Nelson HRC 13 January 2019 – R9 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA15093
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 13 January 2019
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2019/01/13
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Penalty:
Mr Geddes is suspended from the close of racing on Sunday 13 January 2019 to the close of racing on Sunday 27 January 2019.
Addendum
On Monday 14 January 2019 the Judicial Committee considered a request from Mr Geddes for the deferment of the suspension imposed on him on Sunday 13 January 2019 at the Nelson HRC meeting. Mr Geddes requested the 4 day suspension imposed on him beginning at the close of racing on Sunday 13 January 2019 be deferred and now commence at the close of racing on Sunday 20 January 2019 to allow him to drive at the upcoming 2 day Marlborough HRC meeting.
The Committee has received written comments from the RIU opposing the request.
After reviewing those comments as well as the recording of the hearing and notes taken by the Committee, the request by Mr Geddes for a deferment of his suspension is not approved. The dates for the upcoming Marlborough HRC meeting were clearly stated by Mr Renault when making his submissions on penalty during the hearing and not commented on at the time by Mr Geddes. Mr Geddes should have been aware of the dates of upcoming meetings and could have asked for the information but chose not to do so.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the “Majestic Horse Floats Mobile Pace”, Information A10834 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Open Horseman Mr J Geddes alleging “you used your whip outside of clause (b) of the whip guidelines when driving “Apocalypse”. Mr Geddes signed the Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that was correct. He also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he had been charged and the relevant portions of the Use of Whip Regulations.
Rule 869 states:
(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 the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
Using the available films from the 400m point Mr Renault highlighted Mr Geddes driving “Apocalypse” and racing at the rear of the field. He said from that point Mr Geddes used his whip 14 times in a striking motion. Mr Renault added that whilst the strikes were not necessarily that forceful he was using the whip in a downwards motion which the Stewards determine is a “striking motion” and was therefore in breach of the whip guidelines (sic).
Mr Geddes did not disagree with the total count of 14 strikes but asked the Committee to note that in his view the strikes were “easy” as there was no bend in the elbow of his whip arm.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Geddes had had 22 drives so far this season and 53 in the previous season. He said Mr Geddes had previously breached this clause of the whip regulations at Westport on 28 December 2018 where he was fined $200. He said the starting point for a second breach within 6 months was a 3-5 day suspension and given the number of strikes it was the submission of the Stewards that a period of suspension was an appropriate penalty and that it be for a period of 4 days.
Mr Geddes asked the Committee to consider imposing a penalty of only 3 days as the strikes were not forceful and all he was doing was trying to get the best out of a “lazy horse”.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 400m of the Race. Mr Geddes has used his whip in a striking motion 14 times some of which were not forceful. That number of strikes means we classify the severity of the breach in the mid-range. The Committee notes this is Mr Geddes’ second breach of this specific whip regulation in just over a fortnight.
The starting point penalty for today’s mid-range breach is a suspension of 4 days which the Committee considers to be mitigation inclusive. Taking into account all of the above we consider that is an appropriate penalty on this occasion and therefore Mr Geddes is suspended for 4 days. For completeness those days (excluding Timaru on 16/1/19 as Mr Geddes stated he was not driving there) are:-
Blenheim – 18 and 20 January 2019
Addington - 25 January 2019
Banks Peninsula - 27 January 2019
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: a5369d4c228be74358a63d4686de7f19
informantnumber: A10834
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/01/2019
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 13 January 2019 - R9 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, the “Majestic Horse Floats Mobile Pace”, Information A10834 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Open Horseman Mr J Geddes alleging “you used your whip outside of clause (b) of the whip guidelines when driving “Apocalypse”. Mr Geddes signed the Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that was correct. He also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he had been charged and the relevant portions of the Use of Whip Regulations.
Rule 869 states:
(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 the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
Using the available films from the 400m point Mr Renault highlighted Mr Geddes driving “Apocalypse” and racing at the rear of the field. He said from that point Mr Geddes used his whip 14 times in a striking motion. Mr Renault added that whilst the strikes were not necessarily that forceful he was using the whip in a downwards motion which the Stewards determine is a “striking motion” and was therefore in breach of the whip guidelines (sic).
Mr Geddes did not disagree with the total count of 14 strikes but asked the Committee to note that in his view the strikes were “easy” as there was no bend in the elbow of his whip arm.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Geddes had had 22 drives so far this season and 53 in the previous season. He said Mr Geddes had previously breached this clause of the whip regulations at Westport on 28 December 2018 where he was fined $200. He said the starting point for a second breach within 6 months was a 3-5 day suspension and given the number of strikes it was the submission of the Stewards that a period of suspension was an appropriate penalty and that it be for a period of 4 days.
Mr Geddes asked the Committee to consider imposing a penalty of only 3 days as the strikes were not forceful and all he was doing was trying to get the best out of a “lazy horse”.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 400m of the Race. Mr Geddes has used his whip in a striking motion 14 times some of which were not forceful. That number of strikes means we classify the severity of the breach in the mid-range. The Committee notes this is Mr Geddes’ second breach of this specific whip regulation in just over a fortnight.
The starting point penalty for today’s mid-range breach is a suspension of 4 days which the Committee considers to be mitigation inclusive. Taking into account all of the above we consider that is an appropriate penalty on this occasion and therefore Mr Geddes is suspended for 4 days. For completeness those days (excluding Timaru on 16/1/19 as Mr Geddes stated he was not driving there) are:-
Blenheim – 18 and 20 January 2019
Addington - 25 January 2019
Banks Peninsula - 27 January 2019
penalty:
Mr Geddes is suspended from the close of racing on Sunday 13 January 2019 to the close of racing on Sunday 27 January 2019.
Addendum
On Monday 14 January 2019 the Judicial Committee considered a request from Mr Geddes for the deferment of the suspension imposed on him on Sunday 13 January 2019 at the Nelson HRC meeting. Mr Geddes requested the 4 day suspension imposed on him beginning at the close of racing on Sunday 13 January 2019 be deferred and now commence at the close of racing on Sunday 20 January 2019 to allow him to drive at the upcoming 2 day Marlborough HRC meeting.
The Committee has received written comments from the RIU opposing the request.
After reviewing those comments as well as the recording of the hearing and notes taken by the Committee, the request by Mr Geddes for a deferment of his suspension is not approved. The dates for the upcoming Marlborough HRC meeting were clearly stated by Mr Renault when making his submissions on penalty during the hearing and not commented on at the time by Mr Geddes. Mr Geddes should have been aware of the dates of upcoming meetings and could have asked for the information but chose not to do so.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Geddes - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: bc5e3fecf8f42dc4da46ed1e395b9ecb
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 312ef92c1881724c5eb1add0ff8bc89e
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/01/2019
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 13 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC