Canterbury R 12 November 2016 – R 7 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA10759
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 12 November 2016
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2016/11/12
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
Mr Cuneen having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Cuneen was fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, gavelhouse.com 44th New Zealand 1000 Guineas (Group 1), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr R Cuneen, alleging that Mr Cuneen, as the rider of LA DIOSA in the race, “used his whip excessively on LA DIOSA between the 400 and 200 metres”.
Mr Cuneen was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach. He was assisted at the hearing by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr W Harnett.
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:
(iii) excessive.
The Guidelines for Use of Whip provide:
Once a horse enters the final straight it can be hit with the drawn whip up to six times and then the rider should ride hands and heels for six strides before hitting the horse again with the drawn whip and continue this action until the 200 metres.
Mr Oatham showed a video replay of the final stages of the race, from when the field turned for home with approximately 400 metres to run. He pointed out LA DIOSA, ridden by Mr Cuneen, the widest runner at that point in the 11-horse field. Shortly thereafter, Mr Cuneen drew his whip and struck his mount 10 times prior to the 200 metres, Mr Oatham said. Mr Cuneen’s use of the whip did contain one “fairly long pause” Mr Oatham conceded.
Mr Cuneen said that he did try to break up his use of the whip and he had misjudged where he was. His mount had been coming into contention and he thought that he was “fine”, but he accepted that his use of the whip was outside of the Guidelines.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Mr Cuneen had a clear record under the Rule. He had not been charged with any breach of the Rule previously. He was entitled to credit for that good record. Stewards viewed the breach as being towards the lower end of the scale of whip offences – 10 strikes prior to the 200 metres, Mr Oatham said.
Mr Oatham also pointed out that the race was a Group 1 race with a significant stake of $300,000. Mr Cuneen did go on to win the race, he said. That was an aggravating feature, he submitted.
Mr Oatham then referred to the penalty ($500 fine) imposed on Jockey, Mr M J McNab, in a Group 1 race on the 1st day of the meeting, in similar circumstances. Taking into account all of the matters he had referred to, Mr Oatham said, the Stewards were of the view that a fine of not less than $500 was appropriate.
Mr Harnett submitted that Mr Cuneen’s use of the whip was right on the cusp of his being charged.
Reasons for Penalty:
The starting point under the Penalty Guide for a breach of the Rule is a fine of $500. In this case, from that starting point, we have looked at the aggravating and mitigating factors.
The sole aggravating factor, as the Committee saw it, was the status of the race and the stake payable. While not necessarily being an aggravating factor, the Committee also took the view that it was relevant to penalty that, as pointed out by Mr Oatham, Mr Cuneen had won the race. We believe that it is appropriate to increase the starting point by $200 for those factors. The Committee saw the breach as being in the low-to-mid range of seriousness and, as such, was a neutral factor.
On the other hand, Mr Cuneen is entitled to a discount for two mitigating factors – that is to say, his excellent record and his very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considers that a discount of $200 is appropriate, bringing the fine back to $500.
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: 0bd88948325863281b9960f2d132e9d6
informantnumber: A6989
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/11/2016
hearing_title: Canterbury R 12 November 2016 - R 7 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, gavelhouse.com 44th New Zealand 1000 Guineas (Group 1), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr R Cuneen, alleging that Mr Cuneen, as the rider of LA DIOSA in the race, “used his whip excessively on LA DIOSA between the 400 and 200 metres”.
Mr Cuneen was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach. He was assisted at the hearing by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr W Harnett.
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:
(iii) excessive.
The Guidelines for Use of Whip provide:
Once a horse enters the final straight it can be hit with the drawn whip up to six times and then the rider should ride hands and heels for six strides before hitting the horse again with the drawn whip and continue this action until the 200 metres.
Mr Oatham showed a video replay of the final stages of the race, from when the field turned for home with approximately 400 metres to run. He pointed out LA DIOSA, ridden by Mr Cuneen, the widest runner at that point in the 11-horse field. Shortly thereafter, Mr Cuneen drew his whip and struck his mount 10 times prior to the 200 metres, Mr Oatham said. Mr Cuneen’s use of the whip did contain one “fairly long pause” Mr Oatham conceded.
Mr Cuneen said that he did try to break up his use of the whip and he had misjudged where he was. His mount had been coming into contention and he thought that he was “fine”, but he accepted that his use of the whip was outside of the Guidelines.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Cuneen having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Mr Cuneen had a clear record under the Rule. He had not been charged with any breach of the Rule previously. He was entitled to credit for that good record. Stewards viewed the breach as being towards the lower end of the scale of whip offences – 10 strikes prior to the 200 metres, Mr Oatham said.
Mr Oatham also pointed out that the race was a Group 1 race with a significant stake of $300,000. Mr Cuneen did go on to win the race, he said. That was an aggravating feature, he submitted.
Mr Oatham then referred to the penalty ($500 fine) imposed on Jockey, Mr M J McNab, in a Group 1 race on the 1st day of the meeting, in similar circumstances. Taking into account all of the matters he had referred to, Mr Oatham said, the Stewards were of the view that a fine of not less than $500 was appropriate.
Mr Harnett submitted that Mr Cuneen’s use of the whip was right on the cusp of his being charged.
reasonsforpenalty:
The starting point under the Penalty Guide for a breach of the Rule is a fine of $500. In this case, from that starting point, we have looked at the aggravating and mitigating factors.
The sole aggravating factor, as the Committee saw it, was the status of the race and the stake payable. While not necessarily being an aggravating factor, the Committee also took the view that it was relevant to penalty that, as pointed out by Mr Oatham, Mr Cuneen had won the race. We believe that it is appropriate to increase the starting point by $200 for those factors. The Committee saw the breach as being in the low-to-mid range of seriousness and, as such, was a neutral factor.
On the other hand, Mr Cuneen is entitled to a discount for two mitigating factors – that is to say, his excellent record and his very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considers that a discount of $200 is appropriate, bringing the fine back to $500.
penalty:
Mr Cuneen was fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(iii)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: R Cuneen, Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B)
Otherperson: W Harnett, Apprentice Jockey Mentor
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 389c446a3e31fd2e35ff6de143320475
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
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race_pm2:
meetid: 921c382c06f83a53bc1733a849f2dd5e
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meet_emailed1: 0
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meetdate: 12/11/2016
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 12 November 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing