Archive Decision

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Manawatu RC 16 June 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA16798

Applicant:
Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr S Fannin - Rider of GAME PERCY

Other Person:
Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8837

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Manawatu RC - 16 June 2018

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere

Race Date:
2018/06/16

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

As Mr Fannin admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly Mr Fannin is suspended from the close of racing today, June 16th, up to and including racing on Friday June 29th. This suspension only includes those race days that provide jumping or high-weight races.

Facts:

Following Race 5, the L J Hooker Manawatu Steeplechase, Mr Goodwin lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging that Mr Fannin used his whip excessively when riding GAME PERCY by using the whip with the arm above shoulder height.

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

Mr Fannin acknowledged he understood the rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Mr Goodwin played the video several times highlighting the manner in which Mr Fannin used the whip from the 100 metres to the finish. He explained that Mr Fannin raised his arm above shoulder height when striking his horse approximately 8 times. This is deemed unacceptable as per a directive issued by NZTR dated 1st August 2017

Notwithstanding the above, it will also be deemed to be unacceptable where a rider uses the drawn whip:
• when a horse is out of contention
• when a horse is showing no response
• when a horse has no reasonable prospect of improving or losing its position
• after its chance of winning or being placed is clearly gone
• when a horse is clearly winning
• after passing the winning post
• using the whip with the arm above shoulder height.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Fannin had a prior breach of the same rule in April this year where he was fined $300. He said today’s race was a Feature Jumping Race and asked the Committee to take this into account when setting penalty.

Mr Fannin said he was getting tired towards the end of the race and, in his opinion, he hadn’t used the whip too many times. He said the fact he didn’t have it in a forward position showed he wasn’t using too much force. Mr Fannin said he hadn’t previously been charged with this particular aspect of the rule however he did concede that Mr Goodwin had spoken to him last year about his whip style.

Reasons for Penalty:

Mr Fannin has been charged with excessive use of the whip. The Committee understands that the charge relates to the style he has used rather than the number of strikes. The films, in particular the head-on video, show Mr Fannin raising his whip in a flamboyant manner with his arm above shoulder height. This style draws attention to his whip use and is unacceptable. We note that Mr Fannin has been made aware of this fact by the Stewards on a previous occasion.

Aggravating factors are the stake and status of the race with this being classified as a Feature Jumping Race on the racing calendar worth $50,000.

Taking into account all of the submissions it is our opinion that a 2 day suspension is an appropriate penalty.

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: a1d9607eb6fe3417e2b9bdfa0b50344b


informantnumber: A8837


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 17/06/2018


hearing_title: Manawatu RC 16 June 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following Race 5, the L J Hooker Manawatu Steeplechase, Mr Goodwin lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging that Mr Fannin used his whip excessively when riding GAME PERCY by using the whip with the arm above shoulder height.

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

Mr Fannin acknowledged he understood the rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Mr Goodwin played the video several times highlighting the manner in which Mr Fannin used the whip from the 100 metres to the finish. He explained that Mr Fannin raised his arm above shoulder height when striking his horse approximately 8 times. This is deemed unacceptable as per a directive issued by NZTR dated 1st August 2017

Notwithstanding the above, it will also be deemed to be unacceptable where a rider uses the drawn whip:
• when a horse is out of contention
• when a horse is showing no response
• when a horse has no reasonable prospect of improving or losing its position
• after its chance of winning or being placed is clearly gone
• when a horse is clearly winning
• after passing the winning post
• using the whip with the arm above shoulder height.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Fannin admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Fannin had a prior breach of the same rule in April this year where he was fined $300. He said today’s race was a Feature Jumping Race and asked the Committee to take this into account when setting penalty.

Mr Fannin said he was getting tired towards the end of the race and, in his opinion, he hadn’t used the whip too many times. He said the fact he didn’t have it in a forward position showed he wasn’t using too much force. Mr Fannin said he hadn’t previously been charged with this particular aspect of the rule however he did concede that Mr Goodwin had spoken to him last year about his whip style.


reasonsforpenalty:

Mr Fannin has been charged with excessive use of the whip. The Committee understands that the charge relates to the style he has used rather than the number of strikes. The films, in particular the head-on video, show Mr Fannin raising his whip in a flamboyant manner with his arm above shoulder height. This style draws attention to his whip use and is unacceptable. We note that Mr Fannin has been made aware of this fact by the Stewards on a previous occasion.

Aggravating factors are the stake and status of the race with this being classified as a Feature Jumping Race on the racing calendar worth $50,000.

Taking into account all of the submissions it is our opinion that a 2 day suspension is an appropriate penalty.


penalty:

Accordingly Mr Fannin is suspended from the close of racing today, June 16th, up to and including racing on Friday June 29th. This suspension only includes those race days that provide jumping or high-weight races.


hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Fannin - Rider of GAME PERCY


Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 5d7df34502ef1c16ea6f3560ff348016


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race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 5


submittochair:


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meetdate: 16/06/2018


meet_title: Manawatu RC - 16 June 2018


meet_expappcomment:


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tracklocation: manawatu-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: TUtikere


meet_pm2: none


name: Manawatu RC