Franklin TC – 6 July 2007 – Race 1
ID: JCA20859
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Franklin TC - 6 July 2007
Race Date:
2007/07/06
Race Number:
Race 1
Decision: --
Under Rule 869 (2) (a) an Information was laid by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging excessive use of the whip by Driver T Macfarlane when driving SUNSET BEACH in race 1.
--
Under Rule 869 (2) (a) an Information was laid by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging excessive use of the whip by Driver T Macfarlane when driving SUNSET BEACH in race 1.
--Mr MacFarlane appeared to defend the charge.
--Mr Muirhead gave evidence and referred to video footage of the race.
--He also referred to guidelines which had been promulgated to those in the Harness Racing Industry. Mr MacFarlane agreed that he had read and was familiar with these.
--In the run home it was clear from video footage the Mr MacFarlane struck his drive twenty plus times without pause. Mr Muirhead said this was unacceptable and obviously in breach of the guidelines.
--Mr MacFarlane contended that his whipping action was not hurtful or intended to hurt the horse. The guidelines were only that and that commonsense had to apply. He had to try his best
--Mr Muirhead said that a pause in striking the horse allowed the driver to assess the effects of this action.
--DECISION
--This charge simply relates to the number of strikes or blows to this horse in the concluding parts of this race. I have no problems in finding this charge proven.
--SUNSET BEACH was given a series of blows in the concluding stages of the race without abatement. The force used is not something to be considered unless it is clearly excessive and then this should be reflected in the penalty.
--This is about how it looks and has to be tempered with the expectations of the connections against those of the Harness racing public who don?t understand how horses respond and that the use of force by a reinsman can be measured
--Taking all matters into account including Mr MacFarlane's clear driving record a fine of $250 is applied
--Jeff Holloway
--Chairman
--7th July 2007
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: 70ed97ae81a62cf2965161908d7b3e01
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 06/07/2007
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Franklin TC - 6 July 2007 - Race 1
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
--Under Rule 869 (2) (a) an Information was laid by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging excessive use of the whip by Driver T Macfarlane when driving SUNSET BEACH in race 1.
--
Under Rule 869 (2) (a) an Information was laid by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging excessive use of the whip by Driver T Macfarlane when driving SUNSET BEACH in race 1.
--Mr MacFarlane appeared to defend the charge.
--Mr Muirhead gave evidence and referred to video footage of the race.
--He also referred to guidelines which had been promulgated to those in the Harness Racing Industry. Mr MacFarlane agreed that he had read and was familiar with these.
--In the run home it was clear from video footage the Mr MacFarlane struck his drive twenty plus times without pause. Mr Muirhead said this was unacceptable and obviously in breach of the guidelines.
--Mr MacFarlane contended that his whipping action was not hurtful or intended to hurt the horse. The guidelines were only that and that commonsense had to apply. He had to try his best
--Mr Muirhead said that a pause in striking the horse allowed the driver to assess the effects of this action.
--DECISION
--This charge simply relates to the number of strikes or blows to this horse in the concluding parts of this race. I have no problems in finding this charge proven.
--SUNSET BEACH was given a series of blows in the concluding stages of the race without abatement. The force used is not something to be considered unless it is clearly excessive and then this should be reflected in the penalty.
--This is about how it looks and has to be tempered with the expectations of the connections against those of the Harness racing public who don?t understand how horses respond and that the use of force by a reinsman can be measured
--Taking all matters into account including Mr MacFarlane's clear driving record a fine of $250 is applied
--Jeff Holloway
--Chairman
--7th July 2007
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869.2.a
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 63ab979cf454907fe662a4708c3891d2
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: Race 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 8ef3bbac948a98f129888de2a047bcd3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 06/07/2007
meet_title: Franklin TC - 6 July 2007
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: franklin-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair:
meet_pm1:
meet_pm2:
name: Franklin TC