Whangarei RC 16 June 2018 – R 2 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA17118
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Whangarei RC - 16 June 2018
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2018/06/16
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
As Ms Spratt admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Spratt had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 20 June and conclude after racing on 29 June 2018.
Facts:
Following the running of race 2, Marsden Cove Marine Engineering, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Spratt used the whip unnecessary on the horse ROYAL RULER when out of contention.
Ms Spratt said that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(i) provides: A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is: (i) unnecessary
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provides:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
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
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Spratt and pointed out that she was racing towards the rear of the field at the 100 metres. He said that Mr Innes and Mr Calder were racing in close proximity to her mount and both those jockeys had relaxed their rides when their horses were out of contention. He said he thought that Ms Spratt would do the same and the Stewards were concerned that she used the whip a further 6 to 7 times when ROYAL RULER was well out of contention.
Ms Spratt advised the Committee that she was unaware that there was a Rule regarding unnecessary use of the whip in the final 100 metres of the race. She admitted that her 6 to 7 strikes were unnecessary.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Spratt had 3 previous breaches of the whip Rule in the last 12 months.
27/10/2017- $300 fine
23/12/2017 - $500 fine
20/1/2018 – 10 national riding day suspension and a $1,000 fine – when 1st in a Group 1 race.
Mr Williamson said that with this being Ms Spratt’s 4th whip breach a low end suspension should be imposed. He said that Ms Spratt used her whip 11 times in the final 100 metres and the Stewards were concerned with the last 6 to 7 strikes because her mount was well beaten and showing no response.
Ms Spratt advised the Committee that she had engagements at Counties on 20 June and any proposed suspension could start after that date.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
New whip Guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive, unnecessary and improper whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.
It was clear on the video films that Ms Spratt used her whip unnecessarily on at least 7 occasions in the final 100 metres.
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a 3rd or subsequent breach of the combined whip Rule is 6-8 national riding day suspension.
This was Ms Spratt’s 4th breach of the whip Rule in the last 12 months. The 3 previous breaches were for excessive use of the whip whereas this breach was her first for unnecessary use of the whip. We note that Ms Spratt’s last breach of the whip Rule occurred 5 months ago. We observed that ROYAL RULER was out of contention and showing no response to the whip in the final 100 metres and the horse finished in 13th place. The Committee deemed the breach to be midrange.
The only mitigating fact was Ms Spratt’s admission of the breach. It is important to note the expectation for this Rule is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that a suspension of 7 national riding days was 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: ce57cbc6f6f6402975f3b8628e01e586
informantnumber: A10398
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unnecessary use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 17/06/2018
hearing_title: Whangarei RC 16 June 2018 - R 2 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 2, Marsden Cove Marine Engineering, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Spratt used the whip unnecessary on the horse ROYAL RULER when out of contention.
Ms Spratt said that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(i) provides: A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is: (i) unnecessary
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provides:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
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
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Spratt and pointed out that she was racing towards the rear of the field at the 100 metres. He said that Mr Innes and Mr Calder were racing in close proximity to her mount and both those jockeys had relaxed their rides when their horses were out of contention. He said he thought that Ms Spratt would do the same and the Stewards were concerned that she used the whip a further 6 to 7 times when ROYAL RULER was well out of contention.
Ms Spratt advised the Committee that she was unaware that there was a Rule regarding unnecessary use of the whip in the final 100 metres of the race. She admitted that her 6 to 7 strikes were unnecessary.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Spratt admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Spratt had 3 previous breaches of the whip Rule in the last 12 months.
27/10/2017- $300 fine
23/12/2017 - $500 fine
20/1/2018 – 10 national riding day suspension and a $1,000 fine – when 1st in a Group 1 race.
Mr Williamson said that with this being Ms Spratt’s 4th whip breach a low end suspension should be imposed. He said that Ms Spratt used her whip 11 times in the final 100 metres and the Stewards were concerned with the last 6 to 7 strikes because her mount was well beaten and showing no response.
Ms Spratt advised the Committee that she had engagements at Counties on 20 June and any proposed suspension could start after that date.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
New whip Guidelines were introduced on 1st August 2017 and an updated JCA Penalty Guide pertaining to excessive, unnecessary and improper whip use came into effect on 1st November 2017.
It was clear on the video films that Ms Spratt used her whip unnecessarily on at least 7 occasions in the final 100 metres.
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a 3rd or subsequent breach of the combined whip Rule is 6-8 national riding day suspension.
This was Ms Spratt’s 4th breach of the whip Rule in the last 12 months. The 3 previous breaches were for excessive use of the whip whereas this breach was her first for unnecessary use of the whip. We note that Ms Spratt’s last breach of the whip Rule occurred 5 months ago. We observed that ROYAL RULER was out of contention and showing no response to the whip in the final 100 metres and the horse finished in 13th place. The Committee deemed the breach to be midrange.
The only mitigating fact was Ms Spratt’s admission of the breach. It is important to note the expectation for this Rule is that any mitigating matters unless exceptional are not to be addressed. For that reason, no reduction in penalty was applied.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that a suspension of 7 national riding days was appropriate.
penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Spratt had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 20 June and conclude after racing on 29 June 2018.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(i)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Spratt - Class A Rider
Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 87be8dc86610050fa65f7359c06037f4
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: b8f832b5fd19bb33e7f45eda74ff84b1
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/06/2018
meet_title: Whangarei RC - 16 June 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: whangarei-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: ASmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Whangarei RC