NZ Metro TC 12 November 2019 – R 6 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA15577
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 12 November 2019
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2019/11/12
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
Mrs Gath having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mrs Gath’s application for a deferment of suspension is granted. Mrs Gath’s driver’s licence (Australia) is suspended from after the close of racing on Friday, 15 November 2019, up to and including 19 November 2019 – 3 days. This period includes three Victoria race meetings at which Mrs Gath would be able to drive. We record that we have not included the meeting at Cranbourne on 16 November as, the fields and drivers having been published, we were able to establish that Mrs Gath had no drives at that meeting.
In addition, Mrs Gath is fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Commodore Airport Hotel NZ Trotting Free-For-All (Group 1), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver (Australia), Mrs K Gath, alleging that Mrs Gath, as the driver of MCLOVIN in the race, “used her whip on more occasions than is permitted”.
Mrs Gath had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that she admitted the breach. She was present at the hearing of the information and she confirmed that she admitted the breach and that she was aware of the rule and the regulations.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(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 Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) 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.
Mr Ydgren showed to the hearing a video replay of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out MCLOVIN, driven by Mrs Gath, racing three places back on the markers in 4th position as the field approached the home turn. She then improved 3-wide and ran on widest on the track to finish in 2nd placing, a ½ neck from the winner.
Stewards were alleging that, from the 400 metres, Mrs Gath used her whip 13-14 times by way of strikes. This was accepted by Mrs Gath.
Mrs Gath said that the horse was quite lazy and that she ought to have broken up the final few strikes. The strikes were not “aggressive”, she submitted. She said that she had “got close” in a $100,000 race. She agreed that it was a long way down the straight. It is hard to stop using the whip when one is making ground, she said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said that he was not aware of any breach of the whip rule in Australia by Mrs Gath since 2015. Her record was, therefore, excellent. Unfortunately for Mrs Gath, the race was a Group 1 race, he said. It was not the worst case – the strikes were not forceful and the number was not overly-high. However, any penalty needed to reflect the Group 1 status of the race and a suspension was warranted, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mrs Gath sought a deferment until after the meeting on Friday 1 November, and added that she would be driving on Saturday in Victoria and at other Victoria meetings on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee agreed with the submission of Mr Ydgren that the appropriate penalty for this breach is a term of suspension, given the aggravating factor of the Group 1 status of the race. We also accepted that it was not a high-range breach of the rule when the number and force of the strikes were looked at in totality.
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: b62cf2fdffa6c95abd7625c96a35102b
informantnumber: A12861
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/11/2019
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 12 November 2019 - R 6 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Commodore Airport Hotel NZ Trotting Free-For-All (Group 1), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver (Australia), Mrs K Gath, alleging that Mrs Gath, as the driver of MCLOVIN in the race, “used her whip on more occasions than is permitted”.
Mrs Gath had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that she admitted the breach. She was present at the hearing of the information and she confirmed that she admitted the breach and that she was aware of the rule and the regulations.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(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 Whip Regulations (effective from 30 November 2017) 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.
Mr Ydgren showed to the hearing a video replay of the final 400 metres of the race. He pointed out MCLOVIN, driven by Mrs Gath, racing three places back on the markers in 4th position as the field approached the home turn. She then improved 3-wide and ran on widest on the track to finish in 2nd placing, a ½ neck from the winner.
Stewards were alleging that, from the 400 metres, Mrs Gath used her whip 13-14 times by way of strikes. This was accepted by Mrs Gath.
Mrs Gath said that the horse was quite lazy and that she ought to have broken up the final few strikes. The strikes were not “aggressive”, she submitted. She said that she had “got close” in a $100,000 race. She agreed that it was a long way down the straight. It is hard to stop using the whip when one is making ground, she said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mrs Gath having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said that he was not aware of any breach of the whip rule in Australia by Mrs Gath since 2015. Her record was, therefore, excellent. Unfortunately for Mrs Gath, the race was a Group 1 race, he said. It was not the worst case – the strikes were not forceful and the number was not overly-high. However, any penalty needed to reflect the Group 1 status of the race and a suspension was warranted, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mrs Gath sought a deferment until after the meeting on Friday 1 November, and added that she would be driving on Saturday in Victoria and at other Victoria meetings on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee agreed with the submission of Mr Ydgren that the appropriate penalty for this breach is a term of suspension, given the aggravating factor of the Group 1 status of the race. We also accepted that it was not a high-range breach of the rule when the number and force of the strikes were looked at in totality.
penalty:
Mrs Gath’s application for a deferment of suspension is granted. Mrs Gath’s driver’s licence (Australia) is suspended from after the close of racing on Friday, 15 November 2019, up to and including 19 November 2019 – 3 days. This period includes three Victoria race meetings at which Mrs Gath would be able to drive. We record that we have not included the meeting at Cranbourne on 16 November as, the fields and drivers having been published, we were able to establish that Mrs Gath had no drives at that meeting.
In addition, Mrs Gath is fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)& Use of the Whip Regulations
Informant: N M Ydgren, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: K Gath, Licensed Driver (Australia)
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0283444199cbdf316c85957a99ee8290
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: 437b0ddec8d7fe4f1f2a806945dfb6d7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/11/2019
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 12 November 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC