Auckland TC 17 May 2019 – R 5 – Chair, Mr G Jones
ID: JCA11452
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 17 May 2019
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2019/05/17
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
The charge is admitted and therefore proved.
Penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $300 on Mr McGowan.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Haras Des Trotteurs Northern Trotting Oaks (Mobile) 2200 (Group 3), an Information was filed by Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging Licensed Open Horseman, Mr D McGowan, breached Rule 869(2) in that he used his whip in contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations, clause (b) driving MI ANNA inside the final 400 metres.
Rule 869(2) provides that:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of the Whip Guidelines provides that:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, this is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr McGowan admitted the breach and advised that he did not wish to be present at the hearing. He endorsed the information accordingly.
Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Muirhead used available video footage to demonstrate the breach. He showed that from the 300 metre mark MI ANNA (Mr D McGowan) was racing in 5th place wide on the track. He said that from the straight entrance to the winning post Mr McGowan used his whip 16 times. He said that 2 or 3 of the strikes made contact with the sulky shaft and these count as strikes for the purpose of the rule and regulations.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr McGowan has a clear record in terms of this rule. He said that the JCA Penalty Guide provided a $300 fine for a first offence where the number of strikes is between 14 and 16.
Mr Muirhead submitted that this was a mid-range breach and a fine of $300 would be appropriate in the circumstances. He added there were no particular aggravating factors and a breach of this nature was out of character for Mr McGowan.
Given that Mr McGowan elected not to attend the hearing no submissions were lodged on his behalf in terms of the breach itself or any proposed penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a 1st breach of the Use of Whip Regulations establish starting points, on a graduated scale. These are based on the number of strikes as follows:
11 - 13 strikes $200
14 - 16 strikes $300
17 - strikes and over $500
The Committee has reviewed the video footage of the final stages of the race. It is clear that Mr McGowan used his whip 16 times, with at least 3 of those strikes hitting the sulky shaft. The Committee noted that the strikes were not particularly forceful but some of them were administered in quick succession. Although this breach occurred in a $30,000 Group 3 race it does not constitute a ‘major race’ which is defined as a race where the stakes are $40,000 or more. On that basis we elected not to apply an uplift.
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: 1fd78335094891c6fc5def197900bc94
informantnumber: A10320
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of the use of the whip regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 17/05/2019
hearing_title: Auckland TC 17 May 2019 – R 5 - Chair, Mr G Jones
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Haras Des Trotteurs Northern Trotting Oaks (Mobile) 2200 (Group 3), an Information was filed by Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging Licensed Open Horseman, Mr D McGowan, breached Rule 869(2) in that he used his whip in contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations, clause (b) driving MI ANNA inside the final 400 metres.
Rule 869(2) provides that:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Use of the Whip Guidelines provides that:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, this is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr McGowan admitted the breach and advised that he did not wish to be present at the hearing. He endorsed the information accordingly.
Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Muirhead used available video footage to demonstrate the breach. He showed that from the 300 metre mark MI ANNA (Mr D McGowan) was racing in 5th place wide on the track. He said that from the straight entrance to the winning post Mr McGowan used his whip 16 times. He said that 2 or 3 of the strikes made contact with the sulky shaft and these count as strikes for the purpose of the rule and regulations.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The charge is admitted and therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr McGowan has a clear record in terms of this rule. He said that the JCA Penalty Guide provided a $300 fine for a first offence where the number of strikes is between 14 and 16.
Mr Muirhead submitted that this was a mid-range breach and a fine of $300 would be appropriate in the circumstances. He added there were no particular aggravating factors and a breach of this nature was out of character for Mr McGowan.
Given that Mr McGowan elected not to attend the hearing no submissions were lodged on his behalf in terms of the breach itself or any proposed penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a 1st breach of the Use of Whip Regulations establish starting points, on a graduated scale. These are based on the number of strikes as follows:
11 - 13 strikes $200
14 - 16 strikes $300
17 - strikes and over $500
The Committee has reviewed the video footage of the final stages of the race. It is clear that Mr McGowan used his whip 16 times, with at least 3 of those strikes hitting the sulky shaft. The Committee noted that the strikes were not particularly forceful but some of them were administered in quick succession. Although this breach occurred in a $30,000 Group 3 race it does not constitute a ‘major race’ which is defined as a race where the stakes are $40,000 or more. On that basis we elected not to apply an uplift.
penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $300 on Mr McGowan.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)
Informant: Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D McGowan - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 05ffbbd5c1edf3a19af7ce91fc7e1b84
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: f20b6d485804895e8ad4de38ae5817d9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 17/05/2019
meet_title: Auckland TC - 17 May 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ASmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC