Archive Decision

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Riverton RC 22 April 2019 – R 5 – Chair, Prof G Hall

ID: JCA17665

Applicant:
Mr J McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr B Murray - Apprentice Jockey

Other Person:
Mr D Walsh - Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A9090

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive Use of the Whip

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

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Riverton RC - 22 April 2019

Meet Chair:
GHall

Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway

Race Date:
2019/04/22

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

Mr Murray has admitted the breach. We thus find the breach is proved.

Penalty:

We impose an 8-day suspension commencing on 2 May and concluding on 11 May 2019. Mr Murray is again reminded of his obligations with respect to the whip rule.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 5, the TELFER DRAINLAYING & NIND DAIRY SERVICES HANDICAP, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr McLaughlin alleging that B Murray (MIDNITE KAOS) used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated on the videos that the respondent used his whip 9 times on his mount without the necessary respite. The only break was for 3 strides and the whip use was every second stride after that. He also pointed out that Mr Murray’s whip action was quite extravagant.

Mr Murray said Australian jockeys used the whip in the fashion that he had. He accepted, however, that he had been “silly” and had not broken up the strikes for long enough.

Mr Walsh said he had spoken to Mr Murray since the breach on Saturday and in his view the use of the whip in this fashion on MIDNITE KAOS was disappointing and completely unnecessary. The horse was fresh up. He said the use of the whip had looked “terrible”. He questioned whether the constant wasting was affecting Mr Murray’s judgment. He said it was evident that Mr Murray was not thinking clearly.

We questioned Mr Murray as to this. He said his natural body weight was 55 kg and he claims 2 kg. He could get to 53.5 kg comfortably but the last kilo “plays with [his] brain”.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr McLaughlin produced Mr Murray’s record which he said showed 3 suspensions, one of which was last Saturday. The other breaches were 11 May and 4 July 2018.

Mr McLaughlin said the breach was low to mid-range and that a suspension was appropriate. He noted the starting point for a third or subsequent breach was a 6 to 8 day suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

We believe that the breach is mid-range and take an 8-day starting point, having regard to the frequency of the respondent’s offending and the fact he was before us on the first day of the meeting on a similar charge when we discussed his whip issues with him at length before suspending him for 5 days. There are no further aggravating factors. The only mitigating factor is the admission of the breach but in this context it does not merit a reduction in penalty.

We observe that the respondent is a very busy apprentice and has had some 260 rides this season. We note that Mr Murray has issues with weight and that he believes that this impacts upon his decision making. He has indicated that he is intending to shift to Canterbury and Mr Walsh has stated he will take the opportunity to assist Mr Murray further. We encourage both Mr Murray and Mr Walsh to continue this dialogue.

JCA Decision Fields (raw)

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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: ddb66859ab73b20d0421da7a36045cd5


informantnumber: A9090


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 26/04/2019


hearing_title: Riverton RC 22 April 2019 - R 5 - Chair, Prof G Hall


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 5, the TELFER DRAINLAYING & NIND DAIRY SERVICES HANDICAP, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr McLaughlin alleging that B Murray (MIDNITE KAOS) used his whip excessively prior to the 100 metres.

Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated on the videos that the respondent used his whip 9 times on his mount without the necessary respite. The only break was for 3 strides and the whip use was every second stride after that. He also pointed out that Mr Murray’s whip action was quite extravagant.

Mr Murray said Australian jockeys used the whip in the fashion that he had. He accepted, however, that he had been “silly” and had not broken up the strikes for long enough.

Mr Walsh said he had spoken to Mr Murray since the breach on Saturday and in his view the use of the whip in this fashion on MIDNITE KAOS was disappointing and completely unnecessary. The horse was fresh up. He said the use of the whip had looked “terrible”. He questioned whether the constant wasting was affecting Mr Murray’s judgment. He said it was evident that Mr Murray was not thinking clearly.

We questioned Mr Murray as to this. He said his natural body weight was 55 kg and he claims 2 kg. He could get to 53.5 kg comfortably but the last kilo “plays with [his] brain”.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Murray has admitted the breach. We thus find the breach is proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr McLaughlin produced Mr Murray’s record which he said showed 3 suspensions, one of which was last Saturday. The other breaches were 11 May and 4 July 2018.

Mr McLaughlin said the breach was low to mid-range and that a suspension was appropriate. He noted the starting point for a third or subsequent breach was a 6 to 8 day suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

We believe that the breach is mid-range and take an 8-day starting point, having regard to the frequency of the respondent’s offending and the fact he was before us on the first day of the meeting on a similar charge when we discussed his whip issues with him at length before suspending him for 5 days. There are no further aggravating factors. The only mitigating factor is the admission of the breach but in this context it does not merit a reduction in penalty.

We observe that the respondent is a very busy apprentice and has had some 260 rides this season. We note that Mr Murray has issues with weight and that he believes that this impacts upon his decision making. He has indicated that he is intending to shift to Canterbury and Mr Walsh has stated he will take the opportunity to assist Mr Murray further. We encourage both Mr Murray and Mr Walsh to continue this dialogue.


penalty:

We impose an 8-day suspension commencing on 2 May and concluding on 11 May 2019. Mr Murray is again reminded of his obligations with respect to the whip rule.


hearing_type: Hearing


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


Informant: Mr J McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr B Murray - Apprentice Jockey


Otherperson: Mr D Walsh - Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 86f1e871e7cbdead10bbe93041cb5f76


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: d742012b81b75110665f1435fd59a75c


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 22/04/2019


meet_title: Riverton RC - 22 April 2019


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: riverton-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: GHall


meet_pm1: MConway


meet_pm2: none


name: Riverton RC