NZ Metro TC 5 March 2021 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA16829
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 5 March 2021
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2021/03/05
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr May having admitted the breach, it was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr May is fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Hydroflow Handicap Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr R T May, alleging that, as the driver of A G’S WHITE SOCKS in the race, he “used his whip free of the rein in the early stages of the home straight”.
Mr May had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides:
(2) No driver shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Whip and Rein Regulations provide as follows:
3.1 A driver may only apply the whip in a wrist only flicking motion whilst holding a rein in each hand with the tip of the whip pointed forward in an action which does not engage the shoulder.
4.5 A driver must drive throughout the race with a hand on each rein (subject to 4.7 below)
4.7 A driver may not cross the reins except:
4.7.3 when activating gear; or
4.7.4 for safety reasons.
Mr Renault pointed out A G’S WHITE SOX, driven by Mr May, racing outside the leader as the field turned into the home straight. He said that Mr May had difficulty activating the removeable deafeners, the cord having become entangled. While he had the reins in his left hand, Mr Renault said, Mr May used his whip in his right hand on one occasion, free of the rein, before regaining the reins.
The breach was at the low-end of whip use, Mr Renault said, but Mr May has been charged on this occasion because he has been spoken to and warned on numerous previous occasions regarding his whip use.
Mr May confirmed that he did have trouble activating the gear, because it had been fitted that tight. The cord had become entangled in the back of the sulky. He agreed that he still had the cord in his hand when he used the whip. He had only used it once, he said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said that the breach was low-level, for which the Penalty Guide provided a penalty starting point of a $200-400 fine. On that basis, he submitted that a fine at the lowest level was appropriate.
Mr May is a very busy driver – 390 drives this season, Mr Renault said. He repeated that Mr May has been spoken to on numerous occasions regarding his whip use, but this charge was his first.
Mr May made no submission in relation to penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The HRNZ Whip Penalty Guide (effective 1 October 2020) provides as follows:
Low-level is defined as when a driver inadvertently reverts to the old style (freehand, loose reining and/or more than a flicking motion) but promptly takes corrective steps to return to a compliant style of driving.
The Committee was clearly satisfied that Mr May’s whip use was low-level in terms of the Penalty Guide. There was only one offending use of the whip free of the rein.
There are no relevant aggravating or mitigating factors and the $200 fine prescribed in the Penalty Guide is the appropriate penalty on this occasion.
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: a762a93781be9cd9c43cf8c85d30a47e
informantnumber: A13654
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unapproved Use of Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/03/2021
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 5 March 2021 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Hydroflow Handicap Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr R T May, alleging that, as the driver of A G’S WHITE SOCKS in the race, he “used his whip free of the rein in the early stages of the home straight”.
Mr May had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides:
(2) No driver shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of the Whip Regulations made by the Board.
The Whip and Rein Regulations provide as follows:
3.1 A driver may only apply the whip in a wrist only flicking motion whilst holding a rein in each hand with the tip of the whip pointed forward in an action which does not engage the shoulder.
4.5 A driver must drive throughout the race with a hand on each rein (subject to 4.7 below)
4.7 A driver may not cross the reins except:
4.7.3 when activating gear; or
4.7.4 for safety reasons.
Mr Renault pointed out A G’S WHITE SOX, driven by Mr May, racing outside the leader as the field turned into the home straight. He said that Mr May had difficulty activating the removeable deafeners, the cord having become entangled. While he had the reins in his left hand, Mr Renault said, Mr May used his whip in his right hand on one occasion, free of the rein, before regaining the reins.
The breach was at the low-end of whip use, Mr Renault said, but Mr May has been charged on this occasion because he has been spoken to and warned on numerous previous occasions regarding his whip use.
Mr May confirmed that he did have trouble activating the gear, because it had been fitted that tight. The cord had become entangled in the back of the sulky. He agreed that he still had the cord in his hand when he used the whip. He had only used it once, he said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr May having admitted the breach, it was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said that the breach was low-level, for which the Penalty Guide provided a penalty starting point of a $200-400 fine. On that basis, he submitted that a fine at the lowest level was appropriate.
Mr May is a very busy driver – 390 drives this season, Mr Renault said. He repeated that Mr May has been spoken to on numerous occasions regarding his whip use, but this charge was his first.
Mr May made no submission in relation to penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The HRNZ Whip Penalty Guide (effective 1 October 2020) provides as follows:
Low-level is defined as when a driver inadvertently reverts to the old style (freehand, loose reining and/or more than a flicking motion) but promptly takes corrective steps to return to a compliant style of driving.
The Committee was clearly satisfied that Mr May’s whip use was low-level in terms of the Penalty Guide. There was only one offending use of the whip free of the rein.
There are no relevant aggravating or mitigating factors and the $200 fine prescribed in the Penalty Guide is the appropriate penalty on this occasion.
penalty:
Mr May is fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2) & Whip & Rein Regulations
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: R T May, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d05bc8a266f738eac68aad9efbac9d0a
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: 131f26a61ebc52a24b9eb969704e5f5f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 05/03/2021
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 5 March 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC