Auckland TC 14 June 2013 – R 6
ID: JCA14306
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 14 June 2013
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2013/06/14
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
The charge is upheld.
Penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $275.00 on Mr Herlihy.
Charge:
Breach of Rule 869(2)(a) Excessive use of the whip
Facts:
An Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr AG Herlihy alleging that Mr Herlihy used his whip excessively when driving IRISH WHISPER over the concluding stages of the Race.
Mr Herlihy was present and advised this Committee that he did not admit the breach.
Stipendiary Steward Ms P Kinsey on behalf of Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the films of the Race. She said that Mr Herlihy struck his horse 23 times in the home straight. She said that many of those strikes were continuous. In response to a question from Mr Herlihy she referred to the Whip Guidelines which essentially say that excessive use is based on the number of times the whip is used together with the force and whether the strikes are continuous.
Mr Herlihy then gave evidence. He did not challenge the number of strikes but said that the horse responded each time and if he had have stopped he would not have won the Race. He said that if he had have stopped and not won the Race then he would have been charged with not trying. He said he was not hurting his horse and that some of his strikes were backhanders which did not hurt his horse.
Submissions for Decision:
Ms Kinsey said that 23 times was too much and that the strikes were continuous and accordingly it was excessive.
Mr Herlihy said that he did not hurt his horse and that his horse was responding and got up and won the Race. He repeated that if he did not use the whip then in his opinion he would not have won.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee listened to the evidence and viewed the films. They clearly showed the incident and the Committee was able to confirm the number of strikes.
The Committee referred Mr Herlihy to the Whip Guidelines and pointed out the perception that people would get if the whip was used excessively. In this case the number is excessive and a many of the strikes are continuous.
Submissions for Penalty:
Ms Kinsey said the incident was in the midrange of seriousness and she submitted that a fine of $300.00 was appropriate. She did point out that Mr Herlihy had a previous charge on the 11th of May in a Group Race.
Mr Herlihy referred to his evidence and said he had not hurt his horse and that by using the whip he was able to win the Race.
Reasons for Penalty:
The use of the whip is excessive and we do not expect that from a horseman of Mr Herlihy's calibre. He also has a previous charge in the last month in a listed Race.
We have assessed the incident to be mid range and to warrant a penalty at slightly lower than that submitted by Ms Kinsey.
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: 7262a10644b451be69f01708274019aa
informantnumber: A4648
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/05/2013
hearing_title: Auckland TC 14 June 2013 - R 6
charge:
Breach of Rule 869(2)(a) Excessive use of the whip
facts:
An Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr AG Herlihy alleging that Mr Herlihy used his whip excessively when driving IRISH WHISPER over the concluding stages of the Race.
Mr Herlihy was present and advised this Committee that he did not admit the breach.
Stipendiary Steward Ms P Kinsey on behalf of Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the films of the Race. She said that Mr Herlihy struck his horse 23 times in the home straight. She said that many of those strikes were continuous. In response to a question from Mr Herlihy she referred to the Whip Guidelines which essentially say that excessive use is based on the number of times the whip is used together with the force and whether the strikes are continuous.
Mr Herlihy then gave evidence. He did not challenge the number of strikes but said that the horse responded each time and if he had have stopped he would not have won the Race. He said that if he had have stopped and not won the Race then he would have been charged with not trying. He said he was not hurting his horse and that some of his strikes were backhanders which did not hurt his horse.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Ms Kinsey said that 23 times was too much and that the strikes were continuous and accordingly it was excessive.
Mr Herlihy said that he did not hurt his horse and that his horse was responding and got up and won the Race. He repeated that if he did not use the whip then in his opinion he would not have won.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee listened to the evidence and viewed the films. They clearly showed the incident and the Committee was able to confirm the number of strikes.
The Committee referred Mr Herlihy to the Whip Guidelines and pointed out the perception that people would get if the whip was used excessively. In this case the number is excessive and a many of the strikes are continuous.
Decision:
The charge is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Ms Kinsey said the incident was in the midrange of seriousness and she submitted that a fine of $300.00 was appropriate. She did point out that Mr Herlihy had a previous charge on the 11th of May in a Group Race.
Mr Herlihy referred to his evidence and said he had not hurt his horse and that by using the whip he was able to win the Race.
reasonsforpenalty:
The use of the whip is excessive and we do not expect that from a horseman of Mr Herlihy's calibre. He also has a previous charge in the last month in a listed Race.
We have assessed the incident to be mid range and to warrant a penalty at slightly lower than that submitted by Ms Kinsey.
penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $275.00 on Mr Herlihy.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869 (2)(a)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A G Herlihy - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Ms P Kinsey - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a46ceb1dd69be70524e536266cda137b
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ee65b69215736e500ccf34f81efc6839
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 14/06/2013
meet_title: Auckland TC - 14 June 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC