Archive Decision

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Hawkes Bay RI 3 October 2020 – R 7 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA15694

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr T Harris - Rider of NEED I SAY MORE

Other Person:
Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A12343

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Excessive use of the whip

Rules:
638(3)(b)(ii)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Hawkes Bay RI - 3 October 2020

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
WGendall

Race Date:
2020/10/03

Race Number:
R 7

Decision:

As Mr Harris admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Harris is fined the sum of $600.

Facts:

Following Race 7 (Dundeel At Arrowfield Hawke’s Bay Guineas Group 2) Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that Troy Harris used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.

At the outset of the hearing Mr Harris confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Goodwin showed on the video where Mr Harris hit his mount, NEED I SAY MORE, a total of 8 times before the 100m mark.

Mr Harris agreed with the number of strikes as counted by the Stewards, but pointed out that 2 of these were backhands.

Mr Oatham described the breach as being at the low end of the scale.

Mr Harris accepted he had misjudged the number of times he used the whip and said he was still coming to terms with the whip guidelines after a recent break from race riding.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham said this was Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip guidelines and the Stewards’ submission was for a fine in line with the penalty guidelines taking into account the Group 2 status of the race.

Mr Harris was invited to make submissions on penalty. He explained he was not a rider who used the whip much and he was still getting used to the new rules.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii):

1st breach---$300

2nd breach---$500

3rd breach- suspension

The limit is 5 strikes of the whip before the 100m mark which meant Mr Harris was 3 over the guidelines, and being his second breach we adopted a starting point of $500.

We noted that Mr Harris finished 4th in the race and did not appear to gain any advantage for using the whip over the guidelines. His whip use was not forceful and there were a number of strides between each strike.

An aggravating factor was the Group 2 status of the race, and for this we applied an uplift.

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: c455afa9df0ec839b67006d0b95dff64


informantnumber: A12343


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Excessive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 06/10/2020


hearing_title: Hawkes Bay RI 3 October 2020 - R 7 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following Race 7 (Dundeel At Arrowfield Hawke’s Bay Guineas Group 2) Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that Troy Harris used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.

At the outset of the hearing Mr Harris confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Goodwin showed on the video where Mr Harris hit his mount, NEED I SAY MORE, a total of 8 times before the 100m mark.

Mr Harris agreed with the number of strikes as counted by the Stewards, but pointed out that 2 of these were backhands.

Mr Oatham described the breach as being at the low end of the scale.

Mr Harris accepted he had misjudged the number of times he used the whip and said he was still coming to terms with the whip guidelines after a recent break from race riding.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Harris admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham said this was Mr Harris’ second breach of the whip guidelines and the Stewards’ submission was for a fine in line with the penalty guidelines taking into account the Group 2 status of the race.

Mr Harris was invited to make submissions on penalty. He explained he was not a rider who used the whip much and he was still getting used to the new rules.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii):

1st breach---$300

2nd breach---$500

3rd breach- suspension

The limit is 5 strikes of the whip before the 100m mark which meant Mr Harris was 3 over the guidelines, and being his second breach we adopted a starting point of $500.

We noted that Mr Harris finished 4th in the race and did not appear to gain any advantage for using the whip over the guidelines. His whip use was not forceful and there were a number of strides between each strike.

An aggravating factor was the Group 2 status of the race, and for this we applied an uplift.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mr Harris is fined the sum of $600.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr T Harris - Rider of NEED I SAY MORE


Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 83497c0e4f6576fe511e43814419f735


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 7


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 4f87a3fe11e07aa18b238991f512509e


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 03/10/2020


meet_title: Hawkes Bay RI - 3 October 2020


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: hawkes-bay-ri


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: WGendall


meet_pm2: none


name: Hawkes Bay RI