HR Waikato 16 February 2017 – R 8 – Chair, Mr B Scott
ID: JCA16971
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 16 February 2017
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2017/02/16
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
Penalty:
The Committee imposes a suspension of Mr Johnson's Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing tonight up to the conclusion of racing on the 5th of March 2017.
That is 3 meetings - being Auckland Trotting Club on the 24th February 2017, the Taranaki Trotting Club on the 2nd of March 2017 and the Stratford Trotting Club on the 5th of March 2017.
Facts:
Following the running of the Lot 69 YOU REALLY GOT ME JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE TROT an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Junior Horseman Mr M Johnson alleging that Mr Johnson had used his whip excessively when driving SEXY REXY over the final stages.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides " No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner "
Mr Johnson was present at the Hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach. Mr Johnson was assisted by Licensed Horseman Mr S Cruickshank.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and showed where Mr Johnson driving SEXY REXY was one out without cover and at the turn he challenged for the lead . He used his whip and Mr Muirhead counted 14 strikes but said one was while Mr Johnson was activating gear so he said the number of strikes to rely on was 13.
Mr Johnson did not dispute Mr Muirhead's evidence. He did say that he activated the deafeners and was concentrating on that. He then said he got a fright when IL PIRATA came up on his inside and in his effort to win the race he hit his horse too many times. His horse eventually ran second.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead said that the incident was at the lower end of the scale. He said that although the JCA Guidelines provide for a suspension of 3 to 5 days a suspension of 3 days would be appropriate.
Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank asked for a fine rather than a suspension. They pointed to a recent decision where a driver received a fine (albeit a large one ) for a second breach and thought that Mr Johnson should be able to receive a fine. Mr Cruickshank said that a 3 day suspension would include meeting at Taranaki and Stratford and Mr Johnson would have a number of drives at each meeting.
The Committee advised Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank that they were aware of the decision that they were referring to. The Committee further advised that that was a one off situation and in all other decisions a suspension has been imposed.
The Committee also took the opportunity to advise Mr Cruickshank that it had warned Mr Johnson at an earlier Hearing at the start of tonight's meeting about the consequences of a second breach of this Rule. The Committee also advised Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank that Mr Johnson had not heeded that warning in such a short space of time.
Reasons for Penalty:
The race films are clear and the charge is admitted. Mr Johnson was warned by this Committee in an earlier Hearing at the start of tonight's meeting that the JCA Guidelines provide that a second breach of this Rule within 6 months would mean an automatic suspension of his Licence for 3 to 5 days. Unfortunately he did not heed that warning.
In imposing a suspension of Mr Johnson's Licence the Committee does not take into account the Auckland Trotting Club's meeting on the 3rd March 2017 because that is a premiere meeting and at this stage Mr Johnson does not have sufficient wins to qualify to drive at that meeting.
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: ba8e689fed8503e4e1073d946b183e9a
informantnumber: A3749
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/02/2017
hearing_title: HR Waikato 16 February 2017 - R 8 - Chair, Mr B Scott
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the Lot 69 YOU REALLY GOT ME JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE TROT an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Junior Horseman Mr M Johnson alleging that Mr Johnson had used his whip excessively when driving SEXY REXY over the final stages.
Rule 869(2)(a) provides " No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner "
Mr Johnson was present at the Hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach. Mr Johnson was assisted by Licensed Horseman Mr S Cruickshank.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and showed where Mr Johnson driving SEXY REXY was one out without cover and at the turn he challenged for the lead . He used his whip and Mr Muirhead counted 14 strikes but said one was while Mr Johnson was activating gear so he said the number of strikes to rely on was 13.
Mr Johnson did not dispute Mr Muirhead's evidence. He did say that he activated the deafeners and was concentrating on that. He then said he got a fright when IL PIRATA came up on his inside and in his effort to win the race he hit his horse too many times. His horse eventually ran second.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead said that the incident was at the lower end of the scale. He said that although the JCA Guidelines provide for a suspension of 3 to 5 days a suspension of 3 days would be appropriate.
Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank asked for a fine rather than a suspension. They pointed to a recent decision where a driver received a fine (albeit a large one ) for a second breach and thought that Mr Johnson should be able to receive a fine. Mr Cruickshank said that a 3 day suspension would include meeting at Taranaki and Stratford and Mr Johnson would have a number of drives at each meeting.
The Committee advised Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank that they were aware of the decision that they were referring to. The Committee further advised that that was a one off situation and in all other decisions a suspension has been imposed.
The Committee also took the opportunity to advise Mr Cruickshank that it had warned Mr Johnson at an earlier Hearing at the start of tonight's meeting about the consequences of a second breach of this Rule. The Committee also advised Mr Johnson and Mr Cruickshank that Mr Johnson had not heeded that warning in such a short space of time.
reasonsforpenalty:
The race films are clear and the charge is admitted. Mr Johnson was warned by this Committee in an earlier Hearing at the start of tonight's meeting that the JCA Guidelines provide that a second breach of this Rule within 6 months would mean an automatic suspension of his Licence for 3 to 5 days. Unfortunately he did not heed that warning.
In imposing a suspension of Mr Johnson's Licence the Committee does not take into account the Auckland Trotting Club's meeting on the 3rd March 2017 because that is a premiere meeting and at this stage Mr Johnson does not have sufficient wins to qualify to drive at that meeting.
penalty:
The Committee imposes a suspension of Mr Johnson's Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing tonight up to the conclusion of racing on the 5th of March 2017.
That is 3 meetings - being Auckland Trotting Club on the 24th February 2017, the Taranaki Trotting Club on the 2nd of March 2017 and the Stratford Trotting Club on the 5th of March 2017.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Johnson - Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Cruickshank - Licensed Horseman assisting Mr Johnson
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 635439be20035659e7119a256a120bef
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: b4e96364f02e5ff1e6978adecc04008c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/02/2017
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 16 February 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato