Methven TC 7 December 2014 – R 3
ID: JCA13828
Meet Title:
Methven TC - 7 December 2014
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2014/12/07
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
Miss Neilson having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Miss Neilson was fined the sum of $300.00.
The Committee wishes to record that it did give consideration to imposing a term of suspension for this breach. It is of concern that a Junior Driver should breach the excessive use of the whip Rule on three occasions in a 10 months’ period. For the reasons given above, we did not suspend Miss Neilson’s licence on this occasion but we record that a further breach of the Rule in the near to medium future will, in all likelihood, result in a suspension of her Junior Driver’s licence.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, Ray Mayne Hose & Fittings Limited Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss M A Neilson, alleging that Miss Neilson, as the driver of FLEETING GRIN in the race, “used her whip in a manner deemed excessive by the Stewards driving FLEETING GRIN”.
Miss Neilson was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the charge. Miss Neilson was assisted at the hearing by her employer, Licensed Open Driver, Mr M P Jones.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIntyre showed video replays of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out FLEETING GRIN, driven by Miss Neilson, in the lead as the field entered the home straight.
Mr McIntyre said that Stewards were alleging that Miss Neilson had used her whip excessively from that point. He referred to a section of the Use of the Whip Guidelines which provided that a driver may use the whip with the rein in hand as long as it was not in a continuous manner. He alleged that Miss Neilson had used her whip 24 strikes in a continuous manner from about the 300 metres with her whip hand on the rein.
Mr McIntyre submitted that Miss Neilson’s use of the whip had been excessive and in breach of the guidelines. However, it was not the worst case of its kind, he said.
Miss Neilson said that she accepted the number of strikes alleged by the Stewards.
Mr Jones said that he is Miss Neilson’s employer and he had to accept some of the blame for this breach. He had advised Miss Neilson that strikes of the whip with the rein in the same hand were not going to be counted in determining excessive use. Mr McIntyre confirmed that this was a proposal being considered at the present time.
Mr Jones also asked the Committee to consider that the strikes were not hard and that FLEETING GRIN had only won the race by a nose. It was at the bottom end of the scale, he submitted.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr McIntyre informed the Committee that Miss Neilson had been fined $200 at Ashburton on 8th February 2014 for excessive use of the whip. She was again fined $200 for a breach of the same Rule at Banks Peninsula on 23 November 2014.
To date in the current season Miss Neilson has had 32 drives and in the 2013/2014 season, had 49 drives. He submitted that the breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
Mr Jones submitted that Miss Neilson’s whip use was an improvement on her most recent breach at Banks Peninsula. He repeated that he had misled her as to what was acceptable use of the whip. On Miss Neilson’s behalf, he requested that she not be suspended at this busy time.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee noted that the Penalty Guide provides a starting point for a second breach of the Rule within a year of 10 drives or a fine of $500. The Committee gave serious consideration to imposing a period of suspension of licence, given that this was Miss Neilson’s third breach in 10 months but decided against it, principally, on the basis that Mr Jones had accepted partial blame. The Committee accepted that Mr Jones’ incorrect advice to Miss Neilson was a significant factor in the breach and we have considered that to be a mitigating factor
Other mitigating factors were, firstly, her admission of the breach, secondly, the low-level nature of the offending (she had her hand on the rein) and, thirdly, Miss Neilson’s Junior Driver status.
We considered that the combination of those mitigating factors warranted a discount of $200 from the Penalty Guide starting point of $500.
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: 743dc83553296232f2ccfbb79018fe20
informantnumber: A7205
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/11/2014
hearing_title: Methven TC 7 December 2014 - R 3
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, Ray Mayne Hose & Fittings Limited Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss M A Neilson, alleging that Miss Neilson, as the driver of FLEETING GRIN in the race, “used her whip in a manner deemed excessive by the Stewards driving FLEETING GRIN”.
Miss Neilson was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the charge. Miss Neilson was assisted at the hearing by her employer, Licensed Open Driver, Mr M P Jones.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr McIntyre showed video replays of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out FLEETING GRIN, driven by Miss Neilson, in the lead as the field entered the home straight.
Mr McIntyre said that Stewards were alleging that Miss Neilson had used her whip excessively from that point. He referred to a section of the Use of the Whip Guidelines which provided that a driver may use the whip with the rein in hand as long as it was not in a continuous manner. He alleged that Miss Neilson had used her whip 24 strikes in a continuous manner from about the 300 metres with her whip hand on the rein.
Mr McIntyre submitted that Miss Neilson’s use of the whip had been excessive and in breach of the guidelines. However, it was not the worst case of its kind, he said.
Miss Neilson said that she accepted the number of strikes alleged by the Stewards.
Mr Jones said that he is Miss Neilson’s employer and he had to accept some of the blame for this breach. He had advised Miss Neilson that strikes of the whip with the rein in the same hand were not going to be counted in determining excessive use. Mr McIntyre confirmed that this was a proposal being considered at the present time.
Mr Jones also asked the Committee to consider that the strikes were not hard and that FLEETING GRIN had only won the race by a nose. It was at the bottom end of the scale, he submitted.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Miss Neilson having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr McIntyre informed the Committee that Miss Neilson had been fined $200 at Ashburton on 8th February 2014 for excessive use of the whip. She was again fined $200 for a breach of the same Rule at Banks Peninsula on 23 November 2014.
To date in the current season Miss Neilson has had 32 drives and in the 2013/2014 season, had 49 drives. He submitted that the breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
Mr Jones submitted that Miss Neilson’s whip use was an improvement on her most recent breach at Banks Peninsula. He repeated that he had misled her as to what was acceptable use of the whip. On Miss Neilson’s behalf, he requested that she not be suspended at this busy time.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee noted that the Penalty Guide provides a starting point for a second breach of the Rule within a year of 10 drives or a fine of $500. The Committee gave serious consideration to imposing a period of suspension of licence, given that this was Miss Neilson’s third breach in 10 months but decided against it, principally, on the basis that Mr Jones had accepted partial blame. The Committee accepted that Mr Jones’ incorrect advice to Miss Neilson was a significant factor in the breach and we have considered that to be a mitigating factor
Other mitigating factors were, firstly, her admission of the breach, secondly, the low-level nature of the offending (she had her hand on the rein) and, thirdly, Miss Neilson’s Junior Driver status.
We considered that the combination of those mitigating factors warranted a discount of $200 from the Penalty Guide starting point of $500.
penalty:
Miss Neilson was fined the sum of $300.00.
The Committee wishes to record that it did give consideration to imposing a term of suspension for this breach. It is of concern that a Junior Driver should breach the excessive use of the whip Rule on three occasions in a 10 months’ period. For the reasons given above, we did not suspend Miss Neilson’s licence on this occasion but we record that a further breach of the Rule in the near to medium future will, in all likelihood, result in a suspension of her Junior Driver’s licence.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N G McIntyre - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: M A Neilson, Licensed Junior Driver
Otherperson: M P Jones, Licensed Open Driver
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 62426384272ef3738485d469d9ade7fb
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
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race_pm2:
meetid: 45f0b5e96ecec725ed1375cd3938196e
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/12/2014
meet_title: Methven TC - 7 December 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: methven-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Methven TC