Methven TC – 17 December 2006 –

hearingid: a4be76294757b43d665874c7b945aece

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hearing_racingtype: harness-racing

startdate: 17/12/2006

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hearing_title: Methven TC - 17 December 2006 -

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At the meeting of Methven Trotting Club held at Mt Harding Racecourse, Methven, on Sunday, 17 December 2006, Mr Evans was the driver of the horse, BO DIDDLEY, in Race 1, South Rakaia Hotel Trot. BO DIDDLEY won the race.

At the meeting of Methven Trotting Club held at Mt Harding Racecourse, Methven, on Sunday, 17 December 2006, Mr Evans was the driver of the horse, BO DIDDLEY, in Race 1, South Rakaia Hotel Trot. BO DIDDLEY won the race.

After the race meeting, Mr McIntyre filed Information No. 66518 alleging a breach by Mr Evans of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that he "used his whip excessively over the concluding stages".

The hearing of the information was held at the meeting of Rangiora Harness Racing Club at Rangiora Raceway on Saturday, 23 December 2006. Mr McIntyre produced to the Committee a letter signed by the General Manager of Harness Racing New Zealand, Mr Edward Rennell, pursuant to Rule 1103 (4) (c).

Mr Evans was present at the hearing of the information and indicated that he did not admit the breach.

Mr McIntyre referred to the guidelines issued by the Stipendiary Stewards relating to use of

the whip. He then had Mr N M Ydgren, Stipendiary Steward, show a video replay of the final stages of the race. Mr Ydgren pointed out BO DIDDLEY, driven by Mr Evans, lead into the home straight. Mr Ydgren stated that Mr Evans did not begin using his whip "until a considerable distance down the straight" but alleged that, once he started using the whip, he failed to show any pause and used the whip no less than 20 times which was "simply too much".

Mr McIntyre alleged that Mr Evans had used the whip ? "16 blows in a rapid-fire motion with no distinctive pauses".

Mr Evans acknowledged that he was aware of the guidelines. He said that he hit the horse a couple of times and then "threatened" him a couple of times. He submitted that the way he uses the whip made it look worse that it was ? he does bring his hand up and back. While he did use his whip "quite a bit" over the concluding stages of the race, he only struck the cart and did not once strike the horse, Mr Evans stated. He informed the Committee that he had been driving since he was 16 and was now 36 years old. He had incurred one suspension in his first season of driving but had never been charged, or even spoken to by Stipendiary Stewards, concerning his use of the whip.

Following a deliberation, the Committee delivered the following oral decision:

"By a very fine margin, I am satisfied that the charge of using the whip excessively has been proved, based on a strict application of the guidelines. The evidence adduced justifies my finding the breach proved. However, this is a case of what may be described as minimal culpability and substantial mitigation and, in view of that, I am going to exercise a discretion which I have, and which is exercised very rarely, to avoid imposing a conviction upon Mr Evans and I am going to discharge him without conviction on the charge. I will give full reasons for my exercise of this discretion in a written decision which will be available in due course."

The guidelines issued by the Chief Stipendiary Steward on 1 August 2006, state that "excessive use of the whip simply means ?too much? and relates to the number of times and/or the force with which the whip is used". This applies whether "striking the horse, harness or sulky". The guidelines further provide that the whip shall not be used "continuously at any time during a race and there must be distinct pauses between the whip being used or the use of the whip shall be interrupted by acceptable alternative actions".

Applying the guidelines very strictly to the actions of Mr Evans on BO DIDDLEY over the final stages of the race, Mr Evans used the whip, albeit on the sulky, continuously 16 times without distinct pauses over the final stages.

However, the Committee found the following matters to be relevant:

1. To use the whip 16 times could, in some circumstances, be regarded as not being excessive;

2. Use of the whip on the harness or sulky must always be less serious than using it on the horse;

3. Mr Evans did not commence using his whip until, it appeared, well inside the final 100 metres of the race. He showed commendable restraint before commencing to drive the horse out over the concluding stages when being pressured by other runners;

4. BO DIDDLEY had led from the start of the race and, when Mr Evans commenced using the whip, it had a reasonable chance of winning the race and some degree of urging was required;

5. Mr Evans had an obligation to drive his horse out to the end of the race and, while on this occasion, he did so outside the strict guidelines relating to use of the whip, this was not the worst case of use of the whip that the Committee has seen and could be described as being at the lower end of the scale; and

6. The Committee accepted Mr Evans' statement that he had not previously breached the whip rule or even been spoken to in 20 years of race driving.

Taking all of the above matters into account, the Committee was of the view that the circumstances of the offending and the offender, in this particular case, were somewhat exceptional prompting the Committee to exercise a rarely-used discretion to discharge Mr Evans without conviction. The discretion to discharge should be used only in exceptional circumstances of minimal culpability and substantial mitigation. The Stipendiary Stewards were quite justified in putting the charge before a Judicial Committee. Strict policing of excessive use of the whip needs to be maintained as it not good for the image of harness racing and, of course, there is the important matter of animal welfare to be safeguarded.

R G McKenzie

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hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules: 869.2.a, 1103.4.c

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