Nelson HRC 8 January 2012 – R 9
ID: JCA12479
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 8 January 2012
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams
Race Date:
2012/01/08
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Mr Thompson having admitted the breach, the breach was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Thompson’s Open Horseman’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 8 January 2012 up to and including 15 January 2012 – effectively 2 days.
Charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Stella Artois Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr S J Thompson, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that Mr Thompson, as the driver of UWEEHUMMA in the race, “used his whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive”.
Mr Thompson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Thompson did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Thompson, on UWEEHUMMA, leading the field turning into the home straight. He said that the Stewards were alleging that Mr Thompson had used his whip on approximately 24 occasions in the home straight with few, if any, pauses. This was borne out by the video replay.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Thompson had previously had trouble with the excessive use of the whip Rule. His last breach was in 13 March 2011, 10 months ago, for which he was suspended for 7 days and fined $200. Prior to that, he had received 1 week’s suspension and a $100 fine on 6 March 2011. Mr Ydgren said that Mr Thompson had indicated to the Stewards that he was not in a position to pay a fine. He had advised that he had, probably, at least 4 drives on each day at the upcoming Blenheim meeting (13 and 15 January). Mr Thompson did not seek a deferment of the suspension. A 2-days’ suspension equated to a $400 fine, Mr Ydgren submitted, which was a significant penalty.
Mr Thompson has had 25 drives in the current season and had 71 in the 2010/2011 season. Because it was 10 months since Mr Thompson’s last breach of the Rule, Mr Ydgren said, the Stewards were submitting that a suspension for both days of the Blenheim meeting was an appropriate penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Thompson’s admission of the breach. It was of concern to the Committee that Mr Thompson had breached the Rule on two previous occasions in the past 12 months. However, the Committee agreed with the submission of Mr Ydgren that 10 months, in which Mr Thompson had a reasonable amount of drives, had elapsed since the last breach. That fact showed that Mr Thompson had obviously taken steps to address his problem with whip use. He was entitled to some credit for that. The Committee was prepared, in the circumstances, to treat the present breach as being Mr Thompson’s 2nd within a year, for which the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 10 drives or $500. Mr Thompson is entitled to a discount for his admission of the breach.
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: 617856279d5ddd4a6ce1f5dec567e165
informantnumber: A5491
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/01/2012
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 8 January 2012 - R 9
charge:
Excessive use of the whip.
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, Stella Artois Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr S J Thompson, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that Mr Thompson, as the driver of UWEEHUMMA in the race, “used his whip in a manner which Stewards deem to be excessive”.
Mr Thompson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Thompson did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Ydgren showed a video replay of the final 300-400 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Thompson, on UWEEHUMMA, leading the field turning into the home straight. He said that the Stewards were alleging that Mr Thompson had used his whip on approximately 24 occasions in the home straight with few, if any, pauses. This was borne out by the video replay.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Thompson having admitted the breach, the breach was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Thompson had previously had trouble with the excessive use of the whip Rule. His last breach was in 13 March 2011, 10 months ago, for which he was suspended for 7 days and fined $200. Prior to that, he had received 1 week’s suspension and a $100 fine on 6 March 2011. Mr Ydgren said that Mr Thompson had indicated to the Stewards that he was not in a position to pay a fine. He had advised that he had, probably, at least 4 drives on each day at the upcoming Blenheim meeting (13 and 15 January). Mr Thompson did not seek a deferment of the suspension. A 2-days’ suspension equated to a $400 fine, Mr Ydgren submitted, which was a significant penalty.
Mr Thompson has had 25 drives in the current season and had 71 in the 2010/2011 season. Because it was 10 months since Mr Thompson’s last breach of the Rule, Mr Ydgren said, the Stewards were submitting that a suspension for both days of the Blenheim meeting was an appropriate penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Thompson’s admission of the breach. It was of concern to the Committee that Mr Thompson had breached the Rule on two previous occasions in the past 12 months. However, the Committee agreed with the submission of Mr Ydgren that 10 months, in which Mr Thompson had a reasonable amount of drives, had elapsed since the last breach. That fact showed that Mr Thompson had obviously taken steps to address his problem with whip use. He was entitled to some credit for that. The Committee was prepared, in the circumstances, to treat the present breach as being Mr Thompson’s 2nd within a year, for which the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 10 drives or $500. Mr Thompson is entitled to a discount for his admission of the breach.
penalty:
Mr Thompson’s Open Horseman’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 8 January 2012 up to and including 15 January 2012 – effectively 2 days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: N M Ydgren, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: S J Thompson, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: e49a055e59bd3583f12298743ab9f2b4
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: fe7ca35f43d2003781f26bd8230053a5
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 08/01/2012
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 8 January 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: PWilliams
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC