Westport TC 28 December 2016 – R 8 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA16573
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 28 December 2016
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/12/28
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
As Mr Thornley had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Thornley is fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the Nelson Pine Industries Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr CD Thornley, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively over the final 400m when driving KNOCKMANAUGH.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Use of the Whip Guidelines provides:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr Thornley had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Thornley had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing which was confirmed by Mr Renault.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays of the final 400m of the race. He pointed out Mr Thornley driving KNOCKMAMAUGH passing the 400m when racing 3 back on the pylons. He stated that Mr Thornley used his whip with the hand on the rein 24 times over the concluding stages. He said that Mr Thornley initially used the whip continuously on14 occasions before a brief respite and used the whip again in a continuous manner on 10 further occasions. Mr Renault stated that Mr Thornley was being charged due to the continuous manner in which he used the whip when the whip was in the rein hand and the sheer number strikes recorded. He also stated that the strikes were not forceful in nature but submitted that the breach was at a higher level due to the number of strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Thornley had driven on 477 occasions last season with drives this season 162 to date. He said that Mr Thornley had a clear record in regard to this rule and had admitted the breach. Mr Renault submitted that after taking all mitigating and aggravating factors into consideration, including Mr Butt’s admission of the breach, his good record and the higher level of the breach, being 24 strikes albeit not forceful, that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. In adopting the starting point of a $500 fine the Committee determined that the only aggravating factor, being the higher level of the breach, commanded an uplift of $100 on the starting point. We were however, able to afford Mr Thornley a discount of $100 for his admission of the breach and a further discount of $100 for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a fine of $400.
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: c7a354415429c1dff483d70874461dc6
informantnumber: A8445
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/12/2016
hearing_title: Westport TC 28 December 2016 - R 8 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the Nelson Pine Industries Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr CD Thornley, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively over the final 400m when driving KNOCKMANAUGH.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Use of the Whip Guidelines provides:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr Thornley had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Thornley had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing which was confirmed by Mr Renault.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays of the final 400m of the race. He pointed out Mr Thornley driving KNOCKMAMAUGH passing the 400m when racing 3 back on the pylons. He stated that Mr Thornley used his whip with the hand on the rein 24 times over the concluding stages. He said that Mr Thornley initially used the whip continuously on14 occasions before a brief respite and used the whip again in a continuous manner on 10 further occasions. Mr Renault stated that Mr Thornley was being charged due to the continuous manner in which he used the whip when the whip was in the rein hand and the sheer number strikes recorded. He also stated that the strikes were not forceful in nature but submitted that the breach was at a higher level due to the number of strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Thornley had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Thornley had driven on 477 occasions last season with drives this season 162 to date. He said that Mr Thornley had a clear record in regard to this rule and had admitted the breach. Mr Renault submitted that after taking all mitigating and aggravating factors into consideration, including Mr Butt’s admission of the breach, his good record and the higher level of the breach, being 24 strikes albeit not forceful, that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. In adopting the starting point of a $500 fine the Committee determined that the only aggravating factor, being the higher level of the breach, commanded an uplift of $100 on the starting point. We were however, able to afford Mr Thornley a discount of $100 for his admission of the breach and a further discount of $100 for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a fine of $400.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Thornley is fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr CD Thornley - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 1e6b21288cc22d07961db1bfc9d39cb3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 24814172f0b8662995d73a1c659f6803
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/12/2016
meet_title: Westport TC - 28 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC