HR Waikato 20 March 2014 – R 11
ID: JCA16678
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 20 March 2014
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2014/03/20
Race Number:
R11
Decision:
The Charge is admitted and accordingly is upheld.
Penalty:
Accordingly the Committee imposes a fine of $150 on Mr Anderson.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 11, LAMP SPECIALISTS JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE , an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward, Mr JM Muirhead against Junior Driver, Mr M Anderson alleging that Mr Anderson had dropped his foot out of the sulky rest, and used his whip improperly on HUNUA HONEY.
Mr Anderson was present at the hearing, assisted by Senior Horseman Mr J Stormont, and advised the Committee that he admitted the breach.
Rule 867 states " Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose."
Rule 869(2)(a) states " No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary,excessive,or improper manner"
Using the available films Mr Muirhead identified the horse HUNUA HONEY driven by Mr Anderson, as it entered the home straight for the final time. He pointed out that Mr Anderson had dropped his right foot out of the sulky rest as the field straightened up, and had struck the horse 7 times with his whip while his leg was clearly hanging down out of the footrest. Mr Muirhead added that often the Stipendiary Stewards showed some leniency to drivers when they accidentally drop their foot out of the rest and immediately replaced it but that was not the case in this matter.
Mr Stormont, for Mr Anderson, told the Committee that the sulky being used on HUNUA HONEY was an 'American cart', and the foot rests on these sulkies where not as big as on other sulkies. The effect of this, Mr Stormont said, was that it was easy for a driver to accidentally drop his foor out of the sulky rest.
The Committee pointed out to Mr Stormont that it was clear from the films that Mr Anderson had made no attempt to replace his foot in the sulky rest, and in fact had struck the horse 7 times without rectifying the situation.
Mr Stormont agreed that the 'damage' had been done and that Mr Anderson had admitted the breach. He added that in retrospect Mr Anderson should have checked the sulky properly before taking the horse out onto the track as it had been used by another driver prior to him using it.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead told the Committee that the JCA Penalty Guidelines for a charge of improper use of the whip called for a suspension of 6 drives or a fine of $300. He stated that Mr Anderson was a Junior Driver who had admitted the breach, and that he did not have any prior breaches of this rule. However, he added that Mr Anderson did have his foot out of the sulky for some time, and submitted that a fine in the range of $100 to $300 would be appropriate.
Mr Stormont told the Committee that Mr Anderson, as a Junior Driver, would learn a lot from this experience. He added that he had driven about 38 times in races, and suggested a fine of $150 would be suitable for this breach. He also said that Mr Anderson had recently transferred from the South Island and was gaining work experience with a leading trainer in the Northern region and that he was hoping to make race-driving his livelihood.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee takes into account the mitigating factors in Mr Anderson favour, i.e. that he admitted the breach, that he is a Junior Driver, and that he has no previous breaches of this Rule.
However it had to be said that it was not a 'good look' for Mr Anderson to have his foot out of the sulky for so long while using the whip on his horse, and that he could not expect any leniency should he transgress against this Rule again.
The JCA Penalty guide calls for either a 6 drive suspension or a fine of $300 for a breach of this Rule. Given the mitigating factors stated above we believe a fine of $150 would be appropriate today.
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: d410d2c40e68bc934e13d666f81be299
informantnumber: A3972
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Improper whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/03/2014
hearing_title: HR Waikato 20 March 2014 - R 11
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 11, LAMP SPECIALISTS JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE , an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward, Mr JM Muirhead against Junior Driver, Mr M Anderson alleging that Mr Anderson had dropped his foot out of the sulky rest, and used his whip improperly on HUNUA HONEY.
Mr Anderson was present at the hearing, assisted by Senior Horseman Mr J Stormont, and advised the Committee that he admitted the breach.
Rule 867 states " Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose."
Rule 869(2)(a) states " No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary,excessive,or improper manner"
Using the available films Mr Muirhead identified the horse HUNUA HONEY driven by Mr Anderson, as it entered the home straight for the final time. He pointed out that Mr Anderson had dropped his right foot out of the sulky rest as the field straightened up, and had struck the horse 7 times with his whip while his leg was clearly hanging down out of the footrest. Mr Muirhead added that often the Stipendiary Stewards showed some leniency to drivers when they accidentally drop their foot out of the rest and immediately replaced it but that was not the case in this matter.
Mr Stormont, for Mr Anderson, told the Committee that the sulky being used on HUNUA HONEY was an 'American cart', and the foot rests on these sulkies where not as big as on other sulkies. The effect of this, Mr Stormont said, was that it was easy for a driver to accidentally drop his foor out of the sulky rest.
The Committee pointed out to Mr Stormont that it was clear from the films that Mr Anderson had made no attempt to replace his foot in the sulky rest, and in fact had struck the horse 7 times without rectifying the situation.
Mr Stormont agreed that the 'damage' had been done and that Mr Anderson had admitted the breach. He added that in retrospect Mr Anderson should have checked the sulky properly before taking the horse out onto the track as it had been used by another driver prior to him using it.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The Charge is admitted and accordingly is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead told the Committee that the JCA Penalty Guidelines for a charge of improper use of the whip called for a suspension of 6 drives or a fine of $300. He stated that Mr Anderson was a Junior Driver who had admitted the breach, and that he did not have any prior breaches of this rule. However, he added that Mr Anderson did have his foot out of the sulky for some time, and submitted that a fine in the range of $100 to $300 would be appropriate.
Mr Stormont told the Committee that Mr Anderson, as a Junior Driver, would learn a lot from this experience. He added that he had driven about 38 times in races, and suggested a fine of $150 would be suitable for this breach. He also said that Mr Anderson had recently transferred from the South Island and was gaining work experience with a leading trainer in the Northern region and that he was hoping to make race-driving his livelihood.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee takes into account the mitigating factors in Mr Anderson favour, i.e. that he admitted the breach, that he is a Junior Driver, and that he has no previous breaches of this Rule.
However it had to be said that it was not a 'good look' for Mr Anderson to have his foot out of the sulky for so long while using the whip on his horse, and that he could not expect any leniency should he transgress against this Rule again.
The JCA Penalty guide calls for either a 6 drive suspension or a fine of $300 for a breach of this Rule. Given the mitigating factors stated above we believe a fine of $150 would be appropriate today.
penalty:
Accordingly the Committee imposes a fine of $150 on Mr Anderson.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 867, and 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Anderson-Junior Driver
Otherperson: Mr J Stormont-Senior horseman assisting Mr Anderson
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3bfb6537f316c8fdbb269a6878742958
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R11
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: a20f11311d0c731ba3befe9ab0ef08e5
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/03/2014
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 20 March 2014
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