Auckland TC 6 July 2018 – R 4 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA12038
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 6 July 2018
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2018/07/06
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
As Mr Blakemore has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly the Committee imposed a fine of $200 on Mr Blakemore.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the PRUDENTIA LAW MOBILE PACE 2200m, Mr Mulcay instigated a charge by way of an Information, alleging that Licensed Junior Driver, Mr M Blakemore had used his whip in a striking motion on more than 10 occasions over the final 400 metres.
Mr Blakemore, assisted by Open Horseman, Mr P Ferguson was present at the hearing. He acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach
Rule 869 (2) provides that 'No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board'.
Using the available films Mr Mulcay identified the horse 'Cooking With Gas' which was driven by Mr Blakemore. Passing the 400 metre mark the horse was 3rd to last, and it was apparent on the films that Mr Blakemore then commenced to drive the horse forward. He angled the horse to the outside as the field rounded the home turn, and from there to the finish the horse ran on quite strongly to finish into 3rd placing. Mr Mulcay submitted that Mr Blakemore had struck the horse 14 times from just prior to the home turn until the finish. He added that some of those strikes were with the reins, although Mr Blakemore had the whip in his hand.
Mr Blakemore had no comment to make other than agreeing that it appeared on the films that he had struck the horse 14 times.
Mr Ferguson stated that he believed that one or two of the strikes early in the home run had been with the reins only and therefore should not ben included in the total number of strikes by Mr Blakemore,
Submissions for Penalty:
In outlining his penalty submissions Mr Mulcay said that the Stewards had 'significant sympathy' for Mr Blakemore. He said that Mr Blakemore was based in Western Australia and had returned to New Zealand for family reasons. Mr Mulcay added that Mr Blakemore was only driving once while home from Australia and that was behind his fathers horse (Cooking With Gas). He added that Harness Racing New Zealand had not provided Mr Blakemore with a copy of the Use of the Whip Guidelines, effective from 1 December 2016, which outlines what is acceptable whip useage, Mr Mulcay also said that he did not have the opportunity to discuss these Guidelines with Mr Blakemore prior to the race in question.
Mr Mulcay referred to the Rules of Harness Racing Penalty Guide which provides for a starting point of a fine of $300 for a breach of the Regulations where between 14-16 strikes were involved. Mr Mulcay added that the Stewards would not object if the Committee saw fit to exercise some discretion when assessing the penalty to be imposed on Mr Blakemore.
Mr Blakemore said that he had only arrived back in New Zealand a few days before the racemeeting and only intended driving once, his fathers horse.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee confirmed that the Penalty Guide attached to the Use of the Whip Regulations provides a starting point of a fine of $300 where a driver strikes a horse between 14-16 times within the final 400 metres of a race.
Mr Blakemore has admitted this breach and he has no record of any past breaches of this Rule. We viewed the films of the race several times, in particular early in the run home, and agree that it is difficult to ascertain from those films if Mr Blakemore has struck the horse involved 14 times 'in breach of the Regulations'. Mr Ferguson stated that he did not believe that he had. The Committee could only find doubt around one of the strikes.
Committees are able to use some discretion when assessing penalties. On this occasion we believed that while we were dealing with an admitted breach, we could use our discretion and accept that there was some doubt as to the actual number of strikes involved.
Accordingly we believed that an appropriate penalty was a fine of $200.
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: 31b617b317511c7cd82165db06d60f65
informantnumber: A10710
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive whip use
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/07/2018
hearing_title: Auckland TC 6 July 2018 - R 4 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the PRUDENTIA LAW MOBILE PACE 2200m, Mr Mulcay instigated a charge by way of an Information, alleging that Licensed Junior Driver, Mr M Blakemore had used his whip in a striking motion on more than 10 occasions over the final 400 metres.
Mr Blakemore, assisted by Open Horseman, Mr P Ferguson was present at the hearing. He acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach
Rule 869 (2) provides that 'No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board'.
Using the available films Mr Mulcay identified the horse 'Cooking With Gas' which was driven by Mr Blakemore. Passing the 400 metre mark the horse was 3rd to last, and it was apparent on the films that Mr Blakemore then commenced to drive the horse forward. He angled the horse to the outside as the field rounded the home turn, and from there to the finish the horse ran on quite strongly to finish into 3rd placing. Mr Mulcay submitted that Mr Blakemore had struck the horse 14 times from just prior to the home turn until the finish. He added that some of those strikes were with the reins, although Mr Blakemore had the whip in his hand.
Mr Blakemore had no comment to make other than agreeing that it appeared on the films that he had struck the horse 14 times.
Mr Ferguson stated that he believed that one or two of the strikes early in the home run had been with the reins only and therefore should not ben included in the total number of strikes by Mr Blakemore,
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Blakemore has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
In outlining his penalty submissions Mr Mulcay said that the Stewards had 'significant sympathy' for Mr Blakemore. He said that Mr Blakemore was based in Western Australia and had returned to New Zealand for family reasons. Mr Mulcay added that Mr Blakemore was only driving once while home from Australia and that was behind his fathers horse (Cooking With Gas). He added that Harness Racing New Zealand had not provided Mr Blakemore with a copy of the Use of the Whip Guidelines, effective from 1 December 2016, which outlines what is acceptable whip useage, Mr Mulcay also said that he did not have the opportunity to discuss these Guidelines with Mr Blakemore prior to the race in question.
Mr Mulcay referred to the Rules of Harness Racing Penalty Guide which provides for a starting point of a fine of $300 for a breach of the Regulations where between 14-16 strikes were involved. Mr Mulcay added that the Stewards would not object if the Committee saw fit to exercise some discretion when assessing the penalty to be imposed on Mr Blakemore.
Mr Blakemore said that he had only arrived back in New Zealand a few days before the racemeeting and only intended driving once, his fathers horse.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee confirmed that the Penalty Guide attached to the Use of the Whip Regulations provides a starting point of a fine of $300 where a driver strikes a horse between 14-16 times within the final 400 metres of a race.
Mr Blakemore has admitted this breach and he has no record of any past breaches of this Rule. We viewed the films of the race several times, in particular early in the run home, and agree that it is difficult to ascertain from those films if Mr Blakemore has struck the horse involved 14 times 'in breach of the Regulations'. Mr Ferguson stated that he did not believe that he had. The Committee could only find doubt around one of the strikes.
Committees are able to use some discretion when assessing penalties. On this occasion we believed that while we were dealing with an admitted breach, we could use our discretion and accept that there was some doubt as to the actual number of strikes involved.
Accordingly we believed that an appropriate penalty was a fine of $200.
penalty:
Accordingly the Committee imposed a fine of $200 on Mr Blakemore.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2) and the Use of the Whip Regulations
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Blakemore - Licensed Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr P Ferguson - Open Horseman assisting Mr M Blakemore
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d9b1ed04c90cced418c70c0171cb4472
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f3a0ce60445ab1097083db768d22c8c3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 06/07/2018
meet_title: Auckland TC - 6 July 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ASmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC