Auckland TC 12 February 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mr B Scott
ID: JCA14899
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 12 February 2016
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2016/02/12
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
Penalty:
This Committee imposes a fine of $300.00 on Mr Stormont. We have also taken the opportunity to point out to him that if he has a second breach of this rule within 6 months then the starting point penalty is a 3-5 day suspension.
Facts:
Following the running of the MITAVITE MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay against Open Horseman Mr J Stormont alleging that he used his whip excessively driving SLEEPING BEAUTY over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Stormont was present at the Hearing and he advised the Committee that he understood the rule and he admitted the breach.
Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed where Mr Stormont used his whip on SLEEPING BEAUTY from prior to the home turn up to the finish and he counted 25 strikes with the whip.
Mr Mulcay said that the Stewards were not so concerned at Mr Stormont's action in using the whip but rather it was the number of strikes that was the issue.
Mr Stormont said that he admitted the breach but he said that he shouldn't have hit it as much and he also said that the horse is a "one pacer" and "if I don't drive it like that it will stop". Mr Stormont said he had suggested to the Trainer to use pull down blinds on the horse in the future.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay said that the JCA starting point penalty is a fine of $500.00 or suspension of Licence for 2 days. He said that Mr Stormont has a very good record under this rule and he should get credit for that and also for his guilty plea. He said that the Stewards were looking for a penalty less than the starting point penalties.
Mr Stormont asked for credit for his record and his admission of the breach and he submitted that a fine of around $300.00 would be appropriate.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has listened to the parties, viewed the films and taken into account the submissions.
The aggravating factor is clearly the number of strikes with the whip and stating that the horse is a "one pacer" is not an excuse for hitting it so many times.
The mitigating factors however are Mr Stormont's very good record under this rule and the Committee is aware that he is a busy driver and also his admission of the breach. Mr Stormont has been quite upfront at the Hearing and this is also in his favour.
We have referred to the JCA Guidelines which have the starting point penalties referred to by Mr Mulcay and we have also referred to our JCA Penalty Schedules which provide to us details of other penalties imposed under this rule. We note that a fine of $300.00 was imposed at the recent Nelson meeting for 22 strikes with the whip. We think that a fine of $300.00 is appropriate in this case.
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: 894e07ed935c5d69f28ffc717bef93a5
informantnumber: A7442
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: excessive use of the whip.
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/02/2016
hearing_title: Auckland TC 12 February 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mr B Scott
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the MITAVITE MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay against Open Horseman Mr J Stormont alleging that he used his whip excessively driving SLEEPING BEAUTY over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Stormont was present at the Hearing and he advised the Committee that he understood the rule and he admitted the breach.
Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed where Mr Stormont used his whip on SLEEPING BEAUTY from prior to the home turn up to the finish and he counted 25 strikes with the whip.
Mr Mulcay said that the Stewards were not so concerned at Mr Stormont's action in using the whip but rather it was the number of strikes that was the issue.
Mr Stormont said that he admitted the breach but he said that he shouldn't have hit it as much and he also said that the horse is a "one pacer" and "if I don't drive it like that it will stop". Mr Stormont said he had suggested to the Trainer to use pull down blinds on the horse in the future.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay said that the JCA starting point penalty is a fine of $500.00 or suspension of Licence for 2 days. He said that Mr Stormont has a very good record under this rule and he should get credit for that and also for his guilty plea. He said that the Stewards were looking for a penalty less than the starting point penalties.
Mr Stormont asked for credit for his record and his admission of the breach and he submitted that a fine of around $300.00 would be appropriate.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has listened to the parties, viewed the films and taken into account the submissions.
The aggravating factor is clearly the number of strikes with the whip and stating that the horse is a "one pacer" is not an excuse for hitting it so many times.
The mitigating factors however are Mr Stormont's very good record under this rule and the Committee is aware that he is a busy driver and also his admission of the breach. Mr Stormont has been quite upfront at the Hearing and this is also in his favour.
We have referred to the JCA Guidelines which have the starting point penalties referred to by Mr Mulcay and we have also referred to our JCA Penalty Schedules which provide to us details of other penalties imposed under this rule. We note that a fine of $300.00 was imposed at the recent Nelson meeting for 22 strikes with the whip. We think that a fine of $300.00 is appropriate in this case.
penalty:
This Committee imposes a fine of $300.00 on Mr Stormont. We have also taken the opportunity to point out to him that if he has a second breach of this rule within 6 months then the starting point penalty is a 3-5 day suspension.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Stormont - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 62b9ff3f2ce88327102f8b503dabcac3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 52b22df135a08466c882440c1dcfa7c6
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/02/2016
meet_title: Auckland TC - 12 February 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC