Thames HRC 10 January 2016 – R 2 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA16257
Meet Title:
Thames HRC - 10 January 2016
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2016/01/10
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
As Mr Young has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Young was fined the sum of $350.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Coromandel More FM, an Information was lodged by Mr Muirhead alleging that Open Horseman, Mr P Young, had breached Rule 869(2)(a). The charge read that he used his whip excessively driving PRIME SILVER over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Young admitted the breach and confirmed he understood the rule.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides ' No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Muirhead identified on the video footage that Mr Young struck his horse approximately 8 times from the 400 metres to the 150 metres. He pointed out that over the final 150 metres Mr Young switched to a backhand motion and struck his horse continuously a further 19 times.
Mr Young told the Committee that the initial 8 strikes “would not have hurt a fly”. He said he liked his 3 year old filly and there was no power in his other 19 strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Young’s driving record which showed no previous breach of this Rule in the last 12 months. Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of a $500.00 fine or suspension for 2 days. He assessed the breach as mid – range.
Mr Young asked the Committee for leniency and said in his 50 years of driving he had never been in this position before. He acknowledged to the Committee that the incident “didn’t look very good”.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors were Mr Young’s admission of the breach and his clear record over a long period of time for which he has been given credit. We assess the 8 strikes prior to the 150 metres to be low in severity. However, we assess the total number of strikes (27) in the high range and the severity of the backhanders in the mid- range. In our opinion the backhanders (19) did have some force behind them. We are mindful of the public perception when an incident like this occurs and this was clearly an aggravating factor.
The Committee referred to similar breaches of this rule since 1 May 2015 which showed fines in the vicinity of $400.
After taking into account of the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty was a $350 fine.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: d03a5c80fbcc3084210027c661df42ac
informantnumber: A7469
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/01/2016
hearing_title: Thames HRC 10 January 2016 - R 2 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Coromandel More FM, an Information was lodged by Mr Muirhead alleging that Open Horseman, Mr P Young, had breached Rule 869(2)(a). The charge read that he used his whip excessively driving PRIME SILVER over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Young admitted the breach and confirmed he understood the rule.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides ' No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive, or improper manner'.
Mr Muirhead identified on the video footage that Mr Young struck his horse approximately 8 times from the 400 metres to the 150 metres. He pointed out that over the final 150 metres Mr Young switched to a backhand motion and struck his horse continuously a further 19 times.
Mr Young told the Committee that the initial 8 strikes “would not have hurt a fly”. He said he liked his 3 year old filly and there was no power in his other 19 strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Young has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Young’s driving record which showed no previous breach of this Rule in the last 12 months. Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of a $500.00 fine or suspension for 2 days. He assessed the breach as mid – range.
Mr Young asked the Committee for leniency and said in his 50 years of driving he had never been in this position before. He acknowledged to the Committee that the incident “didn’t look very good”.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors were Mr Young’s admission of the breach and his clear record over a long period of time for which he has been given credit. We assess the 8 strikes prior to the 150 metres to be low in severity. However, we assess the total number of strikes (27) in the high range and the severity of the backhanders in the mid- range. In our opinion the backhanders (19) did have some force behind them. We are mindful of the public perception when an incident like this occurs and this was clearly an aggravating factor.
The Committee referred to similar breaches of this rule since 1 May 2015 which showed fines in the vicinity of $400.
After taking into account of the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty was a $350 fine.
penalty:
Mr Young was fined the sum of $350.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr P Young - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2e3ea97da4e761175c41657447f18da6
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 93f98c5d4b5b46e855aa13bde86a0c80
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 10/01/2016
meet_title: Thames HRC - 10 January 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: thames-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Thames HRC