Franklin TC 22 October 2010 – R 8 (heard on 23 October at Cambridge Raceway)
ID: JCA18819
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Franklin TC - 22 October 2010
Meet Chair:
tom
Meet Committee Member 1:
tom
Meet Committee Member 2:
tom
Race Date:
2010/10/22
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: J Muirhead
Defendant: T Mitchell
Information No: 68909
Meeting: Franklin Trotting Club
Date: 22 October 2010 (heard on 23 October 2010 at Cambridge Raceway)
Venue: Alexandra Park Raceway
Race: 8
Rule No: 869(2) (a)
Judicial Committee: Jeff Holloway, Chairman, - Alan Godsalve, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
An adjourned information charging Driver Mr T Mitchell with excessive use of the whip at the Franklin Trotting Club Meeting was heard.
The information alleged he used his whip excessively on Elsu Sheila over the concluding stages of race 8 at Alexandra Park Raceway on the 22nd October 2010.
Having had the opportunity to view the footage of the relevant part of the race Mr Mitchell endorsed and initialled the information vacating his not guilty plea and admitting the breach.
Mr Mitchell was provided a copy of the use of whip guidelines promulgated by the Chief Stipendiary Steward on the 1st June 2009.
Mr Muirhead showed video footage and identified Mr Mitchell who finished in second place. In the home straight he struck his horse 22 times in a strong unabated fashion.
Mr Mitchell agreed with the Stipendiary Stewards assessment
The charge was established.
Submissions on penalty
Mr Muirhead indicated that this was the third breach of this rule. On the 29th July 2010 he was fined $150 and on the 13th August 2010 $300 for excessive use of the whip. The offending on this occasion was mid to upper range. It was very disappointing to see such a high class quality driver appearing repetitively on this charge.
Being his third offence the starting point should in the range of $500 and or a suspension. In the normal course of events his understanding was that the starting point for breaches was a $250 fine with a second breach doubling that amount and a third normally suspension.
Mr Mitchell admitted it was his third offence. It was a close finish in the race. He was driving the horse out for the owners so was he meant to stop driving with 10 metres before the line and run third or fourth. Mr Muirhead’s attitude to him over the past two months in the enquiry room had become personal. He was driving his horse out, there were no marks on it and he was driving for the owners. There had been no complaints from the public. He thought a suspension was a little bit tough as it was a close finish.
Penalty and reasons
Having viewed the footage the committee is satisfied that this breach was in the middle to upper range.
It is clear that the guidelines have been breached and from our observations the horse received a fair lashing over the concluding stages of the race. It was conceded that the horse had a winning chance but that was not something the committee had to consider.
It was the public’s perception of the event that was important, which from the committee’s perspective was a graphic breach of this rule.
Taking the two previous breaches of this rule within a relatively short space of time the committee is forced to consider suspension as opposed to a fine. We also take account of Mr Mitchell’s guilty plea and the impact on his livelihood of a suspension.
Having reviewed recent penalties for such offending we have established this breach is deserving of a three day suspension.
Accordingly Mr Mitchell was suspended from driving from after the last race at Cambridge on the 23rd October until after the last race at Palmerston North on the 31st October 2010.
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: 16554159e5079f47520d3337f2a19c88
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 22/10/2010
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Franklin TC 22 October 2010 - R 8 (heard on 23 October at Cambridge Raceway)
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: J Muirhead
Defendant: T Mitchell
Information No: 68909
Meeting: Franklin Trotting Club
Date: 22 October 2010 (heard on 23 October 2010 at Cambridge Raceway)
Venue: Alexandra Park Raceway
Race: 8
Rule No: 869(2) (a)
Judicial Committee: Jeff Holloway, Chairman, - Alan Godsalve, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
An adjourned information charging Driver Mr T Mitchell with excessive use of the whip at the Franklin Trotting Club Meeting was heard.
The information alleged he used his whip excessively on Elsu Sheila over the concluding stages of race 8 at Alexandra Park Raceway on the 22nd October 2010.
Having had the opportunity to view the footage of the relevant part of the race Mr Mitchell endorsed and initialled the information vacating his not guilty plea and admitting the breach.
Mr Mitchell was provided a copy of the use of whip guidelines promulgated by the Chief Stipendiary Steward on the 1st June 2009.
Mr Muirhead showed video footage and identified Mr Mitchell who finished in second place. In the home straight he struck his horse 22 times in a strong unabated fashion.
Mr Mitchell agreed with the Stipendiary Stewards assessment
The charge was established.
Submissions on penalty
Mr Muirhead indicated that this was the third breach of this rule. On the 29th July 2010 he was fined $150 and on the 13th August 2010 $300 for excessive use of the whip. The offending on this occasion was mid to upper range. It was very disappointing to see such a high class quality driver appearing repetitively on this charge.
Being his third offence the starting point should in the range of $500 and or a suspension. In the normal course of events his understanding was that the starting point for breaches was a $250 fine with a second breach doubling that amount and a third normally suspension.
Mr Mitchell admitted it was his third offence. It was a close finish in the race. He was driving the horse out for the owners so was he meant to stop driving with 10 metres before the line and run third or fourth. Mr Muirhead’s attitude to him over the past two months in the enquiry room had become personal. He was driving his horse out, there were no marks on it and he was driving for the owners. There had been no complaints from the public. He thought a suspension was a little bit tough as it was a close finish.
Penalty and reasons
Having viewed the footage the committee is satisfied that this breach was in the middle to upper range.
It is clear that the guidelines have been breached and from our observations the horse received a fair lashing over the concluding stages of the race. It was conceded that the horse had a winning chance but that was not something the committee had to consider.
It was the public’s perception of the event that was important, which from the committee’s perspective was a graphic breach of this rule.
Taking the two previous breaches of this rule within a relatively short space of time the committee is forced to consider suspension as opposed to a fine. We also take account of Mr Mitchell’s guilty plea and the impact on his livelihood of a suspension.
Having reviewed recent penalties for such offending we have established this breach is deserving of a three day suspension.
Accordingly Mr Mitchell was suspended from driving from after the last race at Cambridge on the 23rd October until after the last race at Palmerston North on the 31st October 2010.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 52aab21a076f749c1509fce633ecaa04
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
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race_pm2:
meetid: decb241228cffe007faf2bd15e6c0dd5
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/10/2010
meet_title: Franklin TC - 22 October 2010
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: franklin-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: tom
meet_pm1: tom
meet_pm2: tom
name: Franklin TC