Marlborough HRC 20 January 2019 – R 1 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA17201
Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 20 January 2019
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2019/01/20
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Ms Thornley has admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
Penalty:
Ms Thornley is fined $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the “Assure Sundowner Motel Trot”, Information A11354 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Junior Driver Ms O Thornley alleging “O Thornley (Call Me Trouble) used her whip on more occasions than permitted by clause (b) of the Use of Whip Regulations”.
Ms Thornley signed the Information indicating she admitted the breach and also that she did not wish to be present at the hearing of the Information. When asked why the RIU had not insisted Ms Thornley be present Mr Renault advised that in the pre-hearing, when Ms Thornley was shown the film of the final 400m of the Race, Open Horse Mr Orange had been present and provided assistance for her at that time.
Rule 869 states:
"(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The “Use of the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky."
Using the available films from the 400m point Mr Renault highlighted Ms Thornley driving “Call Me Trouble” and racing widest on the track at the rear of the field. He said from that point Ms Thornley used her whip 13 times in a striking motion. Mr Renault added that whilst there were some pauses between the strikes the total of 13 meant Ms Thornley was therefore in breach of the Use of the Whip Regulations.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Ms Thornley was in her second season of driving and this was her first breach of this Rule. He said the starting point for a first breach was a fine of $200 and it was the RIU’s submission that a fine of that amount was an appropriate penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 400m of the Race. Ms Thornley has used her whip in a striking motion 13 times albeit with some pauses. That number of strikes means we classify the severity of the breach in the low-range. The Committee notes this is Ms Thornley’s first breach in contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations.
The starting point penalty for today’s low-range breach is a fine of $200 which the Committee considers to be mitigation inclusive. Taking into account all of the above we consider that level of fine is an appropriate penalty on this occasion.
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: e8f6dad7fddcbb1a9ac4ef78dc45cb50
informantnumber: A11354
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2019
hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 20 January 2019 - R 1 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the “Assure Sundowner Motel Trot”, Information A11354 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Junior Driver Ms O Thornley alleging “O Thornley (Call Me Trouble) used her whip on more occasions than permitted by clause (b) of the Use of Whip Regulations”.
Ms Thornley signed the Information indicating she admitted the breach and also that she did not wish to be present at the hearing of the Information. When asked why the RIU had not insisted Ms Thornley be present Mr Renault advised that in the pre-hearing, when Ms Thornley was shown the film of the final 400m of the Race, Open Horse Mr Orange had been present and provided assistance for her at that time.
Rule 869 states:
"(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The “Use of the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky."
Using the available films from the 400m point Mr Renault highlighted Ms Thornley driving “Call Me Trouble” and racing widest on the track at the rear of the field. He said from that point Ms Thornley used her whip 13 times in a striking motion. Mr Renault added that whilst there were some pauses between the strikes the total of 13 meant Ms Thornley was therefore in breach of the Use of the Whip Regulations.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Thornley has admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Ms Thornley was in her second season of driving and this was her first breach of this Rule. He said the starting point for a first breach was a fine of $200 and it was the RIU’s submission that a fine of that amount was an appropriate penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 400m of the Race. Ms Thornley has used her whip in a striking motion 13 times albeit with some pauses. That number of strikes means we classify the severity of the breach in the low-range. The Committee notes this is Ms Thornley’s first breach in contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations.
The starting point penalty for today’s low-range breach is a fine of $200 which the Committee considers to be mitigation inclusive. Taking into account all of the above we consider that level of fine is an appropriate penalty on this occasion.
penalty:
Ms Thornley is fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms O Thornley - Junior Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3e2713a60ba0c54763edf3d8699a3474
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0d648cb8141aa25f37e13f2898e28f51
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/01/2019
meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 20 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: marlborough-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Marlborough HRC