Canterbury R 5 August 2017 – R 9 – Chair,Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA15076
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 5 August 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/08/05
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Mr Johnson having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Johnson is fined the sum of $250.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Gold Club Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr T Johnson, alleging that Mr Johnson, as the rider of AL MUNROE in the race, “used his whip in excessively prior to the 100 metres”.
Mr Johnson was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr D M Walsh. Mr Johnson indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach. He also confirmed that he 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 concluding 300-400 metres of the race He pointed out AL MUNROE, ridden by Mr Johnson, racing at the rear of the field as the field entered the final straight. Mr Johnson then shifted it to the middle of the track and commenced to use his whip. Prior to the 200 metres, Mr Johnson used his whip ten times without going back to the whip rein and pushing for the required five strides, Mr McLaughlin said.
Mr Johnson said that the facts were clear from the video replay. Mr Walsh said that it was a “clear cut case” and not a lot could be said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Mr Johnson had a clear record with no breaches of the rule in the last 12 months. The circumstances were not dissimilar to the Lowry charge arising out of the same race. Stewards were submitting that a fine of $250 was appropriate, based on that, he said.
Neither Mr Johnson nor Mr Walsh wished to make any penalty submission.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. There were no aggravating factors, in the Committee’s view, justifying any uplift to that starting point. Although the breach was in the low-mid end range, we have not applied any reduction to the starting point.
Mitigating factors are Mr Johnson’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
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: a3c5c03795d90c7d4539b07655d473b8
informantnumber: A8700
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/08/2017
hearing_title: Canterbury R 5 August 2017 - R 9 - Chair,Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Gold Club Premier, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B), Mr T Johnson, alleging that Mr Johnson, as the rider of AL MUNROE in the race, “used his whip in excessively prior to the 100 metres”.
Mr Johnson was present at the hearing of the information, assisted by Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr D M Walsh. Mr Johnson indicated that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach. He also confirmed that he 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 concluding 300-400 metres of the race He pointed out AL MUNROE, ridden by Mr Johnson, racing at the rear of the field as the field entered the final straight. Mr Johnson then shifted it to the middle of the track and commenced to use his whip. Prior to the 200 metres, Mr Johnson used his whip ten times without going back to the whip rein and pushing for the required five strides, Mr McLaughlin said.
Mr Johnson said that the facts were clear from the video replay. Mr Walsh said that it was a “clear cut case” and not a lot could be said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Johnson having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham informed the Committee that Mr Johnson had a clear record with no breaches of the rule in the last 12 months. The circumstances were not dissimilar to the Lowry charge arising out of the same race. Stewards were submitting that a fine of $250 was appropriate, based on that, he said.
Neither Mr Johnson nor Mr Walsh wished to make any penalty submission.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the starting point of a $300 fine for a first breach of the Rule. There were no aggravating factors, in the Committee’s view, justifying any uplift to that starting point. Although the breach was in the low-mid end range, we have not applied any reduction to the starting point.
Mitigating factors are Mr Johnson’s previous good record and his frank admission of the breach. We believe that a discount of $50 is appropriate for a combination of those two factors.
penalty:
Mr Johnson is fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: T Johnson, Licensed Apprentice Jockey (Class B)
Otherperson: D M Walsh, Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr J M McLaughlin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 76b788e05f7ce34e239df892a85c5f4c
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:
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race_pm2:
meetid: 496f04e56d6f1300f3404258e96c497f
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 05/08/2017
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 5 August 2017
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