Banks Peninsula TC 15 March 2020 – R 12 – Chair, Mr R G McKenzie
ID: JCA15699
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 15 March 2020
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
LYong
Meet Committee Member 2:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2020/03/15
Race Number:
R 12
Decision:
Mr Dobbs having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Dobbs is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 12, Graham Consulting Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr P Williams, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr L G Dobbs, alleging that, as the driver of POCKET CALL in the race, he used his whip when out of contention in the run home.
Mr Dobbs had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach and he confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Use of Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) provide:
(c) No horseman shall apply the whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.
Mr Williams showed a video replay of the final 800 metres of the race. He pointed out POCKET CALL, driven by Mr Dobbs, racing in second-to-last position on the markers. Approaching the home turn, Mr Dobbs extricated the horse from the inside and moved wider on the track. Mr Dobbs commenced using his whip in the home straight, with only one other runner behind him, and losing contact with the field, Mr Williams said. The horse was clearly doing its best. Mr Williams said the Stewards were not concerned with the number of strikes, but rather that Mr Dobbs had used his whip at all. The Committee observed that Mr Dobbs had used his whip on not less than five occasions.
Mr Dobbs submitted that he had not used the whip on the last 100 metres and had only used the whip five or six times in total.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williams told the hearing that Mr Dobbs has had 30 drives this season and had 28 last season – 58 lifetime drives (since being licensed in the 2018/2019 season). He was suspended in October 2019 at Oamaru for excessive use of the whip (13 times from the 500 metres) for which he received a 5-days suspension, Mr Williams said.
The starting point for a breach of unnecessary use of the whip under the Use of the Whip Regulations is a $300 fine, Mr Williams said. The fine in this case should be no less than that amount, Mr Williams submitted.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee notes that the penalty provided in the regulations for unnecessary use of the whip is a fine of $300. The breach is a mid-range breach of the rule in the view of the Committee. It is unfortunate that Mr Dobbs’ actions were visible on the Trackside coverage. Mr Dobbs’ runner was clearly out of contention for either a stake or dividend-bearing place and, in fact, beat only one other runner home and finished a long way from the winner. There are no aggravating factors and no relevant mitigating factors which warrant a departure from the penalty prescribed in the regulations.
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: c4c7b94c68d67f8c794486fcf7e44acb
informantnumber: A13170
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/03/2020
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 15 March 2020 - R 12 - Chair, Mr R G McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 12, Graham Consulting Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr P Williams, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr L G Dobbs, alleging that, as the driver of POCKET CALL in the race, he used his whip when out of contention in the run home.
Mr Dobbs had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach and he confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Use of Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) provide:
(c) No horseman shall apply the whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.
Mr Williams showed a video replay of the final 800 metres of the race. He pointed out POCKET CALL, driven by Mr Dobbs, racing in second-to-last position on the markers. Approaching the home turn, Mr Dobbs extricated the horse from the inside and moved wider on the track. Mr Dobbs commenced using his whip in the home straight, with only one other runner behind him, and losing contact with the field, Mr Williams said. The horse was clearly doing its best. Mr Williams said the Stewards were not concerned with the number of strikes, but rather that Mr Dobbs had used his whip at all. The Committee observed that Mr Dobbs had used his whip on not less than five occasions.
Mr Dobbs submitted that he had not used the whip on the last 100 metres and had only used the whip five or six times in total.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Dobbs having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williams told the hearing that Mr Dobbs has had 30 drives this season and had 28 last season – 58 lifetime drives (since being licensed in the 2018/2019 season). He was suspended in October 2019 at Oamaru for excessive use of the whip (13 times from the 500 metres) for which he received a 5-days suspension, Mr Williams said.
The starting point for a breach of unnecessary use of the whip under the Use of the Whip Regulations is a $300 fine, Mr Williams said. The fine in this case should be no less than that amount, Mr Williams submitted.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee notes that the penalty provided in the regulations for unnecessary use of the whip is a fine of $300. The breach is a mid-range breach of the rule in the view of the Committee. It is unfortunate that Mr Dobbs’ actions were visible on the Trackside coverage. Mr Dobbs’ runner was clearly out of contention for either a stake or dividend-bearing place and, in fact, beat only one other runner home and finished a long way from the winner. There are no aggravating factors and no relevant mitigating factors which warrant a departure from the penalty prescribed in the regulations.
penalty:
Mr Dobbs is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2) & Use of the Whip Regulations
Informant: Mr P Williams - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr L G Dobbs - Licensed Graduation Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3154245073aa3771d92c36ecad06e0bf
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 12
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0e8fa4deafe240f1006ee45c4438717b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/03/2020
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 15 March 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: LYong
meet_pm2: DAnderson
name: Banks Peninsula TC