Invercargill HRC 22 December 2011 – R 6 (heard 8 January 2012 at Cromwell)
ID: JCA20270
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Invercargill HRC - 22 December 2011
Meet Chair:
NSkelt
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADennis
Race Date:
2011/12/22
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr C Allison, Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: Mr T Robertson, Junior Horseman
Information No: 5962
Meeting: Invercargill HRC
Date: 22/12/11 heard on 8/1/12
Venue: Cromwell Racecourse
Race: 6
Rule Nos: 869(2)(a)
Judicial Committee: Geoff Hall, Chairman – David Steel, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
Also Present: Mr L Robertson, assisting Mr T Robertson
Charge:
Mr Allison alleged that the defendant, Mr Robertson, used his whip excessively over the final stages.
Evidence:
Mr Allison demonstrated the breach on a DVD. This showed that Mr Robertson was using the whip, together with the reins, as the horses turned for home, and then the whip solely, as the horses came up the straight. He said that he believed there were 15 or 16 strikes together with the use of the reins, and another 15 or 16 strikes in the straight. Mr L Robertson stated that he did not believe the exact number of strikes mattered, as the defendant admitted the breach. He said that the defendant was learning and was in with a chance of a 3rd placing at the time.
Decision:
As Mr Robertson admitted the breach, we find the charge proved.
Submission For Penalty:
Mr Allison stated that he believed the breach was mid range, and emphasised that some 5 or 6 strikes in the straight were quite forceful. Mr T Robertson said that he accepted that the final 5 or 6 strikes were unnecessary.
Mr Allison produced the defendant’s record, which showed a breach of the rule in respect of unnecessary use of the whip, but none for excessive use. Mr Robertson had had 209 drives for 3 wins. Mr Allison submitted a penalty of a fine of $300 was appropriate.
Mr L Robertson said the defendant was a young man with a family, and asked for a combination of a fine and suspension. Mr Allison indicated that he did object to this form of penalty.
Reasons For Penalty:
We view the breach as mid range. We counted 18 strikes in the straight, but were unable to determine the number of strikes as they turned for home, because the defendant’s horse was obscured from time to time. There were certainly 5 or 6 strikes in the straight that were quite forceful.
Mitigating factors are the defendant’s inexperience, that this is his first breach of the rule with respect to excessive use, and his open and honest admission of the breach. We believe a combination of a fine and suspension is appropriate. The defendant usually has 2 drives a meeting, however one of the horses he regularly drives is being turned out, although another is attempting to qualify.
Penalty:
We impose a suspension from the end of racing today, up to and including 17 January 2012. This is 2 Otago/Southland meetings. We also impose a fine of $100, and remind the defendant of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
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: 563d1aa38de784d895b9880477566e71
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 22/12/2011
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Invercargill HRC 22 December 2011 - R 6 (heard 8 January 2012 at Cromwell)
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr C Allison, Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: Mr T Robertson, Junior Horseman
Information No: 5962
Meeting: Invercargill HRC
Date: 22/12/11 heard on 8/1/12
Venue: Cromwell Racecourse
Race: 6
Rule Nos: 869(2)(a)
Judicial Committee: Geoff Hall, Chairman – David Steel, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
Also Present: Mr L Robertson, assisting Mr T Robertson
Charge:
Mr Allison alleged that the defendant, Mr Robertson, used his whip excessively over the final stages.
Evidence:
Mr Allison demonstrated the breach on a DVD. This showed that Mr Robertson was using the whip, together with the reins, as the horses turned for home, and then the whip solely, as the horses came up the straight. He said that he believed there were 15 or 16 strikes together with the use of the reins, and another 15 or 16 strikes in the straight. Mr L Robertson stated that he did not believe the exact number of strikes mattered, as the defendant admitted the breach. He said that the defendant was learning and was in with a chance of a 3rd placing at the time.
Decision:
As Mr Robertson admitted the breach, we find the charge proved.
Submission For Penalty:
Mr Allison stated that he believed the breach was mid range, and emphasised that some 5 or 6 strikes in the straight were quite forceful. Mr T Robertson said that he accepted that the final 5 or 6 strikes were unnecessary.
Mr Allison produced the defendant’s record, which showed a breach of the rule in respect of unnecessary use of the whip, but none for excessive use. Mr Robertson had had 209 drives for 3 wins. Mr Allison submitted a penalty of a fine of $300 was appropriate.
Mr L Robertson said the defendant was a young man with a family, and asked for a combination of a fine and suspension. Mr Allison indicated that he did object to this form of penalty.
Reasons For Penalty:
We view the breach as mid range. We counted 18 strikes in the straight, but were unable to determine the number of strikes as they turned for home, because the defendant’s horse was obscured from time to time. There were certainly 5 or 6 strikes in the straight that were quite forceful.
Mitigating factors are the defendant’s inexperience, that this is his first breach of the rule with respect to excessive use, and his open and honest admission of the breach. We believe a combination of a fine and suspension is appropriate. The defendant usually has 2 drives a meeting, however one of the horses he regularly drives is being turned out, although another is attempting to qualify.
Penalty:
We impose a suspension from the end of racing today, up to and including 17 January 2012. This is 2 Otago/Southland meetings. We also impose a fine of $100, and remind the defendant of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: bc9dcd16bee242910dc8a45c779db7a6
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
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meetdate: 22/12/2011
meet_title: Invercargill HRC - 22 December 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: invercargill-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: NSkelt
meet_pm1: ADennis
meet_pm2: none
name: Invercargill HRC