Foxton RC 11 August 2011 – R 5
ID: JCA17762
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Foxton RC - 11 August 2011
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2011/08/11
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As Mr Hutchings admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Mr Hutchings was fined the sum of $500.00.
Charge:
Following the running of Race 5 an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Goodwin against Mr R Hutchings alleging a breach of Rule 638(3) (b) & (c). The Information stated that R Hutchings used his whip in an improper manner in that he struck his mount forward of the shoulder excessively when out of contention.
Rules 638 (3) (b) and (c) read: A Rider shall not: (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper; (c) strike a horse forward of the shoulder.
Facts:
Mr Goodwin showed the films of the incident to the committee. In race 5 Mr Hutchings was riding the favourite runner and was in the leading division of horses prior to the home turn. When his horse started to lose ground he used his whip approximately three times but the horse failed to respond and in fact dropped out to be second last in the field. The stewards were not concerned with Mr Hutchings actions up until this point.
Continuing down the home straight, and well out of contention, Mr Hutchings hit the horse a further three times, this time forward of the shoulder, and then he stood up in the irons and gave two more forceful strikes. Mr Goodwin said these were excessive, unnecessary and improper.
Mr Hutchings told the committee that he wasn’t in a good frame of mind during the race and was disappointed in himself and his actions.
Mr Myers said that charging Mr Hutchings over the first sequence of strikes forward of the shoulder was a marginal call and it was only the last two strikes that were unnecessary and improper.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Goodwin said that Mr Hutchings had no previous charges under this rule but this was a serious charge and the stewards’ penalty submission was for a period of suspension of two weeks. Following a question from the committee it was ascertained that within the last 12 months there had been two previous charges under Rule 638 (c). In these instances the riders concerned had received monetary penalties of $100 and $350 respectively.
The committee advised that the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees had, as a starting point for Rule 638 (3) (c), a monetary penalty of $500.00. Mr Goodwin was asked to elaborate further on his reasons for his submission of a two week suspension. He explained that he was seeking a suspension because in addition to breaching Rule 638 (3) (c) Mr Hutchings whip actions combined all the components of Rule 638(3) (b) being unnecessary, excessive and improper.
Mr Myers said this was a 16 year old boy who had acted out of frustration. His reputation as a talented young rider has been built up by the media and as a result he carries the public’s expectations whenever he goes out to ride in a race. Mr Hutchings had arrived on course today to learn that his employer had stood him down for two riding days following the Foxton meeting. He was understandably extremely upset to hear this. Mr Myers said he had admitted the charge and it was only the last two strikes to the horse which were improper.
Reasons for Penalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee carefully considered all of the submissions. We took into account Mr Hutchings admission of the breach and his record with this being his first offence under the whip rules.
Mr Hutchings mount was well out of contention when he first hit it forward of the shoulder however the incident that concerned us most was over the closing stages when he stood right up in the stirrups and struck the horse with considerable force on two occasions. This was clearly unnecessary and delivers a very poor image of racing. We accept that Mr Hutchings acted out of frustration. His youth and circumstances leading up to today had obviously contributed to him acting out of character. He told the committee that he had never hit a horse in this manner before.
In setting penalty we had particular regard to the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees and to prior breaches under the same rule.
The Stipendiary Stewards submitted that a suspension of two weeks was an appropriate penalty. After considering all matters relating to the charge it was our opinion that a monetary penalty was sufficient under these circumstances.
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: eb015d54a9f58af6dff28d36ee46f0cb
informantnumber: 5314
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/08/2011
hearing_title: Foxton RC 11 August 2011 - R 5
charge:
Following the running of Race 5 an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Goodwin against Mr R Hutchings alleging a breach of Rule 638(3) (b) & (c). The Information stated that R Hutchings used his whip in an improper manner in that he struck his mount forward of the shoulder excessively when out of contention.
Rules 638 (3) (b) and (c) read: A Rider shall not: (b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is unnecessary, excessive or improper; (c) strike a horse forward of the shoulder.
facts:
Mr Goodwin showed the films of the incident to the committee. In race 5 Mr Hutchings was riding the favourite runner and was in the leading division of horses prior to the home turn. When his horse started to lose ground he used his whip approximately three times but the horse failed to respond and in fact dropped out to be second last in the field. The stewards were not concerned with Mr Hutchings actions up until this point.
Continuing down the home straight, and well out of contention, Mr Hutchings hit the horse a further three times, this time forward of the shoulder, and then he stood up in the irons and gave two more forceful strikes. Mr Goodwin said these were excessive, unnecessary and improper.
Mr Hutchings told the committee that he wasn’t in a good frame of mind during the race and was disappointed in himself and his actions.
Mr Myers said that charging Mr Hutchings over the first sequence of strikes forward of the shoulder was a marginal call and it was only the last two strikes that were unnecessary and improper.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Hutchings admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Goodwin said that Mr Hutchings had no previous charges under this rule but this was a serious charge and the stewards’ penalty submission was for a period of suspension of two weeks. Following a question from the committee it was ascertained that within the last 12 months there had been two previous charges under Rule 638 (c). In these instances the riders concerned had received monetary penalties of $100 and $350 respectively.
The committee advised that the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees had, as a starting point for Rule 638 (3) (c), a monetary penalty of $500.00. Mr Goodwin was asked to elaborate further on his reasons for his submission of a two week suspension. He explained that he was seeking a suspension because in addition to breaching Rule 638 (3) (c) Mr Hutchings whip actions combined all the components of Rule 638(3) (b) being unnecessary, excessive and improper.
Mr Myers said this was a 16 year old boy who had acted out of frustration. His reputation as a talented young rider has been built up by the media and as a result he carries the public’s expectations whenever he goes out to ride in a race. Mr Hutchings had arrived on course today to learn that his employer had stood him down for two riding days following the Foxton meeting. He was understandably extremely upset to hear this. Mr Myers said he had admitted the charge and it was only the last two strikes to the horse which were improper.
reasonsforpenalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee carefully considered all of the submissions. We took into account Mr Hutchings admission of the breach and his record with this being his first offence under the whip rules.
Mr Hutchings mount was well out of contention when he first hit it forward of the shoulder however the incident that concerned us most was over the closing stages when he stood right up in the stirrups and struck the horse with considerable force on two occasions. This was clearly unnecessary and delivers a very poor image of racing. We accept that Mr Hutchings acted out of frustration. His youth and circumstances leading up to today had obviously contributed to him acting out of character. He told the committee that he had never hit a horse in this manner before.
In setting penalty we had particular regard to the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees and to prior breaches under the same rule.
The Stipendiary Stewards submitted that a suspension of two weeks was an appropriate penalty. After considering all matters relating to the charge it was our opinion that a monetary penalty was sufficient under these circumstances.
penalty:
Accordingly Mr Hutchings was fined the sum of $500.00.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)&(c)
Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Hutchings - Apprentice Rider
Otherperson: Mr K Myers - Licensed Trainer assisting Mr Hutchings
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4033f034f7e5ebc8101b3ca4b35a42e8
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
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meetid: f29ce7080a7d06bda433967328fed003
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/08/2011
meet_title: Foxton RC - 11 August 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: foxton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Foxton RC