Avondale JC 25 April 2018 – R 2 – Chair, Mr G Jones
ID: JCA12694
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Avondale JC - 25 April 2018
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2018/04/25
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
As Mr Harris admitted the charges, both are found to be proved.
Penalty:
Pursuant to Rule 1106(2) the Committee granted a deferment to Mr Harris’ssuspension.
Accordingly, Mr Harris had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 29 April and conclude after racing on 9 May 2018 (6 national days). The 29 April 2018 race meeting at Blenheim was not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.
In addition Mr Harris was fined $500 for excessive use of whip.
Facts:
Following the running of race 2, the Magness The Mighty Steam Train 2100, two Informations were filed by the Informant, Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson pursuant to Rules 638 (1)(d) and 638(3)(b)(ii).
The first information alleged that Class A rider, Mr T Harris allowed his mount MY DAKOTA to shift in when not sufficiently clear of DELEGATE which was checked near the 2000 metres.
The second information alleged that Mr Harris used his whip excessively on MY DAKOTA prior to the 100 metres.
For expediency both charges were heard together. At the commencement of the hearing Mr Harris confirmed that he understood the nature of the charges and that he did not require the Rules read. He also confirmed both charges were admitted.
The relevant Rules:
Charge (1) - Rule 638(1) (d) provides:
A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Charge (2) – Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides that a Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Using available video footage Mr Jones demonstrated the incidents. He identified the two horses involved, namely MY DAKOTA which jumped from the outside barrier (number 8) at the 2100 start; and DELEGATE which started from barrier number 3. He said that DELEGATE began awkwardly and was checked and lost ground at the 2000 metre mark. He said the check was the direct result of Mr Harris allowing MY DAKOTA, after jumping from the barrier to shift inward when insufficiently clear of DELEGATE. He said that the inward shift was quite sharp and MY DAKOTA was never any more than 3/4 to 1 length clear of DELEGATE. He told the Committee he placed Mr Harris’ level of carelessness in the mid-range.
In terms of the excessive whip use charge, using available film, Mr Jones demonstrated that Mr Harris struck his mount 11 to 12 times from the straight entrance to the 100 metre mark without the required respite. He added that all of the strikes were not continuous with some respite occurring after 3 or 4 strides, albeit outside the use of whip guidelines.
In response to the first charge Mr Harris advised the Committee that MAKDANIFE who drew barrier 1, shifted out slightly after the start and may have contributed to the tightening received by DELEGATE, but he ultimately accepted that he had an obligation to ensure that when he crossed the field he was sufficiently clear of other runners. In relation to his whip use Mr Harris said that the films were quite clear and he accepted he exceeded the allowable number of strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
With regards to the careless riding charge Mr Williamson submitted that Mr Harris has breached this rule twice previously in the past 12 months. The first being on 10 November 2017 resulted in a 4 day suspension and the other on 8 April 2018 resulted in a 6 day suspension. He noted that Mr Harris has recently returned to race riding following a 2 month injury break. Mr Williamson said that he assessed the level of carelessness in the mid to low range.
In terms of the whip charge, Mr Williamson advised that although this was Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip rule since the new penalty regime came into force, it was a low end breach as Mr Harris paused twice for 3 or 4 strides.
Mr Harris asked the Committee to take into account his overall riding record, which he said was quite good despite his recent time away from race riding. He advised that he has firm riding engagements up to and including Saturday 28 April 2018 and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
In respect of both charges the Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. In relation to the careless riding charge the Committee reviewed the video footage in order to assess the level of carelessness and the resultant impacts on any other runner. We noted that Mr Harris did permit his mount to cross quite sharply after leaving the outside barrier. We also noted that MAKDANIFE did race awkwardly during the early stages of the race, but in our view it played little, if any part in Mr Harris’ carelessness.
We placed the level of carelessness in the low to mid-range and adopted 7 national days as a starting point. We took into account Mr Harris’ admission of the breach as well as his good riding record for which we allowed a 1 day discount.
In relation to the whip rule breach, the JCA Guidelines establish graduated starting points for (first, second, or third) breaches.
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension
As this is Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip rule and there are no aggravating factors, there are no compelling reasons for the Committee to deviate from the guidelines.
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: 4ae0ac721adc2918aa2550838f479454
informantnumber: A10382 and A10383
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless riding and excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 26/04/2018
hearing_title: Avondale JC 25 April 2018 – R 2 - Chair, Mr G Jones
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 2, the Magness The Mighty Steam Train 2100, two Informations were filed by the Informant, Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson pursuant to Rules 638 (1)(d) and 638(3)(b)(ii).
The first information alleged that Class A rider, Mr T Harris allowed his mount MY DAKOTA to shift in when not sufficiently clear of DELEGATE which was checked near the 2000 metres.
The second information alleged that Mr Harris used his whip excessively on MY DAKOTA prior to the 100 metres.
For expediency both charges were heard together. At the commencement of the hearing Mr Harris confirmed that he understood the nature of the charges and that he did not require the Rules read. He also confirmed both charges were admitted.
The relevant Rules:
Charge (1) - Rule 638(1) (d) provides:
A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Charge (2) – Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides that a Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Using available video footage Mr Jones demonstrated the incidents. He identified the two horses involved, namely MY DAKOTA which jumped from the outside barrier (number 8) at the 2100 start; and DELEGATE which started from barrier number 3. He said that DELEGATE began awkwardly and was checked and lost ground at the 2000 metre mark. He said the check was the direct result of Mr Harris allowing MY DAKOTA, after jumping from the barrier to shift inward when insufficiently clear of DELEGATE. He said that the inward shift was quite sharp and MY DAKOTA was never any more than 3/4 to 1 length clear of DELEGATE. He told the Committee he placed Mr Harris’ level of carelessness in the mid-range.
In terms of the excessive whip use charge, using available film, Mr Jones demonstrated that Mr Harris struck his mount 11 to 12 times from the straight entrance to the 100 metre mark without the required respite. He added that all of the strikes were not continuous with some respite occurring after 3 or 4 strides, albeit outside the use of whip guidelines.
In response to the first charge Mr Harris advised the Committee that MAKDANIFE who drew barrier 1, shifted out slightly after the start and may have contributed to the tightening received by DELEGATE, but he ultimately accepted that he had an obligation to ensure that when he crossed the field he was sufficiently clear of other runners. In relation to his whip use Mr Harris said that the films were quite clear and he accepted he exceeded the allowable number of strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Harris admitted the charges, both are found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
With regards to the careless riding charge Mr Williamson submitted that Mr Harris has breached this rule twice previously in the past 12 months. The first being on 10 November 2017 resulted in a 4 day suspension and the other on 8 April 2018 resulted in a 6 day suspension. He noted that Mr Harris has recently returned to race riding following a 2 month injury break. Mr Williamson said that he assessed the level of carelessness in the mid to low range.
In terms of the whip charge, Mr Williamson advised that although this was Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip rule since the new penalty regime came into force, it was a low end breach as Mr Harris paused twice for 3 or 4 strides.
Mr Harris asked the Committee to take into account his overall riding record, which he said was quite good despite his recent time away from race riding. He advised that he has firm riding engagements up to and including Saturday 28 April 2018 and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
In respect of both charges the Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. In relation to the careless riding charge the Committee reviewed the video footage in order to assess the level of carelessness and the resultant impacts on any other runner. We noted that Mr Harris did permit his mount to cross quite sharply after leaving the outside barrier. We also noted that MAKDANIFE did race awkwardly during the early stages of the race, but in our view it played little, if any part in Mr Harris’ carelessness.
We placed the level of carelessness in the low to mid-range and adopted 7 national days as a starting point. We took into account Mr Harris’ admission of the breach as well as his good riding record for which we allowed a 1 day discount.
In relation to the whip rule breach, the JCA Guidelines establish graduated starting points for (first, second, or third) breaches.
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension
As this is Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip rule and there are no aggravating factors, there are no compelling reasons for the Committee to deviate from the guidelines.
penalty:
Pursuant to Rule 1106(2) the Committee granted a deferment to Mr Harris’ssuspension.
Accordingly, Mr Harris had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 29 April and conclude after racing on 9 May 2018 (6 national days). The 29 April 2018 race meeting at Blenheim was not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.
In addition Mr Harris was fined $500 for excessive use of whip.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d) Careless Riding and 638(3)(b)(ii) Excessive use of whip
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr T Harris - Class A Rider - rider of MY DAKOTA
Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b07cd919dc286033806b6244398079c3
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
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meetid: c78346f883a6966312be256640ef74b3
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
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meetdate: 25/04/2018
meet_title: Avondale JC - 25 April 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: avondale-jc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
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name: Avondale JC