Morrinsville TC 11 January 2015 – R 6
ID: JCA14772
Meet Title:
Morrinsville TC - 11 January 2015
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2015/01/11
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
Penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a fine of $225.
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of 6, the Workplace Engineering Supply Mobile Pace. The information alleged that “horseman Mr S Argue used his whip unnecessarily on LADY P in the run home”.
Mr Argue endorsed the information “I do admit the breach”.
Mr Argue was present at the hearing.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available head and side-on video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that LADY P was racing in a 4-wide position at the 1600 metre mark, when she broke and veered wider on the track. LADY P regained her gait and with approximately 1000 metres to run ended up being parked out. Mr Muirhead said that after a very tough run LADY P started to drift back through the field and locked wheels with another runner. Once LADY P came free Mr Aruge struck her 4 times with his whip when she was clearly beaten and running in last position. This occurred in the home straight.
Mr Muirhead added that Mr Argue should have assessed the amount of work his horse had done throughout the race and Stewards are clearly of the view that the use of the whip was unnecessary, albeit the number of strikes was not excessive.
Mr Argue told the Committee that LADY P was having her first start for him and it was also her first start racing in an ‘open bridle’. He said that when he activated the horse’s hood he locked wheels with another runner and once he had cleared that runner he wanted to assess whether LADY P would respond to the whip when placed under pressure. Mr Argue acknowledged that at the time LADY P was a beaten runner and had no hope of finishing in a place.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the JCA guidelines establish a starting point for a breach of this rule is set at 6 drives or $300 fine. He submitted that Mr Argue has a clear record and should be given credit for his admission of the breach. He said the breach was at the low end, but the concern for Stewards was the public perception created by the use of a whip on a beaten runner. He submitted the matter could be dealt with by way of fine in the vicinity of $200 - $300.
Mr Argue submitted that his use of the whip may have appeared worse on the video footage than it really was due to having locked wheels with another runner. He conceded that he should not have persevered with his whip after locking wheels when he was at the rear of the field. Mr Argue said that the breach was at the low end of the scale.
Reasons for Penalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches which range from $150 fine to 5 days suspension. The guidelines establish a starting point of $300 fine or 5 drives.
The Committee has assessed the breach as low to mid-range. The use of the whip in the final stages of the race was clearly unnecessary given that LADY P had a tough run; was drifting back through the field and was in last position.
Under the circumstances it ought to have been clear to Mr Argue that LADY P was never going to finish in a stake or dividend bearing place.
Rule 869 (2)a provides that:
“No horseman shall during any race (a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner”.
The use of whip guidelines describe unnecessary as “striking a runner that has no reasonable chance of finishing in a stake or dividend bearing place”.
The Committee gives Mr Argue credit for admitting the beach and his very good record.
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: 79f90741e5fdc717ad62460a0ecd4016
informantnumber: A4224
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unnecessary Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 29/12/2014
hearing_title: Morrinsville TC 11 January 2015 - R 6
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of 6, the Workplace Engineering Supply Mobile Pace. The information alleged that “horseman Mr S Argue used his whip unnecessarily on LADY P in the run home”.
Mr Argue endorsed the information “I do admit the breach”.
Mr Argue was present at the hearing.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available head and side-on video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that LADY P was racing in a 4-wide position at the 1600 metre mark, when she broke and veered wider on the track. LADY P regained her gait and with approximately 1000 metres to run ended up being parked out. Mr Muirhead said that after a very tough run LADY P started to drift back through the field and locked wheels with another runner. Once LADY P came free Mr Aruge struck her 4 times with his whip when she was clearly beaten and running in last position. This occurred in the home straight.
Mr Muirhead added that Mr Argue should have assessed the amount of work his horse had done throughout the race and Stewards are clearly of the view that the use of the whip was unnecessary, albeit the number of strikes was not excessive.
Mr Argue told the Committee that LADY P was having her first start for him and it was also her first start racing in an ‘open bridle’. He said that when he activated the horse’s hood he locked wheels with another runner and once he had cleared that runner he wanted to assess whether LADY P would respond to the whip when placed under pressure. Mr Argue acknowledged that at the time LADY P was a beaten runner and had no hope of finishing in a place.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the JCA guidelines establish a starting point for a breach of this rule is set at 6 drives or $300 fine. He submitted that Mr Argue has a clear record and should be given credit for his admission of the breach. He said the breach was at the low end, but the concern for Stewards was the public perception created by the use of a whip on a beaten runner. He submitted the matter could be dealt with by way of fine in the vicinity of $200 - $300.
Mr Argue submitted that his use of the whip may have appeared worse on the video footage than it really was due to having locked wheels with another runner. He conceded that he should not have persevered with his whip after locking wheels when he was at the rear of the field. Mr Argue said that the breach was at the low end of the scale.
reasonsforpenalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches which range from $150 fine to 5 days suspension. The guidelines establish a starting point of $300 fine or 5 drives.
The Committee has assessed the breach as low to mid-range. The use of the whip in the final stages of the race was clearly unnecessary given that LADY P had a tough run; was drifting back through the field and was in last position.
Under the circumstances it ought to have been clear to Mr Argue that LADY P was never going to finish in a stake or dividend bearing place.
Rule 869 (2)a provides that:
“No horseman shall during any race (a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner”.
The use of whip guidelines describe unnecessary as “striking a runner that has no reasonable chance of finishing in a stake or dividend bearing place”.
The Committee gives Mr Argue credit for admitting the beach and his very good record.
penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a fine of $225.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869 2(a)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Argue - Senior Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: f3eb45fc921fdab17e282d4ea0a00d8c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c4d839a50586a01173c1dbc5eedde01f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/01/2015
meet_title: Morrinsville TC - 11 January 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: morrinsville-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Morrinsville TC