Invercargill HRC 12 April 2015 – R 9
ID: JCA15217
Meet Title:
Invercargill HRC - 12 April 2015
Meet Chair:
NSkelt
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2015/04/12
Race Number:
R#9
Decision:
Mr Williamson admitted the breach we thus find the breach proved.
Penalty:
We have taken into account the status of the race (Gp II) and view the breach as mid-range. We give credit for Mr Williamson’s excellent record and his early admission of the breach.
We fine Mr Williamson the sum of $250 and reminded him of his obligations under the Rules of HRNZ.
Facts:
Following the running of race # 9 the Alabar Southern Supremacy Stakes Final Mobile Pace an information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against open horseman Mr N Williamson alleging that Mr Wallis, as the driver of TAS MAN BROMAC, used his whip excessively when driving out TAS MAN BROMAC over the final stages.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Williamson was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated he admitted the charge.
Mr Wallis showed the Committee video replays of the incident highlighting Mr Williamson using his whip from the 300 metre mark to the winning post.
Mr Wallis counted 24 ‘back-hand’ strikes with the whip, acknowledging that the strikes were not the full force.
Mr Williamson stated he had driven his horse out in a tight finish. He did not want to stop the horse's momentum and was beaten a nose.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis confirmed Mr Williamson had 388 drives this season and no breaches under this rule. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Williamson had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and he believed the breach to be mid-range.
The JCA guidelines stated that a starting point for a breach of this rule is a $300.00 fine or a six drives suspension; Mr Wallis submitted a $300.00 fine would be appropriate because the race was a Group II race.
Mr Williamson said he had simply made an error of judgement and that his horse had continued to respond to his urgings, only being beaten by a nose from first placing and with a very high winning stake ($28,125). He was anxious that he gave his horse every opportunity.
Mr Williamson asked the Committee to note his good record in relation to the rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee re-viewed the video clip and confirmed that Mr Williamson has struck the horse with back hand whips approximately 24 times. We do not believe the backhand whips were of a forceful nature.
Mr Williamson is an extremely busy driver and is a first time offender and has admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity.
An aggravating factor in determining penalty was that the race was a Group II status.
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: 778ba434f9793b978602626ee2e3741c
informantnumber: A6617
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: 869 (2) (a)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/04/2015
hearing_title: Invercargill HRC 12 April 2015 - R 9
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race # 9 the Alabar Southern Supremacy Stakes Final Mobile Pace an information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against open horseman Mr N Williamson alleging that Mr Wallis, as the driver of TAS MAN BROMAC, used his whip excessively when driving out TAS MAN BROMAC over the final stages.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Williamson was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated he admitted the charge.
Mr Wallis showed the Committee video replays of the incident highlighting Mr Williamson using his whip from the 300 metre mark to the winning post.
Mr Wallis counted 24 ‘back-hand’ strikes with the whip, acknowledging that the strikes were not the full force.
Mr Williamson stated he had driven his horse out in a tight finish. He did not want to stop the horse's momentum and was beaten a nose.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Williamson admitted the breach we thus find the breach proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis confirmed Mr Williamson had 388 drives this season and no breaches under this rule. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Williamson had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and he believed the breach to be mid-range.
The JCA guidelines stated that a starting point for a breach of this rule is a $300.00 fine or a six drives suspension; Mr Wallis submitted a $300.00 fine would be appropriate because the race was a Group II race.
Mr Williamson said he had simply made an error of judgement and that his horse had continued to respond to his urgings, only being beaten by a nose from first placing and with a very high winning stake ($28,125). He was anxious that he gave his horse every opportunity.
Mr Williamson asked the Committee to note his good record in relation to the rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee re-viewed the video clip and confirmed that Mr Williamson has struck the horse with back hand whips approximately 24 times. We do not believe the backhand whips were of a forceful nature.
Mr Williamson is an extremely busy driver and is a first time offender and has admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity.
An aggravating factor in determining penalty was that the race was a Group II status.
penalty:
We have taken into account the status of the race (Gp II) and view the breach as mid-range. We give credit for Mr Williamson’s excellent record and his early admission of the breach.
We fine Mr Williamson the sum of $250 and reminded him of his obligations under the Rules of HRNZ.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Excessive use whip
Informant: Mr S W Wallis -Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr N Williamson - Licensed Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 366c6c39f494336e8377a32146a16d56
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R#9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c2bffa03c00bf913469299bce59b432f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/04/2015
meet_title: Invercargill HRC - 12 April 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: invercargill-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: NSkelt
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Invercargill HRC