Auckland TC 24 March 2017 – R 9 – Chair, Mr B Scott
ID: JCA16896
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 24 March 2017
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2017/03/24
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
Penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $350.00 on Mr Hollis.
Facts:
Following the running of the BLUES CLUBHOUSE AT THE ALEX BAR & EATERY MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr L Hollis alleging that Mr Hollis used his whip excessively when driving RUNCLE over the final stages of the race.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides: that during a race no horseman shall use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The most recent Whip Guidelines issued by HRNZ which came into force on the 1st of December 2016 provide that more than 10 strikes with the Whip in the final 400 metres of a race is excessive.
Mr Hollis was present at the Hearing and he advised the Committee that he understood the Rule and the Guidelines and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident using the race films and showed where Mr Hollis used his whip freehand five times and then he paused and then used it again in the same manner 6 times making a total of 11 strikes and it was therefore excessive. He said that those strikes were in the final 200 metres of the race.
Mr Hollis did not dispute the number of strikes and said he was unlucky that it was 11 in total.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines starting point penalty of a $500.00 fine. He said he expected the range of fines to be between $300.00 to $500.00. He said that the Committee should take into account Mr Hollis' admission of the breach and his good record under this Rule.
He also said that the incident was at the lower end of the scale. He did say that in terms of force behind the strikes with the whip that Mr Hollis hit solidly but that he (Mr Muirhead) had seen worse.
The Committee asked Mr Muirhead to play the race films again because we were concerned at the force with which Mr Hollis used his whip particularly the last 6 strikes. The Committee pointed out to Mr Muirhead that there were some serious strikes near the finish of the race and Mr Muirhead acknowledged that Mr Hollis had hit his horse with some force.
Mr Hollis did not make any submissions as to penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
We have viewed closely the race films and have listened to the parties. Mr Muirhead tells us that the incident is at the lower end of the scale of seriousness and while that may be true in terms of the number of strikes with the whip it is not correct in terms of the force with which the whip was used. This is, in our view, particularly so in respect to the final 6 strikes. That is an aggravating factor.
We give Mr Hollis credit for his admission of the breach and his good record.
Taking all matters into account we believe that a fine of $350.00 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: af52ee1a40034cbcb8225c1d641ac7fc
informantnumber: A9102
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 28/03/2017
hearing_title: Auckland TC 24 March 2017 - R 9 - Chair, Mr B Scott
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the BLUES CLUBHOUSE AT THE ALEX BAR & EATERY MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr L Hollis alleging that Mr Hollis used his whip excessively when driving RUNCLE over the final stages of the race.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides: that during a race no horseman shall use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The most recent Whip Guidelines issued by HRNZ which came into force on the 1st of December 2016 provide that more than 10 strikes with the Whip in the final 400 metres of a race is excessive.
Mr Hollis was present at the Hearing and he advised the Committee that he understood the Rule and the Guidelines and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident using the race films and showed where Mr Hollis used his whip freehand five times and then he paused and then used it again in the same manner 6 times making a total of 11 strikes and it was therefore excessive. He said that those strikes were in the final 200 metres of the race.
Mr Hollis did not dispute the number of strikes and said he was unlucky that it was 11 in total.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines starting point penalty of a $500.00 fine. He said he expected the range of fines to be between $300.00 to $500.00. He said that the Committee should take into account Mr Hollis' admission of the breach and his good record under this Rule.
He also said that the incident was at the lower end of the scale. He did say that in terms of force behind the strikes with the whip that Mr Hollis hit solidly but that he (Mr Muirhead) had seen worse.
The Committee asked Mr Muirhead to play the race films again because we were concerned at the force with which Mr Hollis used his whip particularly the last 6 strikes. The Committee pointed out to Mr Muirhead that there were some serious strikes near the finish of the race and Mr Muirhead acknowledged that Mr Hollis had hit his horse with some force.
Mr Hollis did not make any submissions as to penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
We have viewed closely the race films and have listened to the parties. Mr Muirhead tells us that the incident is at the lower end of the scale of seriousness and while that may be true in terms of the number of strikes with the whip it is not correct in terms of the force with which the whip was used. This is, in our view, particularly so in respect to the final 6 strikes. That is an aggravating factor.
We give Mr Hollis credit for his admission of the breach and his good record.
Taking all matters into account we believe that a fine of $350.00 is appropriate.
penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $350.00 on Mr Hollis.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr L Hollis - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7107140ab6e294a52eb86c7b6668cc53
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7dad9c2c3ce4f20882616a49b349e48d
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 24/03/2017
meet_title: Auckland TC - 24 March 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC