Archive Decision

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Kaikoura TC 30 October 2017 – R 5 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie

ID: JCA13611

Applicant:
Mr NM Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr BT Hope - Licensed Junior Driver

Other Person:
Mr CD Thornley - Licensed Open Horseman assisting Mr Hope

Information Number:
A09592

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Execessive use of the whip

Rules:
869(2)(a)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Kaikoura TC - 30 October 2017

Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2017/10/30

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

Mr Hope having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Hope’s Junior Driver’s Licence was suspended from after racing today up to and including 4th November 2017 – 2 days.

The meetings intended to be encompassed by the suspension are Addington on 3 November and Timaru on 4 November 2017.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 5, The Joiners Shop Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr NM Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Driver, Mr BT Hope alleging that, as the driver of RANFURLY RULZ in the race, he “used his whip excessively over the final 400 metres”.

Mr Hope was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the charge. He was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr CD Thornley.

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 Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.

Those Guidelines further provide that “use of the whip” is “free of the rein”.

Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out RANFURLY RULZ, driven by Mr Hope, in the lead as the field approached the final straight. Mr Ydgren alleged that, from that point, Mr Hope used his whip on 14 occasions, all free of the rein. Mr Thornley suggested that the count was only 13.

Mr Thornley, on behalf of Mr Hope, submitted that the whip action was not “bad” but was more in the nature of a “flick” than a hit and did not look bad. He asked if the Committee could be as lenient as possible.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Ydgren said that Mr Hope is a Junior Driver and was having only his 19th raceday drive, so was very inexperienced. He has had some success already. Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He understood that Mr Hope would prefer a suspension.

Mr Thornley confirmed that Mr Hope preferred a suspension to a fine. Mr Ydgren said that Stewards were recommending a 2 day suspension. Mr Hope stated that he did not wish to seek a deferment of any suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

In determining penalty, the Committee took the Penalty Guide starting point of a 2 days’ suspension the breach was mid-range and no adjustment was necessary to that starting point. Mitigating factors were Mr Hope’s admission of the breach and his clear record, albeit from a small number of drives. In the circumstances, it was not appropriate to allow any discount for those factors as, to be meaningful, any suspension in this case needs to be for a minimum of 2 days.

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: 4d540f78cca409f5ac89a23e751044fe


informantnumber: A09592


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Execessive use of the whip


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 02/11/2017


hearing_title: Kaikoura TC 30 October 2017 - R 5 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 5, The Joiners Shop Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr NM Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Driver, Mr BT Hope alleging that, as the driver of RANFURLY RULZ in the race, he “used his whip excessively over the final 400 metres”.

Mr Hope was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the charge. He was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr CD Thornley.

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 Guidelines (effective from 1 December 2016) provide:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400 metres of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.

Those Guidelines further provide that “use of the whip” is “free of the rein”.

Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out RANFURLY RULZ, driven by Mr Hope, in the lead as the field approached the final straight. Mr Ydgren alleged that, from that point, Mr Hope used his whip on 14 occasions, all free of the rein. Mr Thornley suggested that the count was only 13.

Mr Thornley, on behalf of Mr Hope, submitted that the whip action was not “bad” but was more in the nature of a “flick” than a hit and did not look bad. He asked if the Committee could be as lenient as possible.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Hope having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Ydgren said that Mr Hope is a Junior Driver and was having only his 19th raceday drive, so was very inexperienced. He has had some success already. Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension. He understood that Mr Hope would prefer a suspension.

Mr Thornley confirmed that Mr Hope preferred a suspension to a fine. Mr Ydgren said that Stewards were recommending a 2 day suspension. Mr Hope stated that he did not wish to seek a deferment of any suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

In determining penalty, the Committee took the Penalty Guide starting point of a 2 days’ suspension the breach was mid-range and no adjustment was necessary to that starting point. Mitigating factors were Mr Hope’s admission of the breach and his clear record, albeit from a small number of drives. In the circumstances, it was not appropriate to allow any discount for those factors as, to be meaningful, any suspension in this case needs to be for a minimum of 2 days.


penalty:

Mr Hope’s Junior Driver’s Licence was suspended from after racing today up to and including 4th November 2017 – 2 days.

The meetings intended to be encompassed by the suspension are Addington on 3 November and Timaru on 4 November 2017.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869(2)(a)


Informant: Mr NM Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr BT Hope - Licensed Junior Driver


Otherperson: Mr CD Thornley - Licensed Open Horseman assisting Mr Hope


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 37d5ab92b64699c069f9d5b3bfef6d4a


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 5


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: af420a9bed593332af26597b8ef8e442


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 30/10/2017


meet_title: Kaikoura TC - 30 October 2017


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: kaikoura-tc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: RMcKenzie


meet_pm1: SChing


meet_pm2: none


name: Kaikoura TC