Oamaru HRC 7 May 2016 – R 10 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA17092
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 7 May 2016
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2016/05/07
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Penalty:
Mr Geddes is suspended from the close of racing Sunday 8 May 2015 to the close of racing on Saturday 14 May 2016 – the two days being Forbury Park on 13 May 2016 and Addington on 14 May 2016.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the “Southern Wines Mobile Pace” Information A1682 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr J Geddes. The Information stated “J Geddes (Buzkil) used his whip excessively in the home straight”.
Mr Geddes signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was the case and also that he understood the Rule he had been charged under.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault used the side-on film to identify Mr Geddes driving “Buzkil” racing 3 wide just behind the leaders as the horses came round the top bend into the home straight for the run home. Mr Renault said Mr Geddes turned his whip commenced hitting his horse with the reins in a continuous and very rapid manner until the final 50m or so of the race when the head on film then showed him then hitting his horse with his whip. He said the Stewards believed Mr Geddes had struck his horse approximately 40 times. Mr Renault said the Stewards felt the strikes with the reins were not that forceful but the continuous hitting of the horse and total number of strikes placed the severity of the breach at the high end.
Mr Geddes said “Buzkil” was a horse that didn’t respond when hit with a whip but needed to be urged along at all times to ensure it gave of its best. He asked the Committee to note the majority strikes were not with the whip but with the reins until the final 50m of the race. He said his continuous striking action down the home straight was the reason he admitted the breach of the Rule and conceded it would not have been a good look to those watching the final stages of the race. He also asked the Committee to note that his strikes were not that forceful.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Geddes had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months, had had 35 drives this season and also 35 last season. He said the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension but submitted that Mr Geddes should be given credit for his good record and admittance of the breach recognizing also, however, that the number of strikes was at the high end. He said Mr Geddes had recently been having 3 drives per meeting and he submitted a penalty of either a 2 day suspension or a $300 fine was appropriate.
Mr Geddes said he had only started this season’s driving around the Christmas/New Year period which was why he had had only 35 drives since then. He said he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on and head-on films of the final 250m of the race and independently notes Mr Geddes used his whip approximately 37 times over that distance. Whilst some of the majority of the strikes were by using the reins and not forceful, the final 6 or 7 strikes at the end of the race were with the whip and the totality of his actions are a clear breach of the Rule. The Committee believes that the number of strikes in particular places the offending at the upper end of the scale. The Committee notes Mr Geddes has a clear record in relation to this Rule and has admitted today’s breach.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. We have reviewed the range of penalties for similar breaches of this Rule in the past 12 months to ensure as best we can consistency with those decisions. The Committee has also considered whether to impose a fine or a suspension and on this occasion we believe a suspension is an appropriate penalty and should be the equivalent of a $300 fine which in Mr Geddes’ case means a 2 day suspension.
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: cb3ebbb806e897fa1ea206c20b612e40
informantnumber: A1682
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/05/2016
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 7 May 2016 - R 10 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the “Southern Wines Mobile Pace” Information A1682 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr J Geddes. The Information stated “J Geddes (Buzkil) used his whip excessively in the home straight”.
Mr Geddes signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was the case and also that he understood the Rule he had been charged under.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault used the side-on film to identify Mr Geddes driving “Buzkil” racing 3 wide just behind the leaders as the horses came round the top bend into the home straight for the run home. Mr Renault said Mr Geddes turned his whip commenced hitting his horse with the reins in a continuous and very rapid manner until the final 50m or so of the race when the head on film then showed him then hitting his horse with his whip. He said the Stewards believed Mr Geddes had struck his horse approximately 40 times. Mr Renault said the Stewards felt the strikes with the reins were not that forceful but the continuous hitting of the horse and total number of strikes placed the severity of the breach at the high end.
Mr Geddes said “Buzkil” was a horse that didn’t respond when hit with a whip but needed to be urged along at all times to ensure it gave of its best. He asked the Committee to note the majority strikes were not with the whip but with the reins until the final 50m of the race. He said his continuous striking action down the home straight was the reason he admitted the breach of the Rule and conceded it would not have been a good look to those watching the final stages of the race. He also asked the Committee to note that his strikes were not that forceful.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Geddes had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months, had had 35 drives this season and also 35 last season. He said the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension but submitted that Mr Geddes should be given credit for his good record and admittance of the breach recognizing also, however, that the number of strikes was at the high end. He said Mr Geddes had recently been having 3 drives per meeting and he submitted a penalty of either a 2 day suspension or a $300 fine was appropriate.
Mr Geddes said he had only started this season’s driving around the Christmas/New Year period which was why he had had only 35 drives since then. He said he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on and head-on films of the final 250m of the race and independently notes Mr Geddes used his whip approximately 37 times over that distance. Whilst some of the majority of the strikes were by using the reins and not forceful, the final 6 or 7 strikes at the end of the race were with the whip and the totality of his actions are a clear breach of the Rule. The Committee believes that the number of strikes in particular places the offending at the upper end of the scale. The Committee notes Mr Geddes has a clear record in relation to this Rule and has admitted today’s breach.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension. We have reviewed the range of penalties for similar breaches of this Rule in the past 12 months to ensure as best we can consistency with those decisions. The Committee has also considered whether to impose a fine or a suspension and on this occasion we believe a suspension is an appropriate penalty and should be the equivalent of a $300 fine which in Mr Geddes’ case means a 2 day suspension.
penalty:
Mr Geddes is suspended from the close of racing Sunday 8 May 2015 to the close of racing on Saturday 14 May 2016 – the two days being Forbury Park on 13 May 2016 and Addington on 14 May 2016.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Geddes - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d9e57a3b1d1050a7cff2819959723422
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 9682586abed8d29ba4fcaeb0331f1d20
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/05/2016
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 7 May 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC