Ashburton TC 30 May 2015 – R 9
ID: JCA15396
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 30 May 2015
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2015/05/30
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Miss Gath having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Miss Gath was fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, KPMG Private Enterprise 3YO Emerald (Group 1), an information was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Open Driver (Australia), Miss K M Gath, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of BURNAHOLEINMYPOCKET in the race, she “used her whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive”.
Miss Gath was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIntyre showed a video replay of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out BURNAHOLEINMYPOCKET, driven by Miss Gath, wide on the track as the field progressed down the straight. Miss Gath then activated the removable deafeners on the horse. From that point, her use of the whip was continuous with no breaking up and, as a result, Miss Gath used the whip approximately 24 times to the finishing line. The Stewards’ policy was to charge in instances of more that 20 times, Mr McIntyre said.
Miss Gath said that she had not driven in New Zealand for 18 months and had forgotten the provisions of the Use of Whip Guidelines. She said that, in Australia, there was no limit on the number of strikes. She had forgotten that it was a requirement under the New Zealand Guidelines that the use of the whip be broken up.
Miss Gath said that she accepted Mr McIntyre’s allegation as to the number of strikes. She submitted that the strikes were not hard but clearly she had not broken them up, she said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr McIntyre told the Committee that Miss Gath’s last breach of the Rule was on 1st February 2014, on which occasion she was fined $800. She was last in New Zealand in November 2014, he said.
Miss Gath pointed out that the level of the $800 fine was explained by the fact that the breach occurred in the Victoria Cup.
Miss Gath would have had approximately 600-700 drives since her last breach, Mr McIntyre said. Mr McIntyre described the force used as “minimal”.
Mr McIntyre submitted that a fine of $350-400 was appropriate. He pointed out that the race was deemed to be a “major race” under the Penalty Guide.
Miss Gath asked the Committee to take into account her good record. She accepted that it was her responsibility to know the Rules and she said that she had simply forgotten them.
Reasons for Penalty:
In looking at penalty, the Committee took, as a starting point, the suggested starting point in the Penalty Guide of a $500 fine. The principal aggravating factor was the status of the race (Group 1) and the stake payable ($150,000). The number of strikes was quite high and continuous but, the Committee accepted, they were not used with a lot of force. Those factors warranted an uplift of $100 to $600 in the starting point referred to.
Mitigating factors were Miss Gath’s admission of the breach and her good record. In the Committee’s view, those mitigating factors warranted a discount in the sum of $200, bringing the penalty back to $400.
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: 8d381c6d5d75882f4d582c928f034454
informantnumber: A6195
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/06/2015
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 30 May 2015 - R 9
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, KPMG Private Enterprise 3YO Emerald (Group 1), an information was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Open Driver (Australia), Miss K M Gath, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of BURNAHOLEINMYPOCKET in the race, she “used her whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive”.
Miss Gath was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIntyre showed a video replay of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out BURNAHOLEINMYPOCKET, driven by Miss Gath, wide on the track as the field progressed down the straight. Miss Gath then activated the removable deafeners on the horse. From that point, her use of the whip was continuous with no breaking up and, as a result, Miss Gath used the whip approximately 24 times to the finishing line. The Stewards’ policy was to charge in instances of more that 20 times, Mr McIntyre said.
Miss Gath said that she had not driven in New Zealand for 18 months and had forgotten the provisions of the Use of Whip Guidelines. She said that, in Australia, there was no limit on the number of strikes. She had forgotten that it was a requirement under the New Zealand Guidelines that the use of the whip be broken up.
Miss Gath said that she accepted Mr McIntyre’s allegation as to the number of strikes. She submitted that the strikes were not hard but clearly she had not broken them up, she said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Miss Gath having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr McIntyre told the Committee that Miss Gath’s last breach of the Rule was on 1st February 2014, on which occasion she was fined $800. She was last in New Zealand in November 2014, he said.
Miss Gath pointed out that the level of the $800 fine was explained by the fact that the breach occurred in the Victoria Cup.
Miss Gath would have had approximately 600-700 drives since her last breach, Mr McIntyre said. Mr McIntyre described the force used as “minimal”.
Mr McIntyre submitted that a fine of $350-400 was appropriate. He pointed out that the race was deemed to be a “major race” under the Penalty Guide.
Miss Gath asked the Committee to take into account her good record. She accepted that it was her responsibility to know the Rules and she said that she had simply forgotten them.
reasonsforpenalty:
In looking at penalty, the Committee took, as a starting point, the suggested starting point in the Penalty Guide of a $500 fine. The principal aggravating factor was the status of the race (Group 1) and the stake payable ($150,000). The number of strikes was quite high and continuous but, the Committee accepted, they were not used with a lot of force. Those factors warranted an uplift of $100 to $600 in the starting point referred to.
Mitigating factors were Miss Gath’s admission of the breach and her good record. In the Committee’s view, those mitigating factors warranted a discount in the sum of $200, bringing the penalty back to $400.
penalty:
Miss Gath was fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N G McIntyre - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: K M Gath, Licensed Open Driver (Australia)
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 22cf29a288990f08ee306734f6df0238
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: eef94d1b52e737fe05891164fe558066
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 30/05/2015
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 30 May 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton TC