Auckland TC 17 April 2015 – R 9
ID: JCA12176
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 17 April 2015
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones
Race Date:
2015/04/17
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
The charge is admitted and is therefore proved.
Penalty:
This Committee imposes a fine of $325.00 on Mr Dunn.
Facts:
Following the running of the 2015 ANZAC TROTTERS CUP MOBILE TROT an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr DJ Dunn alleging that Mr Dunn committed a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively when driving SHEEMON over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Dunn was present and advised this Committee that he admitted the breach.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed Mr Dunn using the whip both forehanded and backhanded and continuously in the home straight. Mr Muirhead said that the Stewards calculated that Mr Dunn had used the whip 22 times but that he was not concerned about the force with which the whip was used but rather the continuous use.
Mr Muirhead referred to the Use of Whip Guidelines that provide that excessive use means too much and also refers to force (not present in this instance) and continuous use. He said that Drivers must show distinct pauses in their whip action.
Mr Dunn acknowledged that he was aware of the Guidelines and said that he did not realise that he had used the whip so many times on this occasion.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of suspension of Licence for 6 drives or a $300.00 fine. He also said that this was a group race with a $100,000.00 and that pursuant to rule 1114(2) the Committee should normally take this into account and increase the starting point fine to $500.00.
He said however that the Committee should not in this instance take into account the status of the race and the value of the stake because of Mr Dunn's excellent record. He also said that Mr Dunn had not violently hit his horse and he had admitted the breach and the Committee should take these factors into account. He did say however that the use of the whip was outside the Guidelines. He said that Mr Dunn was a very busy Driver with an outstanding record as far as this rule was concerned and he submitted that a fine of $300.00 was appropriate.
Mr Dunn agreed with Mr Muirhead's comments and said that this incident was at the lower end of the scale.
Reasons for Penalty:
The incident is clearly shown on the race films and this is an admitted breach so the number of strikes with the whip is not challenged. The Committee also agrees with Mr Muirhead that although the use of the whip was continuous the force with which it was used was not a significant factor. A number of the strikes were back hand strikes and the concern in any of these situations is "how does it look? ".
We are very aware of Mr Dunn's busy driving schedule and his excellent record as far as this rule is concerned. We believe that the last time he breached this rule was in May 2013 so considering the number of drives he has had in the interim that is an outstanding record. He is given credit for that and he is also given credit for his admission of the breach and the fact that the strikes with the whip were not too forceful.
He has however used his whip continuously and his use therefore is outside the guidelines and that is not only an aggravating factor but also the reason for the charge.
Mr Muirhead has asked us to ignore the status and the stake of the race but we are not able to do that.
We have however checked our JCA Penalty Schedules for penalties in Group races and note that they range from $300.00 to $500.00 and in this instance taking into account the above mitigating factors we assess an appropriate fine to be at the lower end of that range.
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: 3bf533ed38f65332f3e969388cb8b8ca
informantnumber: A7412
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/04/2015
hearing_title: Auckland TC 17 April 2015 - R 9
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the 2015 ANZAC TROTTERS CUP MOBILE TROT an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr DJ Dunn alleging that Mr Dunn committed a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively when driving SHEEMON over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Dunn was present and advised this Committee that he admitted the breach.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and he showed Mr Dunn using the whip both forehanded and backhanded and continuously in the home straight. Mr Muirhead said that the Stewards calculated that Mr Dunn had used the whip 22 times but that he was not concerned about the force with which the whip was used but rather the continuous use.
Mr Muirhead referred to the Use of Whip Guidelines that provide that excessive use means too much and also refers to force (not present in this instance) and continuous use. He said that Drivers must show distinct pauses in their whip action.
Mr Dunn acknowledged that he was aware of the Guidelines and said that he did not realise that he had used the whip so many times on this occasion.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The charge is admitted and is therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of suspension of Licence for 6 drives or a $300.00 fine. He also said that this was a group race with a $100,000.00 and that pursuant to rule 1114(2) the Committee should normally take this into account and increase the starting point fine to $500.00.
He said however that the Committee should not in this instance take into account the status of the race and the value of the stake because of Mr Dunn's excellent record. He also said that Mr Dunn had not violently hit his horse and he had admitted the breach and the Committee should take these factors into account. He did say however that the use of the whip was outside the Guidelines. He said that Mr Dunn was a very busy Driver with an outstanding record as far as this rule was concerned and he submitted that a fine of $300.00 was appropriate.
Mr Dunn agreed with Mr Muirhead's comments and said that this incident was at the lower end of the scale.
reasonsforpenalty:
The incident is clearly shown on the race films and this is an admitted breach so the number of strikes with the whip is not challenged. The Committee also agrees with Mr Muirhead that although the use of the whip was continuous the force with which it was used was not a significant factor. A number of the strikes were back hand strikes and the concern in any of these situations is "how does it look? ".
We are very aware of Mr Dunn's busy driving schedule and his excellent record as far as this rule is concerned. We believe that the last time he breached this rule was in May 2013 so considering the number of drives he has had in the interim that is an outstanding record. He is given credit for that and he is also given credit for his admission of the breach and the fact that the strikes with the whip were not too forceful.
He has however used his whip continuously and his use therefore is outside the guidelines and that is not only an aggravating factor but also the reason for the charge.
Mr Muirhead has asked us to ignore the status and the stake of the race but we are not able to do that.
We have however checked our JCA Penalty Schedules for penalties in Group races and note that they range from $300.00 to $500.00 and in this instance taking into account the above mitigating factors we assess an appropriate fine to be at the lower end of that range.
penalty:
This Committee imposes a fine of $325.00 on Mr Dunn.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D J Dunn - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3484f6dff67e2049500e29d90df0d5d2
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: 266fa4a2b6adf549078915f22fa6ce32
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 17/04/2015
meet_title: Auckland TC - 17 April 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: GJones
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC