Methven TC 4 December 2016 – R 10 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA10584
Meet Title:
Methven TC - 4 December 2016
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/12/04
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Ms Rasmussen having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Ms Rasmussen is fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, Methven 4 Square Supermarket Green Mile Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, against Licensed Open Driver, Ms NC Rasmussen, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of CHASE THE DREAM in the race, she “used her whip excessively over the concluding stages”.
Ms Rasmussen had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that she admitted the breach and had endorsed on the form that she did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information. Mr Wallis confirmed to the Committee that Ms Rasmussen did not wish to be present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The amendment to the Use of the Whip Guidelines effective from 1 December 2016 provides that:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Wallis showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. As the field entered the final straight, Ms Rasmussen, driving CHASE THE DREAM, was the last runner in the 10-horse field. She then improved to the inside of the widest runner, MAVERICK (NR McGrath). Mr Wallis said that Stewards were submitting that Ms Rasmussen had used her whip on 23 occasions in the final straight and he added that Ms Rasmussen had accepted that number. This was borne out on the video replay. Mr Wallis said that force was not an issue in this case but, purely, the number of strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis told the Committee that Ms Rasmussen drives exclusively for the team trained by herself in partnership with Mr Mark Purdon. Last season she had 65 drives and, in the current season to date, has had 25 drives. She is not a busy driver but is aware of the new guidelines and what is expected of her, Mr Wallis said.
Mr Wallis referred the Committee to the Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of the Rule – a fine of $500 or a 2-days’ suspension. Mr Wallis submitted that the starting point should be increased in this case. The number of strikes made the breach at the high end of the scale, he submitted. However, Ms Rasmussen was entitled to credit for her good record and her admission of the breach. He submitted that a fine of $400 would be an appropriate penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In deciding upon penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $500 fine as provided in the Penalty Guide. The Committee agreed with Mr Wallis that the high number of strikes in this case warranted an uplift in that starting point. We fixed that uplift at $100. From the point of $600 so arrived at, Ms Rasmussen was entitled to a discount for the mitigating factors – her good record and her admission of the breach. We assessed the appropriate discount for those factors at $200.
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: 03726420bad49f29fbe80e813a91b286
informantnumber: A8426
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/12/2016
hearing_title: Methven TC 4 December 2016 - R 10 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, Methven 4 Square Supermarket Green Mile Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, against Licensed Open Driver, Ms NC Rasmussen, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of CHASE THE DREAM in the race, she “used her whip excessively over the concluding stages”.
Ms Rasmussen had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that she admitted the breach and had endorsed on the form that she did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information. Mr Wallis confirmed to the Committee that Ms Rasmussen did not wish to be present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The amendment to the Use of the Whip Guidelines effective from 1 December 2016 provides that:
The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive pursuant to these Guidelines.
Mr Wallis showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. As the field entered the final straight, Ms Rasmussen, driving CHASE THE DREAM, was the last runner in the 10-horse field. She then improved to the inside of the widest runner, MAVERICK (NR McGrath). Mr Wallis said that Stewards were submitting that Ms Rasmussen had used her whip on 23 occasions in the final straight and he added that Ms Rasmussen had accepted that number. This was borne out on the video replay. Mr Wallis said that force was not an issue in this case but, purely, the number of strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Ms Rasmussen having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis told the Committee that Ms Rasmussen drives exclusively for the team trained by herself in partnership with Mr Mark Purdon. Last season she had 65 drives and, in the current season to date, has had 25 drives. She is not a busy driver but is aware of the new guidelines and what is expected of her, Mr Wallis said.
Mr Wallis referred the Committee to the Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of the Rule – a fine of $500 or a 2-days’ suspension. Mr Wallis submitted that the starting point should be increased in this case. The number of strikes made the breach at the high end of the scale, he submitted. However, Ms Rasmussen was entitled to credit for her good record and her admission of the breach. He submitted that a fine of $400 would be an appropriate penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In deciding upon penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $500 fine as provided in the Penalty Guide. The Committee agreed with Mr Wallis that the high number of strikes in this case warranted an uplift in that starting point. We fixed that uplift at $100. From the point of $600 so arrived at, Ms Rasmussen was entitled to a discount for the mitigating factors – her good record and her admission of the breach. We assessed the appropriate discount for those factors at $200.
penalty:
Ms Rasmussen is fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr SW Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms NC Rasmussen - Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6b3cc89db2cb98dbbe669276f44d00ef
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 041337855baaebeb3eda9fc966822c55
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 04/12/2016
meet_title: Methven TC - 4 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: methven-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Methven TC