Ashburton RC 21 October 2017 – R 1 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA16887
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Ashburton RC - 21 October 2017
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 2:
HWeston
Race Date:
2017/10/21
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Mr Hong having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Hong is fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the South Rakaia Hotel Rating 65 1400, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr M Davidson, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr BB Hong, alleging that Mr Hong, as the rider of MIRA in the race, “used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite”
Mr Hong was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by his employer, Mr M Pitman. Mr Hong had endorsed the information that the breach was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Davidson, with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr D Balcombe, showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Hong riding MIRA, racing towards the rear of the field on the rail as the field turned for home. Mr Balcombe showed that shortly after turning for home and inside the 400m, Mr Hong drew the whip and struck MIRA 20 to 21 times with little respite, apart from brief pauses, over the concluding stages with MIRA going on to win the event. Mr Davidson stated that Mr Hong changed his whip action from behind the saddle to striking forward of the saddle which he submitted were not full strikes. He submitted that the level of the breach was high due to the high number of strikes and complete lack of any pushes as required by the Guidelines.
Mr Pitman stated that Mr Hong had started out with Mr O’Sullivan then Mr J Wheeler and was now with his stable. Mr Hong, he said, was a very polite person and has been in New Zealand for 3 years. He said that this was Mr Hong’s first winning ride from 32 rides.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Davidson told the Committee that Mr Hong had an excellent record with no breaches recorded. He said that Mr Hong has had 32 rides in New Zealand and this was his first career win. He stated that due to the number of strikes, being 20 to 21 with little respite, although the last 10 were down the shoulder, that the level of the breach was high. Mr Davidson stated that an uplift in the first offence starting point of $300 should be considered and submitted that consideration be given to a fine in the range of $350 to $400.
Mr Pitman asked for leniency as this was Mr Hong’s first winning ride and he would learn a lot from this experience.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine mitigation inclusive, for a first breach of this Rule. The aggravating factor in this case was the level of the breach being high-end due to the number of strikes being 20 to 21 with little respite. This factor warranted an uplift in penalty, which we set at $100. We therefore determined that a fine of $400 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: ae7fc9195ba6a62acd0b57292e2e3118
informantnumber: A09708
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/10/2017
hearing_title: Ashburton RC 21 October 2017 - R 1 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the South Rakaia Hotel Rating 65 1400, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr M Davidson, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr BB Hong, alleging that Mr Hong, as the rider of MIRA in the race, “used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite”
Mr Hong was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by his employer, Mr M Pitman. Mr Hong had endorsed the information that the breach was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Davidson, with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr D Balcombe, showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Hong riding MIRA, racing towards the rear of the field on the rail as the field turned for home. Mr Balcombe showed that shortly after turning for home and inside the 400m, Mr Hong drew the whip and struck MIRA 20 to 21 times with little respite, apart from brief pauses, over the concluding stages with MIRA going on to win the event. Mr Davidson stated that Mr Hong changed his whip action from behind the saddle to striking forward of the saddle which he submitted were not full strikes. He submitted that the level of the breach was high due to the high number of strikes and complete lack of any pushes as required by the Guidelines.
Mr Pitman stated that Mr Hong had started out with Mr O’Sullivan then Mr J Wheeler and was now with his stable. Mr Hong, he said, was a very polite person and has been in New Zealand for 3 years. He said that this was Mr Hong’s first winning ride from 32 rides.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Hong having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Davidson told the Committee that Mr Hong had an excellent record with no breaches recorded. He said that Mr Hong has had 32 rides in New Zealand and this was his first career win. He stated that due to the number of strikes, being 20 to 21 with little respite, although the last 10 were down the shoulder, that the level of the breach was high. Mr Davidson stated that an uplift in the first offence starting point of $300 should be considered and submitted that consideration be given to a fine in the range of $350 to $400.
Mr Pitman asked for leniency as this was Mr Hong’s first winning ride and he would learn a lot from this experience.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine mitigation inclusive, for a first breach of this Rule. The aggravating factor in this case was the level of the breach being high-end due to the number of strikes being 20 to 21 with little respite. This factor warranted an uplift in penalty, which we set at $100. We therefore determined that a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Mr Hong is fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638 (3) (b) (ii)
Informant: M Davidson, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), B B Hong
Otherperson: M Pitman-Licensed Trainer, Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3a5df38d7eb4391da8715bb8e2257d33
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: e47818fdd4c586c1871fb0da540ea459
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/10/2017
meet_title: Ashburton RC - 21 October 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: HWeston
name: Ashburton RC