NZ Metro TC 24 June 2011 – R2
ID: JCA10848
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 24 June 2011
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2011/06/24
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
The charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr McDonald’s Graduation Driver’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on this race night up to and including Friday, 15 July 2011.
Charge:
Unnecessary use of the whip
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, The Main Report Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr P J McDonald, alleging that, as the driver of GRAPPA in the Race, he used his whip in an unnecessary manner.
Mr McDonald was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr McIntyre referred to the guidelines issued by the Stipendiary Stewards regarding use of the whip. He said that those guidelines provided that unnecessary use of the whip included striking an obviously beaten runner. Mr McIntyre alleged that GRAPPA was a beaten runner. He showed a video replay of the final 500-600 metres of the race and pointed out GRAPPA, wide and in last position with 500 metres to run. Passing the 400 metres, the horse was a clear last and appearing to lose ground on the rest of the field. At that point, Mr McDonald gave GRAPPA a number of hits with the whip. The Committee noted that the horse remained in last position and was making no ground when, with approximately 200 metres to run, Mr McDonald used his whip on two further occasions. The Committee noted that such strikes were firm. Mr McIntyre alleged that Mr McDonald had used his whip on six occasions in total when not in contention.
Mr McDonald referred to the video replay and submitted that, with 1500 metres to run, he had a “handful of horse” but the horse then “dropped the bit”. He had to urge it to keep it on the back of the runner in front. The horse was green, he said, having only its second start and it kept dropping the bit. At the 500 metres, the horse was “still travelling”, Mr McDonald said, and he still had a hold on him. He said that it felt “lost” rather than like a tired horse. It was inexperienced and still learning.
Mr McDonald agreed, in response to a question from the Committee, that the horse was not in contention. He said that the horse has ability and has won out of 10 workouts. He was trying to keep the horse in contact with the field.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of the parties and carefully viewed the video replays. The principal test applied by Judicial Committees in determining a charge of alleged unnecessary use of the whip is whether the use of the whip was on an obviously beaten runner. In his submissions, Mr McIntyre referred to the guidelines for use of the whip. In this regard, the Committee noted that the horse was in last place in the 11-horse field at the 400 metres when Mr McDonald commenced using the whip. Despite Mr McDonald’s use of the whip, the horse continued to lose ground. When Mr McDonald used the whip twice more inside the final 200 metres, the horse was clearly in last placing and, clearly, going to remain there. There was no doubt, in the Committee’s view, that GRAPPA was a clearly beaten runner. To use the whip in those circumstances was, the Committee was clearly satisfied, unnecessary. The matters put forward by Mr McDonald in his defence to the charge did not amount to a defence to the charge.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr McIntyre informed the Committee that Mr McDonald is a Licensed Graduation Driver. He has had 15 lifetime drives – 5 in the current season. He had not previously breached the whip Rule. Mr McIntyre referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $300 fine or a suspension of 6 drives.
Mr McDonald informed the Committee that he is currently driving two horses that will be racing over the winter. He indicated that he would prefer a term of suspension to a fine in this instance.
The Committee, together with the parties, looked at upcoming race meetings at which Mr McDonald would be likely to be driving.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee found that the only mitigating factor was Mr McDonald’s previous good record but the effect of this was limited having regard to the fact that he has only had 15 career drives. The Committee assessed the offending as mid-range. The Committee took into account the Penalty Guide and the submission of Mr McDonald for a term of suspension. It assessed that 6 drives for Mr McDonald, which was an appropriate penalty, were likely to incorporate four Canterbury meetings over the next few weeks – Rangiora on 3 July and Addington meetings on 5, 7 and 15 July.
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: 0e9636a66839fccbc75c26ad14e315fc
informantnumber: 68596
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 23/06/2011
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 24 June 2011 - R2
charge:
Unnecessary use of the whip
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, The Main Report Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr P J McDonald, alleging that, as the driver of GRAPPA in the Race, he used his whip in an unnecessary manner.
Mr McDonald was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr McIntyre referred to the guidelines issued by the Stipendiary Stewards regarding use of the whip. He said that those guidelines provided that unnecessary use of the whip included striking an obviously beaten runner. Mr McIntyre alleged that GRAPPA was a beaten runner. He showed a video replay of the final 500-600 metres of the race and pointed out GRAPPA, wide and in last position with 500 metres to run. Passing the 400 metres, the horse was a clear last and appearing to lose ground on the rest of the field. At that point, Mr McDonald gave GRAPPA a number of hits with the whip. The Committee noted that the horse remained in last position and was making no ground when, with approximately 200 metres to run, Mr McDonald used his whip on two further occasions. The Committee noted that such strikes were firm. Mr McIntyre alleged that Mr McDonald had used his whip on six occasions in total when not in contention.
Mr McDonald referred to the video replay and submitted that, with 1500 metres to run, he had a “handful of horse” but the horse then “dropped the bit”. He had to urge it to keep it on the back of the runner in front. The horse was green, he said, having only its second start and it kept dropping the bit. At the 500 metres, the horse was “still travelling”, Mr McDonald said, and he still had a hold on him. He said that it felt “lost” rather than like a tired horse. It was inexperienced and still learning.
Mr McDonald agreed, in response to a question from the Committee, that the horse was not in contention. He said that the horse has ability and has won out of 10 workouts. He was trying to keep the horse in contact with the field.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of the parties and carefully viewed the video replays. The principal test applied by Judicial Committees in determining a charge of alleged unnecessary use of the whip is whether the use of the whip was on an obviously beaten runner. In his submissions, Mr McIntyre referred to the guidelines for use of the whip. In this regard, the Committee noted that the horse was in last place in the 11-horse field at the 400 metres when Mr McDonald commenced using the whip. Despite Mr McDonald’s use of the whip, the horse continued to lose ground. When Mr McDonald used the whip twice more inside the final 200 metres, the horse was clearly in last placing and, clearly, going to remain there. There was no doubt, in the Committee’s view, that GRAPPA was a clearly beaten runner. To use the whip in those circumstances was, the Committee was clearly satisfied, unnecessary. The matters put forward by Mr McDonald in his defence to the charge did not amount to a defence to the charge.
Decision:
The charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr McIntyre informed the Committee that Mr McDonald is a Licensed Graduation Driver. He has had 15 lifetime drives – 5 in the current season. He had not previously breached the whip Rule. Mr McIntyre referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $300 fine or a suspension of 6 drives.
Mr McDonald informed the Committee that he is currently driving two horses that will be racing over the winter. He indicated that he would prefer a term of suspension to a fine in this instance.
The Committee, together with the parties, looked at upcoming race meetings at which Mr McDonald would be likely to be driving.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee found that the only mitigating factor was Mr McDonald’s previous good record but the effect of this was limited having regard to the fact that he has only had 15 career drives. The Committee assessed the offending as mid-range. The Committee took into account the Penalty Guide and the submission of Mr McDonald for a term of suspension. It assessed that 6 drives for Mr McDonald, which was an appropriate penalty, were likely to incorporate four Canterbury meetings over the next few weeks – Rangiora on 3 July and Addington meetings on 5, 7 and 15 July.
penalty:
Mr McDonald’s Graduation Driver’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on this race night up to and including Friday, 15 July 2011.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869 (2) (a)
Informant: N G McIntyre, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: P J McDonald, Licensed Graduation Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9d8efe9b7709634f4a19bcbcd508ee1b
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 118410228be2d2b024c20844d7a11866
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 24/06/2011
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 24 June 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC