Wairarapa HRC 2 January 2016 – R3 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA15375
Meet Title:
Wairarapa HRC - 2 January 2016
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TCastles
Race Date:
2016/01/02
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
As Mr Pyers admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Pyers is fined $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the “Osborne Group Chartered Accountants Mobile Pace”, Information A6840 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr A Pyers. The Information stated “that driver A Pyers used his whip in an excessive manner in his driving out of “Brainstormer” in the final straight”.
Mr Pyers signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed he understood the rule under which he had been charged. Notwithstanding his status as an Open Horseman Mr Pyers asked for and was permitted to be assisted during the hearing by Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Neal used the side-on film to identify Mr Pyers driving “Brainstormer” in the three wide line at the front of the field as the horses entered the final straight. Mr Neal said that from the top of the straight to the finish line Mr Pyers struck his horse at least 24 times with few discernible pauses. He said the number of strikes was clearly outside the “Use of Whip” guidelines which Mr Pyers was fully aware of.
Mr Pyers said at times in the run to the line he had stopped driving the horse and was urging him to the line without hitting him. He said he was also told to drive the horse out because he is considered by his trainer to be a lazy horse. He also justified his actions by saying that for a long way down the straight he was “right in the firing line”. He also said that because ”Brainstormer” is such a big horse, even though it looked like he was hitting him, many of the strikes did not make contact.
To a question from the Committee Mr Pyers thought he had hit the horse closer to 20 times rather than the 24 stated by Mr Neal but conceded the number was still outside the “Use of Whip” guidelines. In conclusion he said he was only trying to ensure the punters got a good run for their money.
Mr Abernethy said Mr Pyers had been caught out by the length of the straight which, at 350m, was much longer than most of the courses he drove at. He said he had also driven “Brainstormer” in the past and confirmed he was a horse that needed to be strongly driven to the line to keep his mind on the job.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Pyers had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. Mr Neal said he was aware that the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension and submitted that the penalty on this occasion should be a fine of not less than $300.
Mr Pyers asked the Committee to note this was his first breach of the excessive use of whip Rule. He said he was not making any money from his involvement in the industry and asked for leniency from the Committee.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 350m of the race and notes that Mr Pyers used his whip at least 20 times over that distance – the strikes in the final 20m were not clearly visible on the film shown. The Committee believes some of the strikes were forceful and that the severity of breach of the rules is in the mid range. The Committee notes that Mr Pyers was jointly charged under Rules 869(2)(a) and 867 on 17 March 2015 at New Plymouth and was fined $200 for striking his horse with the whip whilst a foot was out of the sulky foot rest.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. We have reviewed the range of penalties for similar breaches of this Rule in recent months to ensure as best we can consistency with those decisions. We believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty and that the mitigating factors of Mr Pyer’s admittance of the breach justifies a reduction of $100 from the starting point of $500 and also that his good driving record justifies a further $100 reduction.
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: 8b437708780a5c412946cd7ceb904f59
informantnumber: A6840
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/01/2016
hearing_title: Wairarapa HRC 2 January 2016 - R3 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the “Osborne Group Chartered Accountants Mobile Pace”, Information A6840 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr A Pyers. The Information stated “that driver A Pyers used his whip in an excessive manner in his driving out of “Brainstormer” in the final straight”.
Mr Pyers signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed he understood the rule under which he had been charged. Notwithstanding his status as an Open Horseman Mr Pyers asked for and was permitted to be assisted during the hearing by Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Neal used the side-on film to identify Mr Pyers driving “Brainstormer” in the three wide line at the front of the field as the horses entered the final straight. Mr Neal said that from the top of the straight to the finish line Mr Pyers struck his horse at least 24 times with few discernible pauses. He said the number of strikes was clearly outside the “Use of Whip” guidelines which Mr Pyers was fully aware of.
Mr Pyers said at times in the run to the line he had stopped driving the horse and was urging him to the line without hitting him. He said he was also told to drive the horse out because he is considered by his trainer to be a lazy horse. He also justified his actions by saying that for a long way down the straight he was “right in the firing line”. He also said that because ”Brainstormer” is such a big horse, even though it looked like he was hitting him, many of the strikes did not make contact.
To a question from the Committee Mr Pyers thought he had hit the horse closer to 20 times rather than the 24 stated by Mr Neal but conceded the number was still outside the “Use of Whip” guidelines. In conclusion he said he was only trying to ensure the punters got a good run for their money.
Mr Abernethy said Mr Pyers had been caught out by the length of the straight which, at 350m, was much longer than most of the courses he drove at. He said he had also driven “Brainstormer” in the past and confirmed he was a horse that needed to be strongly driven to the line to keep his mind on the job.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Pyers admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Pyers had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. Mr Neal said he was aware that the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension and submitted that the penalty on this occasion should be a fine of not less than $300.
Mr Pyers asked the Committee to note this was his first breach of the excessive use of whip Rule. He said he was not making any money from his involvement in the industry and asked for leniency from the Committee.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 350m of the race and notes that Mr Pyers used his whip at least 20 times over that distance – the strikes in the final 20m were not clearly visible on the film shown. The Committee believes some of the strikes were forceful and that the severity of breach of the rules is in the mid range. The Committee notes that Mr Pyers was jointly charged under Rules 869(2)(a) and 867 on 17 March 2015 at New Plymouth and was fined $200 for striking his horse with the whip whilst a foot was out of the sulky foot rest.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. We have reviewed the range of penalties for similar breaches of this Rule in recent months to ensure as best we can consistency with those decisions. We believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty and that the mitigating factors of Mr Pyer’s admittance of the breach justifies a reduction of $100 from the starting point of $500 and also that his good driving record justifies a further $100 reduction.
penalty:
Mr Pyers is fined $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A Pyers - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr J Abernethy - Open Horseman assisting Mr Pyers
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 763d278c3beefdc5daf12968343d5d2d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
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meetid: 3b1500c68341d7d407fb3ba01c3455e0
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/01/2016
meet_title: Wairarapa HRC - 2 January 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: wairarapa-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TCastles
meet_pm2: none
name: Wairarapa HRC