NZ Metro TC 28 November 2014 – R 2
ID: JCA17364
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 28 November 2014
Meet Chair:
KHales
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2014/11/28
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The information is dismissed.
Facts:
It was alleged by the Stipendiary Stewards that in the concluding stages of the "Glenys & Philip Kennard-Graphite Developments Ltd Mobile Pace", Mr Butt used his whip in an excessive manner.
The Stipendiary Stewards said that from the turn for home Mr Butt struck his horse on 24 occasions which they considered to be excessive. Video coverage of Mr Butt's drive was shown to the hearing. At the turn, Mr Butt hit his horse 4 or 5 times with a back hand motion. There was then a pause in his whip use, and over the concluding stages he drove with some vigour, using his whip, but again, with pauses in his whip use. He finished in 5th position. Mr Ydgren said that the Stipendiary Stewards accepted that there were pauses in the whip use, but that the issue they had was that 24 strikes was just "too much".
By way of explanation, Mr Butt said that as he turned for home that he was leading, with "Caesar's Empire" (B Orange) on his outside. He said that his horse was inclined to be "lazy" and it was "off the bit" at that point. He said that he wanted to keep his horse "on the job" and at the turn hit the horse with a backhand action 4 or 5 times. He asked the hearing to note that even though he admitted that he struck his horse at least 24 times in total, that in the straight there were pauses in his whip action. In summary, he said that it was necessary for him to "get busy" on his horse at the 400 metres.
Submissions for Decision:
By way of summary, Mr Ydgren felt that hitting a horse 24 times from the 400 metres mark to the finish was excessive and notwithstanding Mr Butt's explanation, he still has to drive "within the rules". Had it not been for the 4 or 5 strikes at the turn, then Mr Ydgren agreed that the case may have been "borderline."
Mr Butt had no further submissions to make.
Reasons for Decision:
Mr R Butt has been charged with using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of Race 2.
Mr Ydgren on behalf of the Stipendiary Stewards demonstrated the incident using the video coverage from the 400 metre mark. At that point, Mr Butt was leading the race, with "Caesar's Empire" (B Orange) was in a close second position on his outside. Mr Butt struck his horse 4 or 5 times with a back hand action, because as he said his horse was lazy and he had to "get busy on it". Our assessment of those strikes of the whip is that they were light and probably would not have given concern to the Stipendiary Stewards if that was all that Mr Butt did with his whip. In the straight Mr Butt then continued on driving with some vigour, using his whip, but as has been conceded, with a number of pauses between each volley of strikes.
There are widely published and well known guidelines concerning the use of the whip. Among other things, the guidelines provide that horsemen must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.The rule states the whip shall not be used in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
In this case, Mr Butt is alleged to have used his whip excessively. It has been accepted by Mr Butt that in total, from the 400 metres to the finish, that he may have struck his horse 24 times. That number of strikes, is in the opinion of the Stipendiary Stewards, simply too much.
Be that as it may, this committee is of the view that the number of strikes must be looked at in the overall context of the relevant part of the race. Mr Butt, in his words, "got busy" at the 400 metres. The first 4 or 5 strikes were applied with the back hand, and no great force was used, Mr Ydgren conceded that had it not been for those strikes that the charge may well have not been brought against Mr Butt, as that may have reduced the number of strikes to about 20, which would have put the case in a borderline situation from the Stipendiary Stewards perspective.
We find that there were distinct pauses in the whip strikes. Thus in terms of the overall context of the case, we do not consider that Mr Butt, used his whip "excessively". For the avoidance of doubt, we do not consider that the number of strikes of the whip, in isolation, is the governing factor in determining whether or not a horseman has used his whip excessively.
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: feca17e268928bf7b9a87c6925b1c447
informantnumber: A6178
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 25/11/2014
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 28 November 2014 - R 2
charge:
facts:
It was alleged by the Stipendiary Stewards that in the concluding stages of the "Glenys & Philip Kennard-Graphite Developments Ltd Mobile Pace", Mr Butt used his whip in an excessive manner.
The Stipendiary Stewards said that from the turn for home Mr Butt struck his horse on 24 occasions which they considered to be excessive. Video coverage of Mr Butt's drive was shown to the hearing. At the turn, Mr Butt hit his horse 4 or 5 times with a back hand motion. There was then a pause in his whip use, and over the concluding stages he drove with some vigour, using his whip, but again, with pauses in his whip use. He finished in 5th position. Mr Ydgren said that the Stipendiary Stewards accepted that there were pauses in the whip use, but that the issue they had was that 24 strikes was just "too much".
By way of explanation, Mr Butt said that as he turned for home that he was leading, with "Caesar's Empire" (B Orange) on his outside. He said that his horse was inclined to be "lazy" and it was "off the bit" at that point. He said that he wanted to keep his horse "on the job" and at the turn hit the horse with a backhand action 4 or 5 times. He asked the hearing to note that even though he admitted that he struck his horse at least 24 times in total, that in the straight there were pauses in his whip action. In summary, he said that it was necessary for him to "get busy" on his horse at the 400 metres.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
By way of summary, Mr Ydgren felt that hitting a horse 24 times from the 400 metres mark to the finish was excessive and notwithstanding Mr Butt's explanation, he still has to drive "within the rules". Had it not been for the 4 or 5 strikes at the turn, then Mr Ydgren agreed that the case may have been "borderline."
Mr Butt had no further submissions to make.
reasonsfordecision:
Mr R Butt has been charged with using his whip excessively over the concluding stages of Race 2.
Mr Ydgren on behalf of the Stipendiary Stewards demonstrated the incident using the video coverage from the 400 metre mark. At that point, Mr Butt was leading the race, with "Caesar's Empire" (B Orange) was in a close second position on his outside. Mr Butt struck his horse 4 or 5 times with a back hand action, because as he said his horse was lazy and he had to "get busy on it". Our assessment of those strikes of the whip is that they were light and probably would not have given concern to the Stipendiary Stewards if that was all that Mr Butt did with his whip. In the straight Mr Butt then continued on driving with some vigour, using his whip, but as has been conceded, with a number of pauses between each volley of strikes.
There are widely published and well known guidelines concerning the use of the whip. Among other things, the guidelines provide that horsemen must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.The rule states the whip shall not be used in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
In this case, Mr Butt is alleged to have used his whip excessively. It has been accepted by Mr Butt that in total, from the 400 metres to the finish, that he may have struck his horse 24 times. That number of strikes, is in the opinion of the Stipendiary Stewards, simply too much.
Be that as it may, this committee is of the view that the number of strikes must be looked at in the overall context of the relevant part of the race. Mr Butt, in his words, "got busy" at the 400 metres. The first 4 or 5 strikes were applied with the back hand, and no great force was used, Mr Ydgren conceded that had it not been for those strikes that the charge may well have not been brought against Mr Butt, as that may have reduced the number of strikes to about 20, which would have put the case in a borderline situation from the Stipendiary Stewards perspective.
We find that there were distinct pauses in the whip strikes. Thus in terms of the overall context of the case, we do not consider that Mr Butt, used his whip "excessively". For the avoidance of doubt, we do not consider that the number of strikes of the whip, in isolation, is the governing factor in determining whether or not a horseman has used his whip excessively.
Decision:
The information is dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2) No horseman shall during race use his whip in a manner that is:-, (b) unnecessary, excessive or improper
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: R Butt - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c76ba8bb1f8cee9c8af10e1d915f083b
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: 52ebc1b1a46078945c200536fcb66b18
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/11/2014
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 28 November 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: KHales
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC