Reefton TC 12 March 2017 – R 3 – Chair, Mr D Anderson
ID: JCA16217
Meet Title:
Reefton TC - 12 March 2017
Meet Chair:
DAnderson
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/03/12
Race Number:
R 3
Decision:
As Mr James admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr James' licence is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 12 March 2017 up to and including racing on 31 March 2017. The meetings included in this suspension are;
16 March 2017 Addington
24 March 2017 Addington
26 March 2017 Motukarara
31 March 2017 Addington
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3 the "Bruce Chandler Memorial Mobile Pace "an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) by Open Horseman Mr K James. The Information stated that Mr James used his whip excessively from the 400m when driving (4) ELLMERS HOOFING IT.
Mr James signed the information stating he admitted the breach.
Mr Renault stated that Mr James had chosen not to attend the hearing and that he would prefer a suspension rather than a fine as penalty.
Rule 869(2) (a) provides 'No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Renault used the race video to identify Mr James driving (4) ELLMERS HOOFING IT racing 3 back on the inside approaching the home straight. He pointed to Mr James drawing his whip and using it 18 times free of the rein.
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr James' explanation was that it was a close finish and he was doing his best eventually finishing sixth.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Mr James had 26 drives last season and 14 to date this season. Mr James has a clear record for this rule and admitted the breach at the first opportunity. He said the aggravating factor was the number of strikes which he considered to be in the mid-high range.
Mr Renault said the Stewards would be asking for a fine of $400 or a comparative suspension and had no objection to Mr James' request to receive the latter. He said the Stewards have estimated that Mr James would average 2 drives per meeting.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has taken Mr James' average of two drives per meeting and equated this to a starting point as per the JCA Penalty Guide of a 5-day suspension. We find the aggravating factor of 18 strikes to warrant an uplift in penalty to a 6-day suspension. However, we are able to give Mr James a 1 day discount for his admission of the breach and a further 1 day discount for his good record. These two mitigating factors have found a suspension of 4 days which the Committee finds appropriate in this case.
Mr James had informed Mr Renault a deferment was not required.
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: cb4dcadb4cb48fa430e3ba09a5721f87
informantnumber: A6284
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/03/2017
hearing_title: Reefton TC 12 March 2017 - R 3 - Chair, Mr D Anderson
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3 the "Bruce Chandler Memorial Mobile Pace "an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) by Open Horseman Mr K James. The Information stated that Mr James used his whip excessively from the 400m when driving (4) ELLMERS HOOFING IT.
Mr James signed the information stating he admitted the breach.
Mr Renault stated that Mr James had chosen not to attend the hearing and that he would prefer a suspension rather than a fine as penalty.
Rule 869(2) (a) provides 'No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
The Use of Whip Guidelines (effective from 1December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Renault used the race video to identify Mr James driving (4) ELLMERS HOOFING IT racing 3 back on the inside approaching the home straight. He pointed to Mr James drawing his whip and using it 18 times free of the rein.
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr James' explanation was that it was a close finish and he was doing his best eventually finishing sixth.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr James admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Mr James had 26 drives last season and 14 to date this season. Mr James has a clear record for this rule and admitted the breach at the first opportunity. He said the aggravating factor was the number of strikes which he considered to be in the mid-high range.
Mr Renault said the Stewards would be asking for a fine of $400 or a comparative suspension and had no objection to Mr James' request to receive the latter. He said the Stewards have estimated that Mr James would average 2 drives per meeting.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has taken Mr James' average of two drives per meeting and equated this to a starting point as per the JCA Penalty Guide of a 5-day suspension. We find the aggravating factor of 18 strikes to warrant an uplift in penalty to a 6-day suspension. However, we are able to give Mr James a 1 day discount for his admission of the breach and a further 1 day discount for his good record. These two mitigating factors have found a suspension of 4 days which the Committee finds appropriate in this case.
Mr James had informed Mr Renault a deferment was not required.
penalty:
Mr James' licence is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 12 March 2017 up to and including racing on 31 March 2017. The meetings included in this suspension are;
16 March 2017 Addington
24 March 2017 Addington
26 March 2017 Motukarara
31 March 2017 Addington
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: K James - Licenced Horseman
Otherperson: S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b2867f6dfd2b8e2bcb4b9fe13319e647
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 30b113dbd1fb2ed2588e9b3ec761406a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/03/2017
meet_title: Reefton TC - 12 March 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: reefton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: DAnderson
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Reefton TC