Wellington RC 19 January 2019 – R 3 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA17339
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2019/01/19
Race Number:
R 3
Decision:
As Mr McNab admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McNab is fined the sum of $1000.
Facts:
Following Race 3 (Lincoln Farms Premier), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that jockey M McNab used his whip excessively prior to the 100m on his mount REDCAYENNE, striking his horse 17 times without the necessary respite.
Rule 638(3)(b) 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” provide:
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.
At the outset of the hearing Mr McNab confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham played the videos and showed where, between approximately the 350m and 100m stage of the race, Mr McNab used his whip a total of 17 times without the required respite.
Mr McNab agreed that the number of strikes, as described by the Stewards, was accurate.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr McNab’s record under this rule which showed this was his second breach within 12 months. On March 10, 2018, Mr McNab was fined the sum of $800 when he struck his horse 10 times and ran second in the Group 1 Auckland Cup.
In respect of today’s breach, Mr Oatham said the Stewards considered it high end and further, Mr McNab went on to win the race by a narrow head margin.
Mr Oatham submitted that a monetary penalty would suffice however there should be a reasonably large uplift from the starting point of $500 due to the aggravating factors outlined.
Mr McNab said he didn’t have a lot to say except for the fact that he hit his horse in the manner of “a couple on, a couple off”, rather than continuously.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committee’s provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty, The Committee adopted a starting point of $500 as outlined for a second breach of the rule.
Mr Oatham identified several aggravating factors which the Committee accepts. The films were quite clear in showing that Mr McNab struck his mount a total of 17 times before the 100m of the race. While the Committee accepts that not all of these were continuous, at no stage did Mr McNab put the whip away for the required five strides. 17 strikes are well above the recognised guidelines and a number that places the breach at the higher level. Other factors we took into account were the fact that Mr McNab won the race and only by a small margin.
It was our opinion that due to the aggravating factors outlined a significant uplift from the starting point was appropriate 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: fb0fc56e939141e6b9534cde4fa6699d
informantnumber: A12120
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2019
hearing_title: Wellington RC 19 January 2019 - R 3 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 3 (Lincoln Farms Premier), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that jockey M McNab used his whip excessively prior to the 100m on his mount REDCAYENNE, striking his horse 17 times without the necessary respite.
Rule 638(3)(b) 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” provide:
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.
At the outset of the hearing Mr McNab confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham played the videos and showed where, between approximately the 350m and 100m stage of the race, Mr McNab used his whip a total of 17 times without the required respite.
Mr McNab agreed that the number of strikes, as described by the Stewards, was accurate.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr McNab admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr McNab’s record under this rule which showed this was his second breach within 12 months. On March 10, 2018, Mr McNab was fined the sum of $800 when he struck his horse 10 times and ran second in the Group 1 Auckland Cup.
In respect of today’s breach, Mr Oatham said the Stewards considered it high end and further, Mr McNab went on to win the race by a narrow head margin.
Mr Oatham submitted that a monetary penalty would suffice however there should be a reasonably large uplift from the starting point of $500 due to the aggravating factors outlined.
Mr McNab said he didn’t have a lot to say except for the fact that he hit his horse in the manner of “a couple on, a couple off”, rather than continuously.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committee’s provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty, The Committee adopted a starting point of $500 as outlined for a second breach of the rule.
Mr Oatham identified several aggravating factors which the Committee accepts. The films were quite clear in showing that Mr McNab struck his mount a total of 17 times before the 100m of the race. While the Committee accepts that not all of these were continuous, at no stage did Mr McNab put the whip away for the required five strides. 17 strikes are well above the recognised guidelines and a number that places the breach at the higher level. Other factors we took into account were the fact that Mr McNab won the race and only by a small margin.
It was our opinion that due to the aggravating factors outlined a significant uplift from the starting point was appropriate on this occasion.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McNab is fined the sum of $1000.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M McNab - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 40ce7a3f4e25a4ad99fc6d64626b1bbd
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: bdcaf483a4b85413aa8ba83606ededa9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/01/2019
meet_title: Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC