balanced against the aggravating factors. We reviewed the video footage of the incident and assessed the level of carelessness was low to mid–range. Mr Weatherley erred in continuing to ride his mount forward with the whip for 5 strides when it was shifting outwards. Mr Weatherley’s actions resulted in his mount being relegated from 1st place. We deemed that to be an aggravating fact which warrants an uplift in penalty.

The Committee acknowledge that Mr Weatherley did ride at Banks Peninsula on 30 October. However, we were not satisfied that Gore could be included in the penalty because Mr Weatherley has no history of riding in that region and this fact was explained to him and Mr O’Sullivan.

After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considers an appropriate suspension was 5 days.


penalty:

We grant Mr Weatherley’s request to seek a deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).

Accordingly, Mr Weatherley had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 14 December and conclude after racing on 24 December 2016 (5 days).

That period of suspension encompasses meetings at

15 December - Otaki

16 December - Ashburton (Feature)

17 December - Te Rapa / Palmerston North (Premier)

21 December - Tauranga

24 December - New Plymouth

 

 


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Weatherley - Apprentice Rider of CALLIGRAPHY, Mr L O'Sullivan - Trainer - assisting his Apprentice Mr Weatherley


Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 015a91ff0ebe53d90b2c5bd8e64a3375


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: Race 1


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: a8bf4c0f215e8a3fdb8c60e6feeb5790


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 10/12/2016


meet_title: Waikato RC - 10 December 2016


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: waikato-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon


meet_pm2: none


name: Waikato RC