HR Waikato 14 May 2015 – R 1
ID: JCA16124
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 14 May 2015
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2015/05/14
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
As Mr Cronin has admitted the breach we find the charge is proved.
Penalty:
Mr Cronin had earlier appeared before the Committee on another charge involving the same horse in the subject race. As a result his Amateur Drivers licence was suspended until after racing on 23 July 2015.
In respect of this breach the Committee imposes a further suspension of Mr Cronin's driving licence to take effect immediately after the suspension referred to.
We therefore suspend Mr Cronin's Advanced Amateur Drivers licence to drive in races from 24 July to 31 August 2015, a period of 5 weeks.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the DUNSTAN FEEDS AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Mr Mulcay alleging that Advanced Amateur Driver Mr G Cronin had breached Rule 869(2)(a). The charge read that Mr Cronin used his whip excessively and unnecessarily driving LOLA JONES over the concluding 400 metres.
Mr Cronin was present at the hearing and admitted the breach. He had Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy to assist him.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides ' No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Mulcay pointed out using the available films that at about 400 metres from the finish LOLA JONES, which had been driven forward and raced fiercely during the early part of the race had begun to give ground. He stated that Mr Cronin had used his whip with his free hand when it was unnecessary as the horse was clearly weakening. Mr Mulcay stated that Mr Cronin had struck the horse approximately 25 times from the 400 metres to well into the home straight. He said he may have 'sat up' and stopped hitting the horse within the last 100 metres but the 'damage ' was already done. Mr Mulcay added that this did not reflect well to the viewing public and that Mr Cronin should have exercised better judgement. He added that the Stewards would not have viewed this matter so seriously if the horse had begun to respond but that was not the case.
Mr Cronin stated that while he did appear to use his whip that number of times in fact he had not actually struck the horse every time - he said he was just 'flicking' the horse with his whip on a number of occasions. When asked by the Committee why he had looked around in the home straight while weakening and applying the whip, Mr Cronin could not give an answer. Mr Mulcay stated that it was not necessary for the Stewards to establish what Mr Cronin was doing with his whip when he appeared to be using it, the perception was that he was using it far too often.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Cronin's driving record which showed no previous breaches of this Rule. He said that while it was in his favour that he had admitted the breach, this was a bad and unnecessary breach of the Rule and a term of suspension was warranted. The JCA Penalty Guidelines called for a fine of $500 or a suspension of a drivers licence of 2 days. Mr Mulcay submitted that in the view of the Stewards a suspension of 2 weeks would be appropriate.
Neither Mr Cronin nor Mr Abernethy had anything to add. In an earlier hearing involving the same race Mr Cronin had told the Committee that he was not in a position to pay a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of the parties and viewed the incident on the available films. The only mitigating factor in Mr Cronin's favour is that he admitted the breach. However not only was Mr Cronin's whip use excessive it was also improper. It was clear on turning for home that Mr Cronin must have known his horse was beaten. The Committee felt that it was immaterial whether Mr Cronin hit the sulky or the horse itself; it was clear he should not have been using the whip at all. The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a breach of this Rule call for a fine of $500 or a 2 drive suspension. As an Amateur driver Mr Cronin usually has 2 opportunities a month to drive in races. The Committee were of the firm opinion that this breach called for a suspension of at least that length given the circumstances.
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: bff84bc03d1d8552fdc68b53b6cbfafe
informantnumber: A7463
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive, unnecessary whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/05/2015
hearing_title: HR Waikato 14 May 2015 - R 1
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the DUNSTAN FEEDS AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Mr Mulcay alleging that Advanced Amateur Driver Mr G Cronin had breached Rule 869(2)(a). The charge read that Mr Cronin used his whip excessively and unnecessarily driving LOLA JONES over the concluding 400 metres.
Mr Cronin was present at the hearing and admitted the breach. He had Open Horseman Mr J Abernethy to assist him.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides ' No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Mulcay pointed out using the available films that at about 400 metres from the finish LOLA JONES, which had been driven forward and raced fiercely during the early part of the race had begun to give ground. He stated that Mr Cronin had used his whip with his free hand when it was unnecessary as the horse was clearly weakening. Mr Mulcay stated that Mr Cronin had struck the horse approximately 25 times from the 400 metres to well into the home straight. He said he may have 'sat up' and stopped hitting the horse within the last 100 metres but the 'damage ' was already done. Mr Mulcay added that this did not reflect well to the viewing public and that Mr Cronin should have exercised better judgement. He added that the Stewards would not have viewed this matter so seriously if the horse had begun to respond but that was not the case.
Mr Cronin stated that while he did appear to use his whip that number of times in fact he had not actually struck the horse every time - he said he was just 'flicking' the horse with his whip on a number of occasions. When asked by the Committee why he had looked around in the home straight while weakening and applying the whip, Mr Cronin could not give an answer. Mr Mulcay stated that it was not necessary for the Stewards to establish what Mr Cronin was doing with his whip when he appeared to be using it, the perception was that he was using it far too often.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Cronin has admitted the breach we find the charge is proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay produced Mr Cronin's driving record which showed no previous breaches of this Rule. He said that while it was in his favour that he had admitted the breach, this was a bad and unnecessary breach of the Rule and a term of suspension was warranted. The JCA Penalty Guidelines called for a fine of $500 or a suspension of a drivers licence of 2 days. Mr Mulcay submitted that in the view of the Stewards a suspension of 2 weeks would be appropriate.
Neither Mr Cronin nor Mr Abernethy had anything to add. In an earlier hearing involving the same race Mr Cronin had told the Committee that he was not in a position to pay a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of the parties and viewed the incident on the available films. The only mitigating factor in Mr Cronin's favour is that he admitted the breach. However not only was Mr Cronin's whip use excessive it was also improper. It was clear on turning for home that Mr Cronin must have known his horse was beaten. The Committee felt that it was immaterial whether Mr Cronin hit the sulky or the horse itself; it was clear he should not have been using the whip at all. The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a breach of this Rule call for a fine of $500 or a 2 drive suspension. As an Amateur driver Mr Cronin usually has 2 opportunities a month to drive in races. The Committee were of the firm opinion that this breach called for a suspension of at least that length given the circumstances.
penalty:
Mr Cronin had earlier appeared before the Committee on another charge involving the same horse in the subject race. As a result his Amateur Drivers licence was suspended until after racing on 23 July 2015.
In respect of this breach the Committee imposes a further suspension of Mr Cronin's driving licence to take effect immediately after the suspension referred to.
We therefore suspend Mr Cronin's Advanced Amateur Drivers licence to drive in races from 24 July to 31 August 2015, a period of 5 weeks.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Cronin-Advanced Amateur Driver
Otherperson: Mr J Abernethy-Open Horseman assisting Mr Cronin
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7d3e438b5a57df640a7d146668ffd19e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4c5a9cae937255da53c41b781d163869
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 14/05/2015
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 14 May 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato