Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 1 January 2021 – R 5 – Chair, Mr G Jones

ID: JCA16034

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr C Jones - Apprentice Rider of CASSIO

Other Person:
Mr N TIley - Employer and Trainer - assisting Mr Jones

Information Number:
A13443

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of whip

Rules:
638(3)(b)(ii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 1 January 2021

Meet Chair:
GJones

Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott

Race Date:
2021/01/01

Race Number:
R5

Decision:

As Mr Jones admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved. 

Penalty:

Mr Jones licence to ride in races was suspended from close of racing on 4 January 2021 until close of racing on 16 January 2021.
Note: Rider declarations for the meetings at Tauranga on 2 January; Te Aroha on 3 January and Otaki on 4 January 2021 were closed.

Facts:

This charge arises from the running of Race 5, the Dunstan Feeds Stayers Championship Final. An Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) by the Informant, Mr Oatham, alleging that Apprentice Rider, Mr C Jones used his whip excessively when riding CASSIO prior to the 100 metres.
Mr Jones was assisted at the hearing by his employer, Licensed Trainer, Mr N Tiley.

Mr Jones said that he understood the Rule and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(i)-unnecessary, or
(ii)-excessive, or
(iii)-improper

Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b), a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Flat Races
Prior to the 100-metre mark in a race, official trial or jump out:
(i)-The whip should not be used on more than 5 occasions.
(ii)-The whip should not be used in consecutive strides.
(iii)- The rider may at their discretion use the whip with a slapping motion down the shoulder, with the whip hand remaining on the reins.
In the final 100 metres, the whip may be used at the Rider’s discretion.

Using available race film footage Mr Oatham demonstrated the breach. He identified Mr Jones’ mount; CASSIO clearly in the lead as the field entered the home straight. He said that between the straight entrance to the 100-metre mark Mr Jones struck his mount 12 times. He added that at least two of strikes were slaps down the shoulder.

In response Mr Jones said that he agreed that the number of strikes was 12.

On his behalf, Mr Tiley said that he spoke to Mr Jones after the race about his whip use. He said that Mr Jones is a young apprentice rider “who is still on a learning curve”. He accepted that Mr Jones’ whip use was not a good look for the public who were watching the race.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham said that Mr Jones had one previous breach of the Rule, this having occurred at Tauranga on 14 November 2020 and resulted in a $300 fine. He submitted that a second breach would ordinarily attract a $500 fine, but because the number of strikes was more than 10 the penalty starting point is a 6-day suspension.

He said that although the breach occurred in a $100,000 race a penalty uplift was not sought on this occasion.

Mr Jones did not seek a deferment to any proposed suspension.

Neither he or Mr Tiley offered penalty submissions.

Reasons for Penalty:

Where the number of strikes is 10 or more the Penalty Guide recommends a 6-day suspension and this was adopted as our starting point. 

The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions and took particular note of the number and frequency of strikes as well as the force used. In that regard we confirmed the number of strikes as 12 and noted that, for the most part, they were not overly forceful nor were they continuous.
An aggravating factor is that this breach occurred in a race with stakemoney of $100,000. However, on this occasion we determined that a 6-day suspension of Mr Jones’ licence was a sufficient penalty. Accordingly, no uplift was applied.

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: b1212f9e2695f0663553c1a1401bcfaf


informantnumber: A13443


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 02/01/2021


hearing_title: Auckland RC 1 January 2021 – R 5 – Chair, Mr G Jones


charge:


facts:

This charge arises from the running of Race 5, the Dunstan Feeds Stayers Championship Final. An Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) by the Informant, Mr Oatham, alleging that Apprentice Rider, Mr C Jones used his whip excessively when riding CASSIO prior to the 100 metres.
Mr Jones was assisted at the hearing by his employer, Licensed Trainer, Mr N Tiley.

Mr Jones said that he understood the Rule and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides:
A Rider shall not strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(i)-unnecessary, or
(ii)-excessive, or
(iii)-improper

Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b), a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Flat Races
Prior to the 100-metre mark in a race, official trial or jump out:
(i)-The whip should not be used on more than 5 occasions.
(ii)-The whip should not be used in consecutive strides.
(iii)- The rider may at their discretion use the whip with a slapping motion down the shoulder, with the whip hand remaining on the reins.
In the final 100 metres, the whip may be used at the Rider’s discretion.

Using available race film footage Mr Oatham demonstrated the breach. He identified Mr Jones’ mount; CASSIO clearly in the lead as the field entered the home straight. He said that between the straight entrance to the 100-metre mark Mr Jones struck his mount 12 times. He added that at least two of strikes were slaps down the shoulder.

In response Mr Jones said that he agreed that the number of strikes was 12.

On his behalf, Mr Tiley said that he spoke to Mr Jones after the race about his whip use. He said that Mr Jones is a young apprentice rider “who is still on a learning curve”. He accepted that Mr Jones’ whip use was not a good look for the public who were watching the race.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Jones admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved. 


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham said that Mr Jones had one previous breach of the Rule, this having occurred at Tauranga on 14 November 2020 and resulted in a $300 fine. He submitted that a second breach would ordinarily attract a $500 fine, but because the number of strikes was more than 10 the penalty starting point is a 6-day suspension.

He said that although the breach occurred in a $100,000 race a penalty uplift was not sought on this occasion.

Mr Jones did not seek a deferment to any proposed suspension.

Neither he or Mr Tiley offered penalty submissions.


reasonsforpenalty:

Where the number of strikes is 10 or more the Penalty Guide recommends a 6-day suspension and this was adopted as our starting point. 

The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions and took particular note of the number and frequency of strikes as well as the force used. In that regard we confirmed the number of strikes as 12 and noted that, for the most part, they were not overly forceful nor were they continuous.
An aggravating factor is that this breach occurred in a race with stakemoney of $100,000. However, on this occasion we determined that a 6-day suspension of Mr Jones’ licence was a sufficient penalty. Accordingly, no uplift was applied.


penalty:

Mr Jones licence to ride in races was suspended from close of racing on 4 January 2021 until close of racing on 16 January 2021.
Note: Rider declarations for the meetings at Tauranga on 2 January; Te Aroha on 3 January and Otaki on 4 January 2021 were closed.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Jones - Apprentice Rider of CASSIO


Otherperson: Mr N TIley - Employer and Trainer - assisting Mr Jones


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: e75102ab07194caa9016eff5a8ebd7c0


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R5


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: be2404bb144cc9a732e287510c4d589a


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 01/01/2021


meet_title: Auckland RC - 1 January 2021


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: GJones


meet_pm1: BScott


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC