Geraldine TC 24 November 2018 – R 8 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA15843
Meet Title:
Geraldine TC - 24 November 2018
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
HWeston
Race Date:
2018/11/24
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
Mr Keast having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Keast is fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, Village Inn TAB & Sports Bar Handicap Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr J T Keast, alleging that, as the driver of COPPERHEAD ROSE in the race, he “used his whip on more occasions than permitted by Clause (b) of the Use of Whip Regulations”.
Mr Keast 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 he confirmed that he understood the Rule 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:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out COPPERHEAD ROSE, driven by Mr Keast, in the lead passing the 400 metres. Stewards were alleging that Mr Keast had used his whip 11 times inside the final 400 metres, Mr Renault said. Mr Keast had used a number of alternative actions and there were pauses, he said, but Stewards alleged that were 11 strikes, Mr Renault said. Mr Keast was using the whip with the reins in his hands. Mr Keast did not accept the count, Mr Renault said.
Mr Renault used the back straight camera angle to support his allegation of the first of the alleged 11 strikes, which was a clear strike, he submitted. All uses of the whip were in a striking motion in the Stewards’ opinion, Mr Renault said.
The video replay was shown several times while Mr Renault counted them aloud to the hearing, and Mr Keast was invited by the Committee to dispute any of the alleged strikes.
Mr Keast said that he had used a double-rein action with the whip in his hand and submitted that the whip had not been raised and not all were “strikes”. He said that he did not accept the alleged first strike, but did so after he viewed it from the back straight camera angle. Having viewed the video replay one further time, Mr Keast accepted that there had been 11 strikes and asked for leave to change his plea to the charge.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Keast has a good record under the Rule, Mr Renault said. He had a previous breach in December 2017, but that is outside of the reset period of 6 months.
Mr Renault then referred to the sliding scale Penalty Guide set out in the Use of the Whip Regulation. For a first offence, which this is deemed to be, in the range of 11-13 strikes, the penalty is a fine of $200, Mr Renault said, and Stewards were submitting that was an appropriate penalty in this case.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee was satisfied that the penalty prescribed in the penalty Guide was appropriate in this case. The number of strikes was just over the permitted threshold of 10, and the majority were not forceful and were broken up by pauses and alternative actions. It was a low-end breach even though, the Committee noted, COPPERHEAD ROSE had won the race. The Committee acknowledges Mr Keast’s change of plea at the conclusion of the evidence, even though it was not appropriate to allow a discount for that factor.
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: dab598f1cca2cabd50cff39076c70326
informantnumber: A10882
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 27/11/2018
hearing_title: Geraldine TC 24 November 2018 - R 8 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, Village Inn TAB & Sports Bar Handicap Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr J T Keast, alleging that, as the driver of COPPERHEAD ROSE in the race, he “used his whip on more occasions than permitted by Clause (b) of the Use of Whip Regulations”.
Mr Keast 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 he confirmed that he understood the Rule 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:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out COPPERHEAD ROSE, driven by Mr Keast, in the lead passing the 400 metres. Stewards were alleging that Mr Keast had used his whip 11 times inside the final 400 metres, Mr Renault said. Mr Keast had used a number of alternative actions and there were pauses, he said, but Stewards alleged that were 11 strikes, Mr Renault said. Mr Keast was using the whip with the reins in his hands. Mr Keast did not accept the count, Mr Renault said.
Mr Renault used the back straight camera angle to support his allegation of the first of the alleged 11 strikes, which was a clear strike, he submitted. All uses of the whip were in a striking motion in the Stewards’ opinion, Mr Renault said.
The video replay was shown several times while Mr Renault counted them aloud to the hearing, and Mr Keast was invited by the Committee to dispute any of the alleged strikes.
Mr Keast said that he had used a double-rein action with the whip in his hand and submitted that the whip had not been raised and not all were “strikes”. He said that he did not accept the alleged first strike, but did so after he viewed it from the back straight camera angle. Having viewed the video replay one further time, Mr Keast accepted that there had been 11 strikes and asked for leave to change his plea to the charge.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Keast having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Keast has a good record under the Rule, Mr Renault said. He had a previous breach in December 2017, but that is outside of the reset period of 6 months.
Mr Renault then referred to the sliding scale Penalty Guide set out in the Use of the Whip Regulation. For a first offence, which this is deemed to be, in the range of 11-13 strikes, the penalty is a fine of $200, Mr Renault said, and Stewards were submitting that was an appropriate penalty in this case.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee was satisfied that the penalty prescribed in the penalty Guide was appropriate in this case. The number of strikes was just over the permitted threshold of 10, and the majority were not forceful and were broken up by pauses and alternative actions. It was a low-end breach even though, the Committee noted, COPPERHEAD ROSE had won the race. The Committee acknowledges Mr Keast’s change of plea at the conclusion of the evidence, even though it was not appropriate to allow a discount for that factor.
penalty:
Mr Keast is fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)& Use of the Whip Regulation
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J T Keast, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a32a30c5f45c59c054cc81ac87229f98
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: bae5fba54b6dc98e9e48f61113336be4
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
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