Canterbury R 12 August 2017 – R 10 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA17687
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 12 August 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/08/12
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Miss Wynne having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Miss Wynne is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, TWS Group Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class B), Ms S L Wynne, alleging that Miss Wynne, as the rider of MANDALAY in the race, “used her whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres”.
Ms Wynne was present at the hearing of the information. She indicated that she understood the charge and that she admitted the breach. She also confirmed that she was aware of the Guidelines regarding acceptable use of the whip effective from 1 August 2017.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
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.
Mr J M McLaughlin, Stipendiary Steward, showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out MANDALAY, ridden by Ms Wynne, improving through the middle of runners. Approximately 300 metres from the finish, Ms Wynne drew her whip and used it 23 times before the 100 metres times without, at any stage, putting her hand back on the rein and pushing for the required five strides. It was established, after a discussion with the Committee, that Ms Wynne’s whip use was broken up on three occasions for at least 2-3 strides on each occasion.
Ms Wynne said that she was very disappointed in herself. She had “panicked” in an attempt to win the race. She accepted that it did not look good.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham submitted that, with the amendment to the guidelines as from 1st August, it was the RIU’s view that a “general reset” would have applied. He submitted that this had been the case in the harness racing code, after its guidelines were amended as from 1st December 2016. He further submitted that this would be fair to all riders as the guidelines had been significantly tightened. In addition, the riders were being faced with very testing track conditions. Riders had been making a genuine effort to comply with the new guidelines and the transition had been “pretty good”, Mr Oatham said.
In the present case, Mr Oatham said, although the count had been quite high there were certainly pauses for up to 3-4 strides. He saw the breach as being “towards the mid-range”, he said.
Although, Mr Oatham submitted, this should be treated as a first breach he put Ms Wynne’s record before the Committee. On 16th June 2017 at South Canterbury, Ms Wynne had received a 2 days suspension. Prior to that, on 10th May 2017, she had been fined $300 at Ashburton. The present breach should be treated as a first breach under the Penalty Guide, he submitted.
Ms Wynne indicated that she was prepared to accept any penalty that the Committee saw fit to impose.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee gave earnest consideration to Mr Oatham’s submission that the records of all riders for breaches of the Rule should be regarded as being clear as at 1st August when the new guidelines came into force. The Committee was aware that this had been the case in harness racing when that code’s new guidelines came into force on 1st December 2016.
As was the case with the amended harness racing guidelines, the thoroughbred guidelines have introduced a significantly stricter regime for participants. It is likely that some breaches under the new guidelines may well not have amounted to breaches under the previous guidelines. In the circumstances, it seems reasonable and fair that the records of all riders under the whip Rule should be reset or cleared as from the date of the new guidelines and, in this regard, the Committee agrees with Mr Oatham.
On that basis, the Committee intends to regard this breach by Ms Wynne as being a “1st breach” in terms of the Penalty Guide. The starting point for a “1st breach” was reduced, also from 1st August, from a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension to a starting point of a $300 fine.
Taking the starting point of a $300 fine, we have uplifted that to $350 for the aggravating factor, which we perceive, of the number of strikes. The only mitigating factor is Ms Wynne’s very frank admission of the breach for which, although inevitable, we give her a discount of $50. Although Ms Wynne’s record is deemed to be clear as at 1st August, it would not be appropriate to give her any discount for having a good record as she has the two previous breaches referred to by Mr Oatham in his penalty submissions.
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: df7ad0db46ffb9283d570406a6fe9182
informantnumber: A09506
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/08/2017
hearing_title: Canterbury R 12 August 2017 - R 10 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, TWS Group Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class B), Ms S L Wynne, alleging that Miss Wynne, as the rider of MANDALAY in the race, “used her whip in an excessive manner prior to the 100 metres”.
Ms Wynne was present at the hearing of the information. She indicated that she understood the charge and that she admitted the breach. She also confirmed that she was aware of the Guidelines regarding acceptable use of the whip effective from 1 August 2017.
Rule 638 provides as follows:
(3) A Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is:
(ii) excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide as follows:
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.
Mr J M McLaughlin, Stipendiary Steward, showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out MANDALAY, ridden by Ms Wynne, improving through the middle of runners. Approximately 300 metres from the finish, Ms Wynne drew her whip and used it 23 times before the 100 metres times without, at any stage, putting her hand back on the rein and pushing for the required five strides. It was established, after a discussion with the Committee, that Ms Wynne’s whip use was broken up on three occasions for at least 2-3 strides on each occasion.
Ms Wynne said that she was very disappointed in herself. She had “panicked” in an attempt to win the race. She accepted that it did not look good.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Miss Wynne having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham submitted that, with the amendment to the guidelines as from 1st August, it was the RIU’s view that a “general reset” would have applied. He submitted that this had been the case in the harness racing code, after its guidelines were amended as from 1st December 2016. He further submitted that this would be fair to all riders as the guidelines had been significantly tightened. In addition, the riders were being faced with very testing track conditions. Riders had been making a genuine effort to comply with the new guidelines and the transition had been “pretty good”, Mr Oatham said.
In the present case, Mr Oatham said, although the count had been quite high there were certainly pauses for up to 3-4 strides. He saw the breach as being “towards the mid-range”, he said.
Although, Mr Oatham submitted, this should be treated as a first breach he put Ms Wynne’s record before the Committee. On 16th June 2017 at South Canterbury, Ms Wynne had received a 2 days suspension. Prior to that, on 10th May 2017, she had been fined $300 at Ashburton. The present breach should be treated as a first breach under the Penalty Guide, he submitted.
Ms Wynne indicated that she was prepared to accept any penalty that the Committee saw fit to impose.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee gave earnest consideration to Mr Oatham’s submission that the records of all riders for breaches of the Rule should be regarded as being clear as at 1st August when the new guidelines came into force. The Committee was aware that this had been the case in harness racing when that code’s new guidelines came into force on 1st December 2016.
As was the case with the amended harness racing guidelines, the thoroughbred guidelines have introduced a significantly stricter regime for participants. It is likely that some breaches under the new guidelines may well not have amounted to breaches under the previous guidelines. In the circumstances, it seems reasonable and fair that the records of all riders under the whip Rule should be reset or cleared as from the date of the new guidelines and, in this regard, the Committee agrees with Mr Oatham.
On that basis, the Committee intends to regard this breach by Ms Wynne as being a “1st breach” in terms of the Penalty Guide. The starting point for a “1st breach” was reduced, also from 1st August, from a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension to a starting point of a $300 fine.
Taking the starting point of a $300 fine, we have uplifted that to $350 for the aggravating factor, which we perceive, of the number of strikes. The only mitigating factor is Ms Wynne’s very frank admission of the breach for which, although inevitable, we give her a discount of $50. Although Ms Wynne’s record is deemed to be clear as at 1st August, it would not be appropriate to give her any discount for having a good record as she has the two previous breaches referred to by Mr Oatham in his penalty submissions.
penalty:
Miss Wynne is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: S L Wynne, Licensed Jockey (Class A)
Otherperson: Mr J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2f35bf9795e7642b729cdfd26ba0d674
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
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meetdate: 12/08/2017
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 12 August 2017
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