Counties RC 6 May 2016 – R 8 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA17692
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Counties RC - 6 May 2016
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
RSeabrook
Race Date:
2016/05/06
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
As the breach was admitted the charge was deemed proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly we imposed a fine of $250 on Ms Holmquist.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the VERNON & VAZEY TRUCK PARTS LTD 1600, an Information was lodged alleging that Apprentice Rider Ms U Holmquist had used her whip excessively on HER CHOICE prior to the 200 metres.
Ms Holmquist, assisted by Apprentice Riders Mentor Mr N Harris acknowledged that she understood the Rule and that she admitted the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides' A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive'.
The Guidelines applicable to this Rule are that a rider may, once the horse enters the final straight, strike a horse with the whip 6 times before a respite, then applying the whip again. This applies prior to the 200 metres mark.
Using the available films Mr Oatham identified the horse HER CHOICE ridden by Ms Holmquist. He pointed out that prior to the 200 metres mark Ms Holmquist had struck the horse 10 times, had paused for a short time, and then hit the horse a further 4 times. Mr Oatham added that the whip use was not 'extravagant' and that the severity used was minimal. However he also said that the number of strikes was above the guidelines as above, and that Ms Homquist had not paused the required time between strikes.
Ms Holmquist said it was a considerable time since she had ridden at the Counties track and that she had misjudged the position of the 200 metres mark, adding that HER CHOICE was 'one-paced'.
Mr Harris told the Committee that Ms Holmquist was not striking the horse with any force and that he did not believe her whip use would have hurt the horse. He added that she had finished 3rd in the race and that he believed the long straight had 'caught her out'.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson produced Ms Holmquist's riding record which showed no prior breaches of this Rule within the past 12 months. He said it was to her credit that Ms Holmquist had admitted the breach at the first opportunity, and added that he did not believe she had used the whip with any force. Mr Williamson added that he believed this breach could be dealt with by way of a fine in the vicinity of $200-$300.
Ms Holmquist had nothing to add.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a fine of $500 or a 2 day suspension for a breach of this Rule. We took into account Ms Holmquist's record and her admission of the breach. We accept Mr Harris' comment that the strikes applied by Ms Holmquist were not severe, however balanced against that is the public perception of whip use in races. Ms Holmquist did pause when applying the whip however this did not meet the requirements of the guidelines. We note that her mount finished 3rd on a day when track conditions were quite testing.
Taking all of the above we believed this breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
The Committee advised Ms Holmquist that a 2nd breach of this Rule within 6 months would result in a suspension of between 3-5 days.
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: dfb8c0ccf572f3cb341d56212d4abeb4
informantnumber: A7591
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excess whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 09/05/2016
hearing_title: Counties RC 6 May 2016 - R 8 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, the VERNON & VAZEY TRUCK PARTS LTD 1600, an Information was lodged alleging that Apprentice Rider Ms U Holmquist had used her whip excessively on HER CHOICE prior to the 200 metres.
Ms Holmquist, assisted by Apprentice Riders Mentor Mr N Harris acknowledged that she understood the Rule and that she admitted the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides' A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive'.
The Guidelines applicable to this Rule are that a rider may, once the horse enters the final straight, strike a horse with the whip 6 times before a respite, then applying the whip again. This applies prior to the 200 metres mark.
Using the available films Mr Oatham identified the horse HER CHOICE ridden by Ms Holmquist. He pointed out that prior to the 200 metres mark Ms Holmquist had struck the horse 10 times, had paused for a short time, and then hit the horse a further 4 times. Mr Oatham added that the whip use was not 'extravagant' and that the severity used was minimal. However he also said that the number of strikes was above the guidelines as above, and that Ms Homquist had not paused the required time between strikes.
Ms Holmquist said it was a considerable time since she had ridden at the Counties track and that she had misjudged the position of the 200 metres mark, adding that HER CHOICE was 'one-paced'.
Mr Harris told the Committee that Ms Holmquist was not striking the horse with any force and that he did not believe her whip use would have hurt the horse. He added that she had finished 3rd in the race and that he believed the long straight had 'caught her out'.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach was admitted the charge was deemed proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson produced Ms Holmquist's riding record which showed no prior breaches of this Rule within the past 12 months. He said it was to her credit that Ms Holmquist had admitted the breach at the first opportunity, and added that he did not believe she had used the whip with any force. Mr Williamson added that he believed this breach could be dealt with by way of a fine in the vicinity of $200-$300.
Ms Holmquist had nothing to add.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a fine of $500 or a 2 day suspension for a breach of this Rule. We took into account Ms Holmquist's record and her admission of the breach. We accept Mr Harris' comment that the strikes applied by Ms Holmquist were not severe, however balanced against that is the public perception of whip use in races. Ms Holmquist did pause when applying the whip however this did not meet the requirements of the guidelines. We note that her mount finished 3rd on a day when track conditions were quite testing.
Taking all of the above we believed this breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
The Committee advised Ms Holmquist that a 2nd breach of this Rule within 6 months would result in a suspension of between 3-5 days.
penalty:
Accordingly we imposed a fine of $250 on Ms Holmquist.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms U Holmquist - Apprentice Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Harris - Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4d99028e2b1f400083e1617137504f75
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 5cff85b4f0e8c44d6b86946f8123b4f3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 06/05/2016
meet_title: Counties RC - 6 May 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: counties-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: RSeabrook
meet_pm2: none
name: Counties RC