Taranaki RC 26 August 2017 – R 7 – Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
ID: JCA17744
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Taranaki RC - 26 August 2017
Meet Chair:
NMcCutcheon
Meet Committee Member 1:
TBird
Race Date:
2017/08/26
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As the charge was admitted it was deemed to be proved.
Penalty:
Ms Cowan’s Apprentice Jockey Licence was suspended from the end of racing on 26 August 2017 up to and including 1 September 2017 (2 days) and fined $500.
The days being:
Woodville 31 August
Ashburton 1 September
Matamata on 30 August was not taken into account as the Acceptances had closed and Ms Cowan did not have any riding engagements. The committee was mindful that a genuine penalty needed to be imposed.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7 (ITM Pink Batts SC Mdn 1800) Information No. A8782 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Stipendiary Steward that Ms Cowan had used her whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite. (Ms Cowan was the rider of LECTIO DIVINIA).
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A rider shall not: (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is: (ii) excessive
Ms Cowan in the presence of Mr Harris said that she understood the Rule, the whip guidelines and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Mr Jones identified Ms Cowan and her mount LECTIO DIVINIA as they straightened for the run to the Judge. He said that Ms Cowan commenced to use the whip and continued to do so 14 times without the necessary respite of 5-on 5-off prior to the 100m. He said that there was the odd break of 2-3 strides only.
Ms Cowan, for her part, said that she was remorseful, that she was still coming to terms with the Rule, that she got into a rhythm and had lots of things going on in her head.
Mr Harris said that he agreed that there were too many strikes. He added that Ms Cowan did not display any aggression, that the strikes “would not hurt a fly” and that the horse was not hurt.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Goodwin said that Ms Cowan had clearly used the whip too much and that due to the manner in which she used the whip it could be argued that her horse gained an advantage. Mr Goodwin produced Ms Cowan’s record which showed that on 5.8.17 she was fined $300 for excessive use of the whip and on 12.8.17 she was fined $550 for excessive use of the whip. He submitted that a term of suspension be imposed or alternatively a substantial fine be given.
Ms Cowan said that she was sorry and remorseful for what had happened and that it was a big wake-up call and said that she was not thinking re her whip use at the time.
Mr Harris said that he was a strong advocate that the Rules needed to be followed and that the public perception was very important. He invited the committee to consider that the strikes were not at all forceful.
Discussion then took place between the Committee and Ms Cowan as to her upcoming riding engagements and the meetings that she intended to ride at.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee was satisfied that Ms Cowan had used the whip excessively in striking her horse 14 times prior to the 100m with only minor pauses being displayed. It was somewhat concerning that the breach of the Rule was Ms Cowan’s third for the month of August. The committee agreed with Mr Harris’ observation that the whip was not applied with aggression or undue force. Albeit Ms Cowan admitted the breach, it was inevitable that the charge would have been proved due to the compelling film evidence that clearly exhibited her whip use.
Having regard to the JCA penalty guide for a third breach (2-3 days suspension) it was determined that a suspension and a fine 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: e80d45860c56aecb3c5ccdf8168dd04b
informantnumber: A8782
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/08/2017
hearing_title: Taranaki RC 26 August 2017 - R 7 - Chair, Mr N McCutcheon
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7 (ITM Pink Batts SC Mdn 1800) Information No. A8782 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged by the Stipendiary Steward that Ms Cowan had used her whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite. (Ms Cowan was the rider of LECTIO DIVINIA).
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A rider shall not: (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is: (ii) excessive
Ms Cowan in the presence of Mr Harris said that she understood the Rule, the whip guidelines and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Mr Jones identified Ms Cowan and her mount LECTIO DIVINIA as they straightened for the run to the Judge. He said that Ms Cowan commenced to use the whip and continued to do so 14 times without the necessary respite of 5-on 5-off prior to the 100m. He said that there was the odd break of 2-3 strides only.
Ms Cowan, for her part, said that she was remorseful, that she was still coming to terms with the Rule, that she got into a rhythm and had lots of things going on in her head.
Mr Harris said that he agreed that there were too many strikes. He added that Ms Cowan did not display any aggression, that the strikes “would not hurt a fly” and that the horse was not hurt.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the charge was admitted it was deemed to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Goodwin said that Ms Cowan had clearly used the whip too much and that due to the manner in which she used the whip it could be argued that her horse gained an advantage. Mr Goodwin produced Ms Cowan’s record which showed that on 5.8.17 she was fined $300 for excessive use of the whip and on 12.8.17 she was fined $550 for excessive use of the whip. He submitted that a term of suspension be imposed or alternatively a substantial fine be given.
Ms Cowan said that she was sorry and remorseful for what had happened and that it was a big wake-up call and said that she was not thinking re her whip use at the time.
Mr Harris said that he was a strong advocate that the Rules needed to be followed and that the public perception was very important. He invited the committee to consider that the strikes were not at all forceful.
Discussion then took place between the Committee and Ms Cowan as to her upcoming riding engagements and the meetings that she intended to ride at.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee was satisfied that Ms Cowan had used the whip excessively in striking her horse 14 times prior to the 100m with only minor pauses being displayed. It was somewhat concerning that the breach of the Rule was Ms Cowan’s third for the month of August. The committee agreed with Mr Harris’ observation that the whip was not applied with aggression or undue force. Albeit Ms Cowan admitted the breach, it was inevitable that the charge would have been proved due to the compelling film evidence that clearly exhibited her whip use.
Having regard to the JCA penalty guide for a third breach (2-3 days suspension) it was determined that a suspension and a fine was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Ms Cowan’s Apprentice Jockey Licence was suspended from the end of racing on 26 August 2017 up to and including 1 September 2017 (2 days) and fined $500.
The days being:
Woodville 31 August
Ashburton 1 September
Matamata on 30 August was not taken into account as the Acceptances had closed and Ms Cowan did not have any riding engagements. The committee was mindful that a genuine penalty needed to be imposed.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms K Cowan - Apprentice Jockey
Otherperson: Mr N Harris - Assisting Ms Cowan, Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 1175684031088b2c51d5500da7aebfcf
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 134a125746415a7425194b76fc155a03
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/08/2017
meet_title: Taranaki RC - 26 August 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: taranaki-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm1: TBird
meet_pm2: none
name: Taranaki RC