Geraldine TC 24 November 2018 – R 6 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA12557
Meet Title:
Geraldine TC - 24 November 2018
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
HWeston
Race Date:
2018/11/24
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
Mr McCormick having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr McCormick is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Temuka Transport (1967) Limited Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D D McCormick, alleging that, as the driver of MAGIC BLAZE in the race, he “used his whip on several occasions when out of contention”.
Mr McCormick had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he denied the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and confirmed that he understood the Rule and Regulation (which were read to him) and the charge, which was denied.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Use of Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) provide:
(d) No horseman shall apply the whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.
Mr Renault pointed out on a video replay, MAGIC BLAZE driven by Mr McCormick racing in last position in the 15-horse field as the field approached the home straight with 400 metres to race. The horse was under a drive with the whip at that stage. He activated gear on the horse and commenced using the whip. From the 400 metres, Mr McCormick used his whip on 8 occasions. Rounding the turn, he did use his whip on several occasions with which the Stewards did not have a problem, as he was entitled to try the horse.
However, from about the 300 metres, when the horse was clearly out of contention for a stakes or dividend-bearing placing and was losing ground on the field, Mr McCormick used his whip on a further five occasions, Mr Renault alleged. Stewards were concerned about perception and the animal welfare aspects of such a breach, he said.
Mr McCormick said that the horse had been travelling well at the 400 metres but when asked for an effort it had not responded, which surprised him, he said. He admitted that he had struck the horse, perhaps, four times when it was not responding. He had denied the charge initially, he said, as he wished to put his explanation to the Committee but having heard the Stewards’ evidence and reviewed the video replay, Mr McCormick said that he wished to change his plea.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr McCormick has had 12 drives this season prior to today and 24 drives last season. He is not a busy driver. He drives mainly his own horses and horses trained by Raewyn Low. He has a clear record under the whip Rule.
The prescribed penalty under the Penalty Guide in the Use of the Whip Regulation is a fine of $300 and the submission of Stewards was that that was an appropriate penalty. The use of the whip on this occasion, five times on a beaten runner, was a “horrible look”.
Mr McCormick asked if it were possible for some leniency to be shown but the Committee explained to him that the prescribed penalty was, essentially, a minimum fine. There was nothing else he could say. He was not “beating” the horse, he said, but understood that it was not a good look and he should not have done it. Finally, Mr McCormick said, he could not recall a previous whip charge in 40-odd years of driving but had made an error of judgement on this occasion.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee considered all of the circumstances of the case. Any time a horse is struck with the whip five times when it is clearly out of contention and losing ground it is a matter of concern to all concerned – the Stewards, Judicial Committees and the viewing public. It was of particular concern in this case, that the whip use was very obvious to any person watching the race on the Trackside television channel.
That aggravating factor, the Committee is satisfied, is offset by Mr McCormick’s eventual admission of the breach and the remorse shown by him and, also, his clear record going back over a very long period of years.
The penalty suggested in the Penalty Guide of a $300 fine, we have determined, is an appropriate penalty in all of the circumstances. The Committee believes that it adequately punishes this breach and is sufficient to serve as a deterrent to Mr McCormick and others.
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: 377f089f54736767e90c5c48b28e8714
informantnumber: A10881
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Using Whip on Runner out of Contention
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 27/11/2018
hearing_title: Geraldine TC 24 November 2018 - R 6 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Temuka Transport (1967) Limited Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D D McCormick, alleging that, as the driver of MAGIC BLAZE in the race, he “used his whip on several occasions when out of contention”.
Mr McCormick had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he denied the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and confirmed that he understood the Rule and Regulation (which were read to him) and the charge, which was denied.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Use of Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) provide:
(d) No horseman shall apply the whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.
Mr Renault pointed out on a video replay, MAGIC BLAZE driven by Mr McCormick racing in last position in the 15-horse field as the field approached the home straight with 400 metres to race. The horse was under a drive with the whip at that stage. He activated gear on the horse and commenced using the whip. From the 400 metres, Mr McCormick used his whip on 8 occasions. Rounding the turn, he did use his whip on several occasions with which the Stewards did not have a problem, as he was entitled to try the horse.
However, from about the 300 metres, when the horse was clearly out of contention for a stakes or dividend-bearing placing and was losing ground on the field, Mr McCormick used his whip on a further five occasions, Mr Renault alleged. Stewards were concerned about perception and the animal welfare aspects of such a breach, he said.
Mr McCormick said that the horse had been travelling well at the 400 metres but when asked for an effort it had not responded, which surprised him, he said. He admitted that he had struck the horse, perhaps, four times when it was not responding. He had denied the charge initially, he said, as he wished to put his explanation to the Committee but having heard the Stewards’ evidence and reviewed the video replay, Mr McCormick said that he wished to change his plea.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr McCormick having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr McCormick has had 12 drives this season prior to today and 24 drives last season. He is not a busy driver. He drives mainly his own horses and horses trained by Raewyn Low. He has a clear record under the whip Rule.
The prescribed penalty under the Penalty Guide in the Use of the Whip Regulation is a fine of $300 and the submission of Stewards was that that was an appropriate penalty. The use of the whip on this occasion, five times on a beaten runner, was a “horrible look”.
Mr McCormick asked if it were possible for some leniency to be shown but the Committee explained to him that the prescribed penalty was, essentially, a minimum fine. There was nothing else he could say. He was not “beating” the horse, he said, but understood that it was not a good look and he should not have done it. Finally, Mr McCormick said, he could not recall a previous whip charge in 40-odd years of driving but had made an error of judgement on this occasion.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee considered all of the circumstances of the case. Any time a horse is struck with the whip five times when it is clearly out of contention and losing ground it is a matter of concern to all concerned – the Stewards, Judicial Committees and the viewing public. It was of particular concern in this case, that the whip use was very obvious to any person watching the race on the Trackside television channel.
That aggravating factor, the Committee is satisfied, is offset by Mr McCormick’s eventual admission of the breach and the remorse shown by him and, also, his clear record going back over a very long period of years.
The penalty suggested in the Penalty Guide of a $300 fine, we have determined, is an appropriate penalty in all of the circumstances. The Committee believes that it adequately punishes this breach and is sufficient to serve as a deterrent to Mr McCormick and others.
penalty:
Mr McCormick is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)& Use of the Whip Regulation
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: D D McCormick, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: da9b158ce96b3185e7f8a0135425fa08
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: bae5fba54b6dc98e9e48f61113336be4
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 24/11/2018
meet_title: Geraldine TC - 24 November 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: geraldine-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: HWeston
meet_pm2: none
name: Geraldine TC