Archive Decision

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Canterbury JC 26 January 2019 – R 10 – Chair, Mr S Ching

ID: JCA17323

Applicant:
J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
J Laking, Licensed Jockey (Class A)

Other Person:
Mr N McIntyre - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
638 (3) (b) (ii)

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of the whip

Rules:
638 (3) (b) (ii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 26 January 2019

Meet Chair:
SChing

Meet Committee Member 1:
HWeston

Race Date:
2019/01/26

Race Number:
R10

Decision:

Mr Laking having admitted the breach the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Laking is fined the sum of $500.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 10, the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Rating 65, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr J McLaughlin, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Mr J Laking, alleging that Mr Laking, as the rider of O’KIWI in the race, used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Laking was present at the hearing of the information. Mr Laking had endorsed the information that the breach was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with.

Rule 638 provides as follows:

(3) A Rider shall not:

(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:

(ii) excessive

The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:

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.

Mr McLaughlin with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr N McIntyre, showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Laking riding O’KIWI wide and in a challenging position as the field entered the final straight. Mr McLaughlin showed that inside the 400m, Mr Laking drew the whip and struck O’KIWI on 9 to 10 occasions with only 2 brief pauses, not the required respite of 5 strides as per the Whip Guidelines.

Mr Laking did not dispute the evidence presented or the number of strikes.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr McLaughlin told the Committee that Mr Laking’s record showed a breach of this rule at Motukarara on 4 November 2018 where he was fined $500 for a second breach within a 12-month period. Mr McLaughlin stated that the previous breach had now dropped off Mr Laking’s record as it was outside the 12-month limit. He submitted that this charge should be dealt with as a second offence and as per the JCA Penalty Guide, a $500 fine be considered as penalty.

Mr Laking elected to make no submissions on penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine, mitigation inclusive, for a second breach of this Rule. There were no aggravating factors to consider so therefore no uplift in penalty was warranted. We therefore determined that a fine of $500 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: f8904e1e79dddb1bad91f43e0e7d7753


informantnumber: 638 (3) (b) (ii)


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 28/01/2019


hearing_title: Canterbury JC 26 January 2019 - R 10 - Chair, Mr S Ching


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 10, the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Rating 65, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr J McLaughlin, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Mr J Laking, alleging that Mr Laking, as the rider of O’KIWI in the race, used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Laking was present at the hearing of the information. Mr Laking had endorsed the information that the breach was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with.

Rule 638 provides as follows:

(3) A Rider shall not:

(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:

(ii) excessive

The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:

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.

Mr McLaughlin with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr N McIntyre, showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Laking riding O’KIWI wide and in a challenging position as the field entered the final straight. Mr McLaughlin showed that inside the 400m, Mr Laking drew the whip and struck O’KIWI on 9 to 10 occasions with only 2 brief pauses, not the required respite of 5 strides as per the Whip Guidelines.

Mr Laking did not dispute the evidence presented or the number of strikes.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Laking having admitted the breach the charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr McLaughlin told the Committee that Mr Laking’s record showed a breach of this rule at Motukarara on 4 November 2018 where he was fined $500 for a second breach within a 12-month period. Mr McLaughlin stated that the previous breach had now dropped off Mr Laking’s record as it was outside the 12-month limit. He submitted that this charge should be dealt with as a second offence and as per the JCA Penalty Guide, a $500 fine be considered as penalty.

Mr Laking elected to make no submissions on penalty.


reasonsforpenalty:

In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine, mitigation inclusive, for a second breach of this Rule. There were no aggravating factors to consider so therefore no uplift in penalty was warranted. We therefore determined that a fine of $500 was an appropriate penalty.


penalty:

Mr Laking is fined the sum of $500.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638 (3) (b) (ii)


Informant: J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: J Laking, Licensed Jockey (Class A)


Otherperson: Mr N McIntyre - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 4856eebb422ee27ce5f9277bd6b836a3


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: f0c27feee96d7c4d1d2f4dcf75206496


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 26/01/2019


meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 26 January 2019


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: canterbury-racing


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: SChing


meet_pm1: HWeston


meet_pm2: none


name: Canterbury Racing