Archive Decision

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Counties RC 21 November 2020 – R 7 – Chair, Mr BJ Scott

ID: JCA16681

Applicant:
J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr O P Bosson - Class A Rider

Information Number:
A13824

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of the Whip

Rules:
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Counties RC - 21 November 2020

Meet Chair:
BScott

Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith

Race Date:
2020/11/21

Race Number:
R7

Decision:

The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is proved.

Penalty:

This Committee imposes a fine of $1000.00 on Mr Bosson.

Facts:

Following the running of the FRANKLIN AUCTIONS COUNTIES CUP an Information was lodged by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham against Class A Rider Mr O Bosson alleging that Mr Bosson used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres mark.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive.

The NZTR Whip Guidelines in force from the 7th of October 2020 provide that there is a limitation of 5 strikes of the whip prior to the 100 metres mark.

Mr Bosson was present at the Hearing and he acknowledged that he understood the Guidelines and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed where Mr Bosson had used his whip 8 times prior to the 100 metres mark.

Mr Bosson said that he agreed with the number of strikes.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham said that Mr Bosson had had 2 breaches of this Rule in the last 12 months one of those being at the Tauranga RC meeting on the 14th of October 2020 where he incurred a 5 day suspension and the other was on the Counties Cup day on the 23rd of November 2019 when he received  a $500.00 fine.

Mr Oatham said that although this was the 3rd breach in a 12 month period he asked the Committee to exercise discretion and impose a fine rather than the mandatory suspension. He said that the first breach was only 2 days inside the 12 month period. He also said that a Committee in Christchurch had recently exercised discretion for Mr C Johnson and imposed a fine rather than a suspension.

He said that the fine under the Guidelines was $500.00 but because this was a Group 3 Race there should be an uplift in the fine as was the case for Mr Johnson.

Mr Bosson said he would prefer a fine.

Reasons for Penalty:

The number of strikes is agreed. The Committee has pointed out to Mr Bosson the importance of Animal Welfare and also the fact that members of the Public watching races at home do not like seeing horses being struck excessively with the whip and they complain to NZTR.

Notwithstanding that this was Mr Bosson's third breach in 12 months the Committee has decided to exercise discretion and deal with this matter by way of fine rather than a suspension. Mr Bosson is a very busy Rider and he should be given credit for the long gap between the 23rd of November 2019 and the 14th of October 2020.

Bearing in mind that this is a Group 3 Race any fine needs to be significant and the Committee thinks that a fine of $1000.00 is appropriate.

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: d4641ad39525079fdc7ba111aa18ce70


informantnumber: A13824


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of the Whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 22/11/2020


hearing_title: Counties RC 21 November 2020 - R 7 - Chair, Mr BJ Scott


charge:


facts:

Following the running of the FRANKLIN AUCTIONS COUNTIES CUP an Information was lodged by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham against Class A Rider Mr O Bosson alleging that Mr Bosson used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres mark.

Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive.

The NZTR Whip Guidelines in force from the 7th of October 2020 provide that there is a limitation of 5 strikes of the whip prior to the 100 metres mark.

Mr Bosson was present at the Hearing and he acknowledged that he understood the Guidelines and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed where Mr Bosson had used his whip 8 times prior to the 100 metres mark.

Mr Bosson said that he agreed with the number of strikes.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham said that Mr Bosson had had 2 breaches of this Rule in the last 12 months one of those being at the Tauranga RC meeting on the 14th of October 2020 where he incurred a 5 day suspension and the other was on the Counties Cup day on the 23rd of November 2019 when he received  a $500.00 fine.

Mr Oatham said that although this was the 3rd breach in a 12 month period he asked the Committee to exercise discretion and impose a fine rather than the mandatory suspension. He said that the first breach was only 2 days inside the 12 month period. He also said that a Committee in Christchurch had recently exercised discretion for Mr C Johnson and imposed a fine rather than a suspension.

He said that the fine under the Guidelines was $500.00 but because this was a Group 3 Race there should be an uplift in the fine as was the case for Mr Johnson.

Mr Bosson said he would prefer a fine.


reasonsforpenalty:

The number of strikes is agreed. The Committee has pointed out to Mr Bosson the importance of Animal Welfare and also the fact that members of the Public watching races at home do not like seeing horses being struck excessively with the whip and they complain to NZTR.

Notwithstanding that this was Mr Bosson's third breach in 12 months the Committee has decided to exercise discretion and deal with this matter by way of fine rather than a suspension. Mr Bosson is a very busy Rider and he should be given credit for the long gap between the 23rd of November 2019 and the 14th of October 2020.

Bearing in mind that this is a Group 3 Race any fine needs to be significant and the Committee thinks that a fine of $1000.00 is appropriate.


penalty:

This Committee imposes a fine of $1000.00 on Mr Bosson.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 638(3)(b)(ii)


Informant: J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr O P Bosson - Class A Rider


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: e7b40ce994c1705f63997052eaa919c2


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R7


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 7e133c99e8779f4adc7e9ed37b810f2e


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 21/11/2020


meet_title: Counties RC - 21 November 2020


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: counties-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: BScott


meet_pm1: ASmith


meet_pm2: none


name: Counties RC