Wellington RC 20 January 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
ID: JCA17193
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 20 January 2018
Meet Chair:
NMcCutcheon
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMoffatt
Race Date:
2018/01/20
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As the charge of excessive use of the whip preferred against Ms Spratt was admitted, it was deemed to be proved by the Committee.
Penalty:
Ms Spratt’s Jockey’s Licence was suspended from the close of racing on 27 January up to the cessation of racing on 11 February 2018 and in addition a fine of $1000 was imposed.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5 (Harcourts Thorndon Mile Group 1), Information No. A8811 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Informant that Ms Spratt had used her whip excessively on her mount STOLEN DANCE prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
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
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.
Ms Spratt acknowledged that she understood the Rule, Whip Guidelines and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin showed all relevant film replays, identified Ms Spratt and her mount STOLEN DANCE, and said that Ms Spratt had hit her horse 10 times in succession without respite prior to the 100m.
Ms Spratt for her part said that it is a long straight and that she did not wait long enough. She agreed with the Stipendiary Steward’s interpretation of her ride.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said that Ms Spratt had previously breached the Rule on 27 October 2017 with a fine of $300 imposed and on 23 December 2017 when a fine of $500 was imposed. He placed the offending to be in the mid-range.
Mr Oatham said that the aggravating factors were that it was a Group 1 Race and that the horse had won the race. He outlined penalties that had been imposed in recent times following breaches of the Whip Rule in Group and similar type races. Mr Oatham expressed concern with the number of whip breaches in major races and asked that the penalty imposed be such that it deters riders from using the whip excessively in all class of race. He made the observation that riders tend to breach the Rule more often in the Group Races. He submitted that a 10-day suspension be imposed plus a fine.
Ms Spratt said that the penalty submitted was a bit steep as she had only been a couple of times over. She said that she will get more for this than she would for causing interference. She added that she had riding engagements on 27 January at Ellerslie.
Reasons for Penalty:
On reviewing the films the Committee observed that Ms Spratt did hit her horse 10 times prior to the 100m with only minor respite being given. The Committee placed the whip use in the mid-range category.
The aggravating factors are:
• It was a Group 1 Race with total prize money of $200,000
• Ms Spratt’s mount STOLEN DANCE went on to win the race with all other riders riding within the whip guidelines
• It was Ms Spratt’s third breach of the Rule in a relatively short period of time
The Committee noted that Ms Spratt admitted the breach albeit that was unsurprising as the film evidence was compelling.
Being mindful of the JCA Penalty Guide and taking all matters alluded to into consideration regarding penalty, it was determined by the Committee that a 10 riding-day suspension and a fine was 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: e81e17722ba047b8d74a10a123b12096
informantnumber: A8811
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 22/01/2018
hearing_title: Wellington RC 20 January 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5 (Harcourts Thorndon Mile Group 1), Information No. A8811 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Informant that Ms Spratt had used her whip excessively on her mount STOLEN DANCE prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
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
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.
Ms Spratt acknowledged that she understood the Rule, Whip Guidelines and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin showed all relevant film replays, identified Ms Spratt and her mount STOLEN DANCE, and said that Ms Spratt had hit her horse 10 times in succession without respite prior to the 100m.
Ms Spratt for her part said that it is a long straight and that she did not wait long enough. She agreed with the Stipendiary Steward’s interpretation of her ride.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the charge of excessive use of the whip preferred against Ms Spratt was admitted, it was deemed to be proved by the Committee.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said that Ms Spratt had previously breached the Rule on 27 October 2017 with a fine of $300 imposed and on 23 December 2017 when a fine of $500 was imposed. He placed the offending to be in the mid-range.
Mr Oatham said that the aggravating factors were that it was a Group 1 Race and that the horse had won the race. He outlined penalties that had been imposed in recent times following breaches of the Whip Rule in Group and similar type races. Mr Oatham expressed concern with the number of whip breaches in major races and asked that the penalty imposed be such that it deters riders from using the whip excessively in all class of race. He made the observation that riders tend to breach the Rule more often in the Group Races. He submitted that a 10-day suspension be imposed plus a fine.
Ms Spratt said that the penalty submitted was a bit steep as she had only been a couple of times over. She said that she will get more for this than she would for causing interference. She added that she had riding engagements on 27 January at Ellerslie.
reasonsforpenalty:
On reviewing the films the Committee observed that Ms Spratt did hit her horse 10 times prior to the 100m with only minor respite being given. The Committee placed the whip use in the mid-range category.
The aggravating factors are:
• It was a Group 1 Race with total prize money of $200,000
• Ms Spratt’s mount STOLEN DANCE went on to win the race with all other riders riding within the whip guidelines
• It was Ms Spratt’s third breach of the Rule in a relatively short period of time
The Committee noted that Ms Spratt admitted the breach albeit that was unsurprising as the film evidence was compelling.
Being mindful of the JCA Penalty Guide and taking all matters alluded to into consideration regarding penalty, it was determined by the Committee that a 10 riding-day suspension and a fine was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Ms Spratt’s Jockey’s Licence was suspended from the close of racing on 27 January up to the cessation of racing on 11 February 2018 and in addition a fine of $1000 was imposed.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Spratt - Rider of STOLEN DANCE
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a1a90cb8a04edb8a26623bbe026fac96
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 5b8c36ffa4a0a12872db6faa63252efe
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/01/2018
meet_title: Wellington RC - 20 January 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm1: NMoffatt
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC