Archive Decision

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Canterbury R 12 November 2016 – R 9 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie

ID: JCA12374

Applicant:
J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
S T Collett, Licensed Jockey (Class A)

Information Number:
A6990

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive Use of Whip

Rules:
638(3)(b)(iii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 12 November 2016

Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2016/11/12

Race Number:
R9

Decision:

Miss Collett having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Miss Collett was fined the sum of $400.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 9, Christchurch Casino 153rd New Zealand Cup (Group 3), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Miss S T Collett, alleging that Miss Collett, as the rider of DELACROIX in the race, “used her whip excessively prior to the 200 metres”.

Miss Collett was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.

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 race between the 400 metres and the 200 metres. He pointed out DELACROIX, ridden by Miss Collett, in the lead as the field ran wide entering the final straight. Mr Oatham alleged that, from that point, Miss Collett had used her whip on 12-13 occasions prior to reaching the 200 metres. Miss Collett accepted the number of strikes alleged by Mr Oatham. Mr Oatham acknowledged that there were several pauses in Miss Collett’s use of the whip but, on each occasion, only for “a couple of strides” and not the six strides required by the Guidelines.

Miss Collett said that the replay was self-explanatory. She accepted that she had commenced using her whip “a long way out” and that it was a long way up the straight.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Miss Collett has a clear record under the Rule going back 12 months. She was entitled to credit for that good record. Stewards viewed the breach as being in the mid-range, or “a little bit below”, Mr Oatham said.

Mr Oatham submitted that it was relevant that the race was a Group 3 race with a significant stake of $250,000. This factor justified a “slight uplift”, he submitted. Stewards were of the view that a fine was the appropriate penalty, such fine being in the vicinity of $400.

Miss Collett, whose mount finished 6th in the race, said that she could not say whether the horse that finished 7th would have beaten her mount had she not used her whip in the manner that she did. Her mount had been “under sufferance” towards the end of the race and she believed that it had made no difference. 

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. We believe that it is appropriate to increase the starting point by $100 for that factor. The breach was in the low-to-mid range of seriousness and we regarded that as a neutral factor.

On the other hand, Miss Collett is entitled to a discount for two mitigating factors – that is to say, her very good record and her very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considers that a discount of $200 is appropriate, bringing the fine back to $400.

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: 547e537c50649933ad3abf7b2b404bfd


informantnumber: A6990


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 9 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 9, Christchurch Casino 153rd New Zealand Cup (Group 3), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Miss S T Collett, alleging that Miss Collett, as the rider of DELACROIX in the race, “used her whip excessively prior to the 200 metres”.

Miss Collett was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach.

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 race between the 400 metres and the 200 metres. He pointed out DELACROIX, ridden by Miss Collett, in the lead as the field ran wide entering the final straight. Mr Oatham alleged that, from that point, Miss Collett had used her whip on 12-13 occasions prior to reaching the 200 metres. Miss Collett accepted the number of strikes alleged by Mr Oatham. Mr Oatham acknowledged that there were several pauses in Miss Collett’s use of the whip but, on each occasion, only for “a couple of strides” and not the six strides required by the Guidelines.

Miss Collett said that the replay was self-explanatory. She accepted that she had commenced using her whip “a long way out” and that it was a long way up the straight.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Miss Collett having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Miss Collett has a clear record under the Rule going back 12 months. She was entitled to credit for that good record. Stewards viewed the breach as being in the mid-range, or “a little bit below”, Mr Oatham said.

Mr Oatham submitted that it was relevant that the race was a Group 3 race with a significant stake of $250,000. This factor justified a “slight uplift”, he submitted. Stewards were of the view that a fine was the appropriate penalty, such fine being in the vicinity of $400.

Miss Collett, whose mount finished 6th in the race, said that she could not say whether the horse that finished 7th would have beaten her mount had she not used her whip in the manner that she did. Her mount had been “under sufferance” towards the end of the race and she believed that it had made no difference. 


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. We believe that it is appropriate to increase the starting point by $100 for that factor. The breach was in the low-to-mid range of seriousness and we regarded that as a neutral factor.

On the other hand, Miss Collett is entitled to a discount for two mitigating factors – that is to say, her very good record and her very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considers that a discount of $200 is appropriate, bringing the fine back to $400.


penalty:

Miss Collett was fined the sum of $400.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(3)(b)(iii)


Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: S T Collett, Licensed Jockey (Class A)


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 84c19ce417be8f5db0aebab7068457a4


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R9


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 921c382c06f83a53bc1733a849f2dd5e


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


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