Archive Decision

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Canterbury JC 10 August 2013 – R 6

ID: JCA16970

Applicant:
R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr M Mitchell - Licensed Jumps Jockey

Other Person:
Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A4943

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
Rule 638(3) A Rider shall not:, (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper;

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 10 August 2013

Meet Chair:
KHales

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2013/08/10

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

As Mr Mitchell has admitted the charge it is therefore deemed to be proved.

Penalty:

Mr Mitchell is fined $250.

Charge:

It was alleged that M Mitchell (Cape Kinaveral) used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200 metres.

Facts:

Following the running of the "Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 139th Grand National Steeplechase", Licensed Jumps Jockey, M Mitchell was charged with using his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200  metres mark.

Video coverage of the incident was shown to the hearing from which Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward R Neal demonstrated that Mr M Mitchell, the rider of "Cape Kinaveral" struck his mount at least 10 times without pause and returning his hand to the whip rein as required by the "Use of the Whip guidelines".

Mr Mitchell did not contest the evidence but said by way of explanation, that the strikes of the whip were with the backhand, and that at that stage of the race he believed he was still "in with a chance". His eventual placing in the race was 4th.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Neal said that the Stipendiary Stewards considered the degree of seriousness of the breach to be "mid range". He told us that Mr Mitchell had not breached this rule before. A fine was  appropriate but Mr Neal did not have any submission on the quantum.

Mr Mitchell did not have any submissions to make but when informed by the Chairman that a suspension was a  sentencing option, he said that he would prefer not to be suspended.

Reasons for Penalty:

The appropriate penalty in this case is a fine.

In terms of setting the penalty we are entitled to take into account the status of the race, the degree of seriousness and the extent of the breach.

We take as a starting point a fine of $350. There are no aggravating features which warrant an uplift on our starting point. In terms of mitigating features we take into account Mr Mitchell's good record, his degree of co-operation with the Stipendiary Stewards and our assessment of the degree of seriousness, which we do not assess at quite the level that the Stipendiary Stewards do. As a consequence a discount of $100 is allowed on our starting point.

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: ba242af970ea801775cac8ba9fe813c7


informantnumber: A4943


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge:


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 09/08/2013


hearing_title: Canterbury JC 10 August 2013 - R 6


charge:

It was alleged that M Mitchell (Cape Kinaveral) used his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200 metres.


facts:

Following the running of the "Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 139th Grand National Steeplechase", Licensed Jumps Jockey, M Mitchell was charged with using his whip in an excessive manner prior to the 200  metres mark.

Video coverage of the incident was shown to the hearing from which Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward R Neal demonstrated that Mr M Mitchell, the rider of "Cape Kinaveral" struck his mount at least 10 times without pause and returning his hand to the whip rein as required by the "Use of the Whip guidelines".

Mr Mitchell did not contest the evidence but said by way of explanation, that the strikes of the whip were with the backhand, and that at that stage of the race he believed he was still "in with a chance". His eventual placing in the race was 4th.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Mitchell has admitted the charge it is therefore deemed to be proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Neal said that the Stipendiary Stewards considered the degree of seriousness of the breach to be "mid range". He told us that Mr Mitchell had not breached this rule before. A fine was  appropriate but Mr Neal did not have any submission on the quantum.

Mr Mitchell did not have any submissions to make but when informed by the Chairman that a suspension was a  sentencing option, he said that he would prefer not to be suspended.


reasonsforpenalty:

The appropriate penalty in this case is a fine.

In terms of setting the penalty we are entitled to take into account the status of the race, the degree of seriousness and the extent of the breach.

We take as a starting point a fine of $350. There are no aggravating features which warrant an uplift on our starting point. In terms of mitigating features we take into account Mr Mitchell's good record, his degree of co-operation with the Stipendiary Stewards and our assessment of the degree of seriousness, which we do not assess at quite the level that the Stipendiary Stewards do. As a consequence a discount of $100 is allowed on our starting point.


penalty:

Mr Mitchell is fined $250.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 638(3) A Rider shall not:, (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper;


Informant: R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Mitchell - Licensed Jumps Jockey


Otherperson: Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 0cd4dc3acbe31243a560f5874eb54992


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: 557f5d2ae8d8496849d80b6ddf9fdf25


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 10/08/2013


meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 10 August 2013


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: canterbury-racing


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: KHales


meet_pm1: SChing


meet_pm2: none


name: Canterbury Racing