Forbury Park TC 14 July 2016 – R 5 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA14865
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 14 July 2016
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2016/07/14
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
In these circumstances the Committee is not satisfied that Mr Williamson’s use of the whip is unnecessary. The charge is dismissed.
Facts:
Following the running of race 5, the 1st Leg $50,000 Pick 6 Mobile Pace, an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward, Mr Tidmarsh alleging a breach of r 869(2)(a) in that Junior Horseman Mr B Williamson used his whip in an unnecessary manner passing the 800 metres.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads: No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Williamson did not admit the charge and appeared at the hearing assisted by Mr N Williamson.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that shortly after the start THEMAILMAN was caught three wide without cover and Mr Williamson was unable to improve his position. Approaching the 800 metre mark THEMAILMAN started to give ground and Mr Williamson angled out four wide to allow following runners to improve on his inside, so as to not impede their progress.
Approaching the 600 metre mark THEMAILMAN was at the rear of the field and Mr Williamson struck the horse once with the whip. He said between the 600 metres to 500 metres he struck the horse about five times in total. He believed the use of the whip was unnecessary as THEMAILMAN dropped away from the field and finished in a distant second last position. He said the whip guidelines stated that the whip could not be used when a horse was not challenging for a stake bearing position. In summing up he stated he believed that it was clear the respondent had struck the horse three times.
Mr B Williamson said as THEMAILMAN started to give ground he eased the horse out 4 wide for safety reasons. He gave the horse one strike with the whip as he crossed down from three wide to trailing the field, to see if the horse would respond. It did not. After that he put the stick under his arm for the remainder of the race. He stated other drivers on horses at the rear of the field were using their whips. He also said THEMAILMAN switched off and on during the running of the race and was a lazy horse.
Mr N Williamson said the videos of the incident were not clear. The first strike with the whip could be seen but the others were impossible to determine. The whip was clearly under the respondent’s arm at the 500 metre mark. He questioned whether THEMAILMAN had “given up the ghost” rather than being “totally tired”. He said the respondent had given THEMAILMAN one with the whip to see, and after this had chased the horse up with the reins.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee has to be satisfied that Mr Williamson’s use of the whip was unnecessary. His horse THEMAILMAN had clearly had a difficult trip having been trapped three wide without cover, and was tiring from the 800 metre mark. Mr Williamson had endeavoured to allow other runners a chance to improve from that point until the horse dropped to the rear of the field at about the 600 metres.
That Mr Williamson struck the horse once, can clearly be seen on the video. Ater that there were two movements of his right hand that may have been strikes with the whip, both times with the rein in his hand. However, whether these two strikes were with the whip is unclear. There is no evidence of the whip being raised on the second occasion. If THEMAILMAN was struck with the whip it would only have been a lateral arm movement. The third looks as if it might have been a short back-hander and, at most, a brief flick to the rump of THEMAILMAN.
While the first strike of the whip can be clearly seen, the Committee does not believe that strike was unnecessary given that Mr Williamson used the whip to see if THEMAILMAN would respond.
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: 857f845840872dbac7d6515e1be44a37
informantnumber: A7640
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Use of whip in unnecessary manner
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 17/07/2016
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 14 July 2016 - R 5 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 5, the 1st Leg $50,000 Pick 6 Mobile Pace, an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward, Mr Tidmarsh alleging a breach of r 869(2)(a) in that Junior Horseman Mr B Williamson used his whip in an unnecessary manner passing the 800 metres.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads: No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Williamson did not admit the charge and appeared at the hearing assisted by Mr N Williamson.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that shortly after the start THEMAILMAN was caught three wide without cover and Mr Williamson was unable to improve his position. Approaching the 800 metre mark THEMAILMAN started to give ground and Mr Williamson angled out four wide to allow following runners to improve on his inside, so as to not impede their progress.
Approaching the 600 metre mark THEMAILMAN was at the rear of the field and Mr Williamson struck the horse once with the whip. He said between the 600 metres to 500 metres he struck the horse about five times in total. He believed the use of the whip was unnecessary as THEMAILMAN dropped away from the field and finished in a distant second last position. He said the whip guidelines stated that the whip could not be used when a horse was not challenging for a stake bearing position. In summing up he stated he believed that it was clear the respondent had struck the horse three times.
Mr B Williamson said as THEMAILMAN started to give ground he eased the horse out 4 wide for safety reasons. He gave the horse one strike with the whip as he crossed down from three wide to trailing the field, to see if the horse would respond. It did not. After that he put the stick under his arm for the remainder of the race. He stated other drivers on horses at the rear of the field were using their whips. He also said THEMAILMAN switched off and on during the running of the race and was a lazy horse.
Mr N Williamson said the videos of the incident were not clear. The first strike with the whip could be seen but the others were impossible to determine. The whip was clearly under the respondent’s arm at the 500 metre mark. He questioned whether THEMAILMAN had “given up the ghost” rather than being “totally tired”. He said the respondent had given THEMAILMAN one with the whip to see, and after this had chased the horse up with the reins.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee has to be satisfied that Mr Williamson’s use of the whip was unnecessary. His horse THEMAILMAN had clearly had a difficult trip having been trapped three wide without cover, and was tiring from the 800 metre mark. Mr Williamson had endeavoured to allow other runners a chance to improve from that point until the horse dropped to the rear of the field at about the 600 metres.
That Mr Williamson struck the horse once, can clearly be seen on the video. Ater that there were two movements of his right hand that may have been strikes with the whip, both times with the rein in his hand. However, whether these two strikes were with the whip is unclear. There is no evidence of the whip being raised on the second occasion. If THEMAILMAN was struck with the whip it would only have been a lateral arm movement. The third looks as if it might have been a short back-hander and, at most, a brief flick to the rump of THEMAILMAN.
While the first strike of the whip can be clearly seen, the Committee does not believe that strike was unnecessary given that Mr Williamson used the whip to see if THEMAILMAN would respond.
Decision:
In these circumstances the Committee is not satisfied that Mr Williamson’s use of the whip is unnecessary. The charge is dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr B Williamson - Junior Horseman driver of THEMAILMAN
Otherperson: Mr N Williams - Open Horseman assisting Mr N Williamson
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6d8400460fee8e3b221d033befc0a9a7
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: b0718bfdc7a0e0e9831a75f41fea1c74
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 14/07/2016
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 14 July 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC