Wellington RC 30 January 2021 – R 9 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA16697
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 30 January 2021
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2021/01/30
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
Mrs Allpress admitted the breach, therefore the charge was deemed proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Mrs Allpress is suspended from the close of racing on Monday February 8th up to and including racing on Friday February 19th 2021 – 6 days.
Facts:
Following Race 9, Mr J Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that L Allpress used her whip excessively when riding SERGEANT BLAST prior to the 100 metres.
At the outset of the hearing, Mrs Allpress confirmed she understood the Rule and admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the videos to identify Mrs Allpress riding in 2nd place. He then counted her striking her mount with the whip 9 -10 times prior to the 100m. He said the strikes were spaced out and not continuous.
Mrs Allpress agreed with Mr Oatham’s description of the breach.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said Mrs Allpress has had no whip charges in the last 12 months and in fact her only charge under this rule was in April 2019. He said she is a very busy rider and has had an enormous number of rides in her career.
Mr Oatham pointed out the distinction in penalties for whip breaches that occur in Group races, with the Guidelines providing a starting point of a 6 day suspension plus a fine where there are 9 or more strikes. SERGEANT BLAST ran 5th in the race and earned $4,750 for the connections. Mr Oatham submitted that the Committee take into account Mrs Allpress’ excellent record.
Mrs Alpress said it was her 9th ride of the day and the horse pulled exceptionally hard. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking as it was unlike her not to count. At the time she believed she was still in contention to run 3rd and conceded that she hit her horse a couple more times than she should have. Mrs Allpress explained that she is a massive advocate of the whip rules and has only been charged once in her career.
Reasons for Penalty:
Whip use in horse racing is under the spotlight in jurisdictions across the world, and the Rules have been revisited to reduce the number of times a rider is permitted to use the whip during a race.
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following:
Where the breach occurs in a Group or Feature race and the number of strikes is 4 or more than the permitted 5 the starting point is a 6 day suspension plus a fine at the committee’s discretion up to the riders’s percentage of the prize money (where applicable).
The Guidelines further state that mitigation of penalty ought to be rare.
The Committee considered all submissions, and adopted the standard starting point of 6 days plus a fine for 9 strikes of the whip. Aggravating factors requiring an uplift might include a rider’s poor record, winning the race, consecutive use of the whip and/or the manner in which the whip was used. There were no such aggravating factors today therefore no uplift was applied.
There is no doubt that Mrs Allpress has an excellent record. While mitigation of penalty in relation to the whip rule is unusual the Committee decided it appropriate to impose a penalty of suspension only (no monetary penalty) to reflect her record.
Today’s breach occurred in the Wellington Cup on a premier day that draws the biggest crowd of the year to Trentham.
The following from the NZTR website confirms the commitment the industry has to the welfare of the racehorse and enforcement of the whip rules:
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing recognises that animal welfare perception concerning whip use is creating on-going debate internationally. The call for a ban on whip use in racing is gaining momentum with many within the industry agreeing it is not a matter of whether this will occur, rather when. Until that time NZTR will continue to ensure that the provisions and guidelines around whip use are enforced.
(https://loveracing.nz/Welfare/thoroughbred-welfare/Using-Whips-In-Racing.aspx)
For all the reasons outlined the Committee did not believe it appropriate to reduce the number of days suspension.
Mrs Allpress advised of riding commitments through until after Tauherinikau on February 8th.
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: d592ec0076c898a9319ab9a47ee12e70
informantnumber: A14124
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/02/2021
hearing_title: Wellington RC 30 January 2021 - R 9 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 9, Mr J Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that L Allpress used her whip excessively when riding SERGEANT BLAST prior to the 100 metres.
At the outset of the hearing, Mrs Allpress confirmed she understood the Rule and admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the videos to identify Mrs Allpress riding in 2nd place. He then counted her striking her mount with the whip 9 -10 times prior to the 100m. He said the strikes were spaced out and not continuous.
Mrs Allpress agreed with Mr Oatham’s description of the breach.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mrs Allpress admitted the breach, therefore the charge was deemed proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said Mrs Allpress has had no whip charges in the last 12 months and in fact her only charge under this rule was in April 2019. He said she is a very busy rider and has had an enormous number of rides in her career.
Mr Oatham pointed out the distinction in penalties for whip breaches that occur in Group races, with the Guidelines providing a starting point of a 6 day suspension plus a fine where there are 9 or more strikes. SERGEANT BLAST ran 5th in the race and earned $4,750 for the connections. Mr Oatham submitted that the Committee take into account Mrs Allpress’ excellent record.
Mrs Alpress said it was her 9th ride of the day and the horse pulled exceptionally hard. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking as it was unlike her not to count. At the time she believed she was still in contention to run 3rd and conceded that she hit her horse a couple more times than she should have. Mrs Allpress explained that she is a massive advocate of the whip rules and has only been charged once in her career.
reasonsforpenalty:
Whip use in horse racing is under the spotlight in jurisdictions across the world, and the Rules have been revisited to reduce the number of times a rider is permitted to use the whip during a race.
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following:
Where the breach occurs in a Group or Feature race and the number of strikes is 4 or more than the permitted 5 the starting point is a 6 day suspension plus a fine at the committee’s discretion up to the riders’s percentage of the prize money (where applicable).
The Guidelines further state that mitigation of penalty ought to be rare.
The Committee considered all submissions, and adopted the standard starting point of 6 days plus a fine for 9 strikes of the whip. Aggravating factors requiring an uplift might include a rider’s poor record, winning the race, consecutive use of the whip and/or the manner in which the whip was used. There were no such aggravating factors today therefore no uplift was applied.
There is no doubt that Mrs Allpress has an excellent record. While mitigation of penalty in relation to the whip rule is unusual the Committee decided it appropriate to impose a penalty of suspension only (no monetary penalty) to reflect her record.
Today’s breach occurred in the Wellington Cup on a premier day that draws the biggest crowd of the year to Trentham.
The following from the NZTR website confirms the commitment the industry has to the welfare of the racehorse and enforcement of the whip rules:
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing recognises that animal welfare perception concerning whip use is creating on-going debate internationally. The call for a ban on whip use in racing is gaining momentum with many within the industry agreeing it is not a matter of whether this will occur, rather when. Until that time NZTR will continue to ensure that the provisions and guidelines around whip use are enforced.
(https://loveracing.nz/Welfare/thoroughbred-welfare/Using-Whips-In-Racing.aspx)
For all the reasons outlined the Committee did not believe it appropriate to reduce the number of days suspension.
Mrs Allpress advised of riding commitments through until after Tauherinikau on February 8th.
penalty:
Accordingly Mrs Allpress is suspended from the close of racing on Monday February 8th up to and including racing on Friday February 19th 2021 – 6 days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mrs L Allpress - Rider of SERGEANT BLAST
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2314fb568a2815905cf3c22a781cda63
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7693f274415f80a2f3895a20b689fb35
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 30/01/2021
meet_title: Wellington RC - 30 January 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC