NZ Metropolitan TC 21 May 2021 – R 8 – Chair, Mr D Anderson
ID: JCA12774
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 21 May 2021
Meet Chair:
DAnderson
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2021/05/21
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
As Mr O’Reilly admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr O’Reilly’s Open Driver’s Licence is suspended from the close of racing on the 23 May 2021 up to and including racing on the 5 June 2021.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, The Breeders NZ Pacing Oaks, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(2) by Open Driver, Mr G O’Reilly. The information alleged; ”G O’Reilly (SWEET BELLE) used his whip with more than a wrist flicking motion in the home straight".
Mr O’Reilly signed the Information admitting the breach and stated he was conversant with the Rule.
Rule 869 provides 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.
(3.3) A driver shall not use a whip in an unapproved manner.
(3.4) For the purposes clause 3.3 a driver shall be deemed to have used the whip in an unapproved manner in the following circumstances which are not exclusive:
3.4.1 If the whip is applied other than as permitted in clause 3.1.
Mr Ydgren used the race video to identify Mr O’Reilly driving (10) SWEET BELLE, racing 3 back on the markers entering the home straight. Mr Ydgren pointed to Mr O’Reilly shift his horse away from the inside, activate ear plugs and strike his horse on 3 occasions using more than a wrist flicking motion. He said Mr O‘Reilly has engaged his elbow on these occasions and was therefore in breach of the Rule.
Mr O’Reilly had nothing to add to Mr Ydgren’s assessment.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said the Penalty Guidelines for a breach at Group One level is a seven-day suspension. He said Mr O’Reilly has an excellent record in relation to the Rule, this being his first charge under the new Regulations. He said Mr O’Reilly has admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity.
Mr O’Reilly made no submissions on penalty but told the Committee he had 3 confirmed drives at the upcoming Jewels meeting. He said he would start any suspension immediately.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a seven-day suspension for Group 1 races.
The Committee has assessed this breach at a low level and find the decision of Mr M Purdon’s breach in the Rowe Cup on 30 April 2021 to be helpful. The Committee in its decision highlighted the need to apply some discretion in cases of low-level breaches with no aggravating factors and mitigating factors alluded to by Stewards.
A low-level breach 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 action to return to a compliant style. This is what Mr O’Reilly has done.
Given the circumstances of Mr O’Reilly’s case this Committee in finding a Penalty that is both apposite and fair consider a 5-day suspension appropriate in this case.
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: 56e9ecbdbe5f52751ddc567d51d6ad72
informantnumber: A13320
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 23/05/2021
hearing_title: NZ Metropolitan TC 21 May 2021 - R 8 - Chair, Mr D Anderson
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, The Breeders NZ Pacing Oaks, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(2) by Open Driver, Mr G O’Reilly. The information alleged; ”G O’Reilly (SWEET BELLE) used his whip with more than a wrist flicking motion in the home straight".
Mr O’Reilly signed the Information admitting the breach and stated he was conversant with the Rule.
Rule 869 provides 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.
(3.3) A driver shall not use a whip in an unapproved manner.
(3.4) For the purposes clause 3.3 a driver shall be deemed to have used the whip in an unapproved manner in the following circumstances which are not exclusive:
3.4.1 If the whip is applied other than as permitted in clause 3.1.
Mr Ydgren used the race video to identify Mr O’Reilly driving (10) SWEET BELLE, racing 3 back on the markers entering the home straight. Mr Ydgren pointed to Mr O’Reilly shift his horse away from the inside, activate ear plugs and strike his horse on 3 occasions using more than a wrist flicking motion. He said Mr O‘Reilly has engaged his elbow on these occasions and was therefore in breach of the Rule.
Mr O’Reilly had nothing to add to Mr Ydgren’s assessment.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr O’Reilly admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said the Penalty Guidelines for a breach at Group One level is a seven-day suspension. He said Mr O’Reilly has an excellent record in relation to the Rule, this being his first charge under the new Regulations. He said Mr O’Reilly has admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity.
Mr O’Reilly made no submissions on penalty but told the Committee he had 3 confirmed drives at the upcoming Jewels meeting. He said he would start any suspension immediately.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a seven-day suspension for Group 1 races.
The Committee has assessed this breach at a low level and find the decision of Mr M Purdon’s breach in the Rowe Cup on 30 April 2021 to be helpful. The Committee in its decision highlighted the need to apply some discretion in cases of low-level breaches with no aggravating factors and mitigating factors alluded to by Stewards.
A low-level breach 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 action to return to a compliant style. This is what Mr O’Reilly has done.
Given the circumstances of Mr O’Reilly’s case this Committee in finding a Penalty that is both apposite and fair consider a 5-day suspension appropriate in this case.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr O’Reilly’s Open Driver’s Licence is suspended from the close of racing on the 23 May 2021 up to and including racing on the 5 June 2021.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G O'Reilly - Open Driver
Otherperson: Mr N McIntyre - General Manager of Stewards, Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4880c7e1c6161039b57c55e575f87f4f
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 684a3e729a676ea038e624e891d8c99c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 1
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/05/2021
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 21 May 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: DAnderson
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC