Hororata TC 14 February 2021 – R 9 – Chair, Mr D Anderson
ID: JCA16302
Meet Title:
Hororata TC - 14 February 2021
Meet Chair:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2021/02/14
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
As Miss McKay admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Miss McKay is fined $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9 an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss L McKay, alleging that as the Driver of CAESAR’S QUEST in the race, “You used your whip free of the rein early in the run home”.
Miss McKay had signed the Information admitting the breach and stated she was conversant with the Whip Regulations.
Miss McKay was assisted at the hearing by Open Driver Ms K Butt.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No driver shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulation made by the Board.
Effective from 1 October 2020 a low-level breach may be dealt with by a warning. If a warning is not considered appropriate, the Stewards will be seeking a fine. Low-level is defined as when a Driver inadvertently reverts to the old style (freehand, loose reining and/or more than a wrist flicking motion) but promptly takes corrective steps to return to a compliant style. Penalty range $200-$400 (first offence).
Mr Renault used the race video to identify Miss McKay driving (CAESAR’S QUEST), racing towards the rear of the field at approximately the 400 metres. He pointed to Miss McKay clear the back of her trail, activate ear plugs and whilst having her reins in one hand, strike her horse with the other.
Mr Renault explained to the Committee this breach was very minor as it was one strike at the beginning of a long straight. He said in most cases it may have been dealt with by a warning. He said the reasons for a charge being instigated was in each of Miss McKay’s last four competitive drives she was spoken to about her whip use and had received an official warning on three occasions.
Ms Butt said Miss McKay had limited driving opportunities and hence little practice to perfect her technique.
Miss McKay said she had changed to her left side for activation of plugs etc but it didn’t help today. She said she was doing her best to get it right.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said the strike was not forceful but the Stewards were seeking a fine of $200 as there are limits to the good will afforded to Drivers relating to the new Whip Regulations.
Miss McKay and Ms Butt had no submission to make on Penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee was told that Miss McKay has been spoken to and warned by Stewards on numerous occasions regarding her use of the whip. Notwithstanding, she has again flouted the Rule and Regulations on this occasion, albeit in a relatively minor way, and so has been charged.
She expressed to the hearing a will to address her whip use.
The Committee in assessing the factors of a low range breach and Miss McKay’s first charge under the Rule, considered a fine of $200 would be appropriate in this case.
The Committee spoke advisedly to Miss McKay and encouraged her to address her whip technique with action, not words. If she does not do so, she risks receiving harsher penalties for future breaches.
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: d688223e79213833ccc684a309366217
informantnumber: A13235
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/02/2021
hearing_title: Hororata TC 14 February 2021 - R 9 - Chair, Mr D Anderson
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9 an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss L McKay, alleging that as the Driver of CAESAR’S QUEST in the race, “You used your whip free of the rein early in the run home”.
Miss McKay had signed the Information admitting the breach and stated she was conversant with the Whip Regulations.
Miss McKay was assisted at the hearing by Open Driver Ms K Butt.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No driver shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulation made by the Board.
Effective from 1 October 2020 a low-level breach may be dealt with by a warning. If a warning is not considered appropriate, the Stewards will be seeking a fine. Low-level is defined as when a Driver inadvertently reverts to the old style (freehand, loose reining and/or more than a wrist flicking motion) but promptly takes corrective steps to return to a compliant style. Penalty range $200-$400 (first offence).
Mr Renault used the race video to identify Miss McKay driving (CAESAR’S QUEST), racing towards the rear of the field at approximately the 400 metres. He pointed to Miss McKay clear the back of her trail, activate ear plugs and whilst having her reins in one hand, strike her horse with the other.
Mr Renault explained to the Committee this breach was very minor as it was one strike at the beginning of a long straight. He said in most cases it may have been dealt with by a warning. He said the reasons for a charge being instigated was in each of Miss McKay’s last four competitive drives she was spoken to about her whip use and had received an official warning on three occasions.
Ms Butt said Miss McKay had limited driving opportunities and hence little practice to perfect her technique.
Miss McKay said she had changed to her left side for activation of plugs etc but it didn’t help today. She said she was doing her best to get it right.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Miss McKay admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said the strike was not forceful but the Stewards were seeking a fine of $200 as there are limits to the good will afforded to Drivers relating to the new Whip Regulations.
Miss McKay and Ms Butt had no submission to make on Penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee was told that Miss McKay has been spoken to and warned by Stewards on numerous occasions regarding her use of the whip. Notwithstanding, she has again flouted the Rule and Regulations on this occasion, albeit in a relatively minor way, and so has been charged.
She expressed to the hearing a will to address her whip use.
The Committee in assessing the factors of a low range breach and Miss McKay’s first charge under the Rule, considered a fine of $200 would be appropriate in this case.
The Committee spoke advisedly to Miss McKay and encouraged her to address her whip technique with action, not words. If she does not do so, she risks receiving harsher penalties for future breaches.
penalty:
Accordingly, Miss McKay is fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Miss L McKay - Junior Driver
Otherperson: Miss K Butt - Open Driver assisting Miss McKay
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0aef570e82c36b12778d17063b50e6cb
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 08b6ee25800a24c1a7dec9354a306102
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 14/02/2021
meet_title: Hororata TC - 14 February 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: hororata-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: DAnderson
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Hororata TC