Nelson HRC 7 June 2015 – R 9
ID: JCA11131
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 7 June 2015
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2015/06/07
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
As Mr Houghton admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Houghton is suspended for 2 driving days – Addington on 12 June 2015 and Oamaru on 14 June 2015. The Forbury Park TC meeting at Gore on 13 June 2015 is excluded in calculating this period of suspension as Mr Houghton said he would not be driving at that meeting.
Facts:
Following the running of race 9, the “Nelson Pine Industries Nelson Winter Cup Hcp” Information A6249 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr R Houghton. The Information stated “you used your whip excessively over the concluding stages while driving “Joey Maguire”. Mr Houghton signed the Information admitting the breach and also confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that he understood the Rule under which he had been charged.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Ydgren used the side-on film to identify Mr Houghton driving “Joey Maguire” leading the field as the horses entered the final straight. Mr Ydgren said Mr Houghton used his whip approximately 21-22 times over the final 250m with that number being too many over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Houghton had no comments to make.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said Mr Houghton had not breached this Rule in the previous 6 months. He said he had had 417 life time drives which included 40 this season and 23 in the 2013/2014 season. He said Mr Houghton readily admitted the breach and, whilst the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension, in an earlier discussion with Mr Houghton he said he had been told by him that he would prefer a suspension to a fine. Mr Ydgren submitted that if Mr Houghton was to be suspended then a penalty of 2 days was appropriate.
Mr Houghton had no comments to make other than to confirm that he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 250m of the race and note Mr Houghton used his whip approximately 22 times over those 250m and whilst the strikes were not that forceful there were no real pauses until he finished the race. The Committee believes the severity of the breach to be just below mid range given the number of strikes although we believe the force used is at the low end. We note that Mr Houghton finished second in the day’s feature race and some might argue he only did so because, in using the whip in the manner he did, he gained an unfair advantage over those drivers who did not use their whips excessively over the concluding stages of the race.
We also note Mr Houghton has not breached this Rule in the previous six months and admitted today's breach at the earliest opportunity.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension.
We believe the mitigating factors outlined above offset the aggravating factors in relation to the relatively high number of strikes and the perception of him having gained an unfair advantage over other drivers because of the number of times he used his whip.
We note Mr Houghton’s preference for a suspension rather than a fine and, whilst we believe a more appropriate penalty for a driver who has limited opportunities is a fine rather than a suspension, we have decided on this occasion a suspension will be imposed.
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: 14b7cd4ecd670343dcce1126858f3225
informantnumber: A6249
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/06/2015
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 7 June 2015 - R 9
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 9, the “Nelson Pine Industries Nelson Winter Cup Hcp” Information A6249 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) by Open Horseman Mr R Houghton. The Information stated “you used your whip excessively over the concluding stages while driving “Joey Maguire”. Mr Houghton signed the Information admitting the breach and also confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that he understood the Rule under which he had been charged.
Rule 869(2)(a) states:- “No horseman shall during any race use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Ydgren used the side-on film to identify Mr Houghton driving “Joey Maguire” leading the field as the horses entered the final straight. Mr Ydgren said Mr Houghton used his whip approximately 21-22 times over the final 250m with that number being too many over the concluding stages of the race.
Mr Houghton had no comments to make.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Houghton admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said Mr Houghton had not breached this Rule in the previous 6 months. He said he had had 417 life time drives which included 40 this season and 23 in the 2013/2014 season. He said Mr Houghton readily admitted the breach and, whilst the JCA Guidelines stated the starting point for a breach of the Rule was a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension, in an earlier discussion with Mr Houghton he said he had been told by him that he would prefer a suspension to a fine. Mr Ydgren submitted that if Mr Houghton was to be suspended then a penalty of 2 days was appropriate.
Mr Houghton had no comments to make other than to confirm that he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on film of the final 250m of the race and note Mr Houghton used his whip approximately 22 times over those 250m and whilst the strikes were not that forceful there were no real pauses until he finished the race. The Committee believes the severity of the breach to be just below mid range given the number of strikes although we believe the force used is at the low end. We note that Mr Houghton finished second in the day’s feature race and some might argue he only did so because, in using the whip in the manner he did, he gained an unfair advantage over those drivers who did not use their whips excessively over the concluding stages of the race.
We also note Mr Houghton has not breached this Rule in the previous six months and admitted today's breach at the earliest opportunity.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or 2 day suspension.
We believe the mitigating factors outlined above offset the aggravating factors in relation to the relatively high number of strikes and the perception of him having gained an unfair advantage over other drivers because of the number of times he used his whip.
We note Mr Houghton’s preference for a suspension rather than a fine and, whilst we believe a more appropriate penalty for a driver who has limited opportunities is a fine rather than a suspension, we have decided on this occasion a suspension will be imposed.
penalty:
Mr Houghton is suspended for 2 driving days – Addington on 12 June 2015 and Oamaru on 14 June 2015. The Forbury Park TC meeting at Gore on 13 June 2015 is excluded in calculating this period of suspension as Mr Houghton said he would not be driving at that meeting.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Houghton - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3bc1cc7b851e7d5d2fa32b38a293e1ea
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: 909d205b6a72817ff51c7149d2aa916a
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/06/2015
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 7 June 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "PWilliams", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "44", "Total": "27.28", "kmprice": 27.280000000000001, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC