Forbury Park TC 6 June 2013 – R 13
ID: JCA11137
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 6 June 2013
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
DSteel
Race Date:
2013/06/06
Race Number:
R13
Decision:
As the respondent admitted the breach, we find it proved.
Penalty:
Mr Ferguson is fined the sum of $225 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
Charge:
Mr Allison alleged that Mr Ferguson used his whip excessively in the home straight when driving MEGIE MAY.
Rule 869(2)(a) states: “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an … excessive … manner.”
Facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the video that the respondent used his whip 23 times in the home straight in race 13 when driving MEGIE MAY out to the finish.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Allison emphasised the use of the whip was continuous and there had not been any breaking up of Mr Ferguson’s action.
Mr Ferguson accepted Mr Allison’s count was correct. He said it was a tight finish and was endeavouring to get the best out of his horse, which had finished 2nd, beaten by a ½ head.
Mr Cox said the respondent was inexperienced and had just got “excited” in a tight finish. He emphasised with the prevailing track conditions it was a long slog up the straight and Mr Ferguson had been caught out. He said the respondent should have broken up his whip action and slapped MEGIE MAY with the reins a few times.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Allison produced the respondent’s record, which showed one previous breach of this rule in similar circumstances at Gore on 27 April last, when a fine of $175 was imposed.
Mr Allison submitted this breach was not high end and a fine in the range of $225 to $250 was appropriate.
Mr Ferguson reminded us he was a junior horseman and on a low wage.
Reasons for Penalty:
We find the breach is towards the lower end of the scale. There are 23 strikes and the respondent’s actions are continuous. He has had 147 drives this season and 48 in the previous one. One breach (now two) in this time is not a bad record but we are concerned that Mr Ferguson has breached the rule again in the space of 6 weeks. The penalty has to be higher than that imposed on the previous occasion as a deterrent to the respondent.
We take into account the respondent’s inexperience and ready admission of the breach. We believe a fine at the bottom of the range identified by the informant is appropriate on this occasion. We accept Mr Ferguson does not earn a great deal in his capacity as a junior horseman.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 0e32901b7595d2f8e00ca2ed3c71674e
informantnumber: 5924
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/05/2013
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 6 June 2013 - R 13
charge:
Mr Allison alleged that Mr Ferguson used his whip excessively in the home straight when driving MEGIE MAY.
Rule 869(2)(a) states: “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an … excessive … manner.”
facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the video that the respondent used his whip 23 times in the home straight in race 13 when driving MEGIE MAY out to the finish.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Allison emphasised the use of the whip was continuous and there had not been any breaking up of Mr Ferguson’s action.
Mr Ferguson accepted Mr Allison’s count was correct. He said it was a tight finish and was endeavouring to get the best out of his horse, which had finished 2nd, beaten by a ½ head.
Mr Cox said the respondent was inexperienced and had just got “excited” in a tight finish. He emphasised with the prevailing track conditions it was a long slog up the straight and Mr Ferguson had been caught out. He said the respondent should have broken up his whip action and slapped MEGIE MAY with the reins a few times.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the respondent admitted the breach, we find it proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Allison produced the respondent’s record, which showed one previous breach of this rule in similar circumstances at Gore on 27 April last, when a fine of $175 was imposed.
Mr Allison submitted this breach was not high end and a fine in the range of $225 to $250 was appropriate.
Mr Ferguson reminded us he was a junior horseman and on a low wage.
reasonsforpenalty:
We find the breach is towards the lower end of the scale. There are 23 strikes and the respondent’s actions are continuous. He has had 147 drives this season and 48 in the previous one. One breach (now two) in this time is not a bad record but we are concerned that Mr Ferguson has breached the rule again in the space of 6 weeks. The penalty has to be higher than that imposed on the previous occasion as a deterrent to the respondent.
We take into account the respondent’s inexperience and ready admission of the breach. We believe a fine at the bottom of the range identified by the informant is appropriate on this occasion. We accept Mr Ferguson does not earn a great deal in his capacity as a junior horseman.
penalty:
Mr Ferguson is fined the sum of $225 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr C Allison, stipendiary steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Ferguson, junior horseman, driver of MEGIE MAY
Otherperson: Mr J Cox, open horseman, assisting Mr Ferguson
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c3b5bfacf6979b769a40a513944c192e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R13
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 30c9c332abc40da68f594bdcce84b246
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 06/06/2013
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 6 June 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: DSteel
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC