Oamaru HRC 21 May 2017 – R 8 – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA13479
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 21 May 2017
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2017/05/21
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Williamson has admitted the breach. The committee is satisfied Mr Williamson breached the rule and it is found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Williamson is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including Forbury Park on June 1st (2 days) and fined $300.
Suspension days include Invercargill 27th May and Forbury Park 1st June.
Facts:
Mr Williamson was charged with a breach of 869(2)(a) excessive use of the whip, following his drive on 'She’s All The Craze' in race 8, the Williamson Racing Stables Handicap Trot. The Information alleged Mr Williamson “used his whip in an excessive manner inside the final 400m when driving 'She’s All The Craze'”.
Rule 869 (2) reads: No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Whip Guidelines read:
Stewards deem the “use of the whip” throughout the race as listed below:
Free of the rein
On the horse itself
On the sulky or dust sheet
Back handers
Excessive use of the whip simply means “too much” and relates to the number of times and/or force with which the whip is used. The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip, Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used. The horseman shall interrupt the use of his/her whip by using any of the suggested alternative actions:
Running the reins over the horse’s rump
Running the whip through the horse’s tail
Holding the ship on the horse’s tail or rump
A rein in each hand while using the whip – not continuous
Mr Williamson admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr Wadley, with the use of the video replays, showed that 'She’s All The Craze' was trailing on the pole line approaching the home straight. 'She’s All The Craze' was observed to run inwards briefly over several pylons before settling. Mr Williamson was observed to use his whip on 17 occasions in a reasonably continuous manner with a number of those strikes free of the reign. The force of the whip use was not an issue.
Mr Williamson stated that 'She's All The Craze' had over reacted badly when shifted inwards onto the marker pegs at the top of the straight. He had used his whip to keep her mind on the job. He understood there was a number but believed his use of the whip was not excessive.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren stated that Mr Williamson is a very busy Otago/Southland driver. He had driven 319 times this season, 591 times last season and 536 times the season before. Mr Williamson was fined $300 for a similar offence at Roxburgh on January 4th.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a second offence within six months recommend a suspension of 3 to 5 days. The use of the whip was at the mid to high range and he submitted a suspension of three days was appropriate. However, Mr Ydgren submitted that the committee may want to consider a suspension and a fine as an alternative as a three day suspension would likely include Ashburton Jewels day on June 3rd. He submitted the relevant days to consider were Addington May 26th, Invercargill May 27th, Rangiora May 28th, Forbury Park June 1st and Ashburton June 3rd. He said Mr Williamson was not a regular driver at either Addington or Rangiora.
Mr Williamson submitted he may have a drive at Addington and was considering nominating a horse for Rangiora. He had commitments on Jewels Day and would accept a fine only if that is what the committee imposed.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Williamson admitted the breach, his second for a similar offence within six months. The recommended penalty under the JCA guidelines is a suspension of 3 to 5 days. We view the breach as mid-range due to the number of times the whip was used. The use of force was not an issue and we accept Mr Williamson’s explanation that his use of the whip was to keep the horse's mind on the job.
We don’t believe the breach warrants a fine only as in the case of “exceptional circumstances” shown to Ms Rasmussen ($1250). We also believe Mr Williamson is not a regular driver at either Addington or Rangiora and those days cannot be included in any suspension in this instance.
A suspension of three days would include Ashburton on June 3rd which the committee feels is unduly harsh given the use of the whip was mid-range. The Penalty Guidelines are a guide only and in this instance the committee exercises its discretion and imposes a suspension of two days and a fine.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 3c135e9c28bd7aab4a81de1a32050a40
informantnumber: A8977
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/05/2017
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 21 May 2017 - R 8 - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
Mr Williamson was charged with a breach of 869(2)(a) excessive use of the whip, following his drive on 'She’s All The Craze' in race 8, the Williamson Racing Stables Handicap Trot. The Information alleged Mr Williamson “used his whip in an excessive manner inside the final 400m when driving 'She’s All The Craze'”.
Rule 869 (2) reads: No horseman shall during any race:
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Whip Guidelines read:
Stewards deem the “use of the whip” throughout the race as listed below:
Free of the rein
On the horse itself
On the sulky or dust sheet
Back handers
Excessive use of the whip simply means “too much” and relates to the number of times and/or force with which the whip is used. The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these Guidelines.
At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip, Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used. The horseman shall interrupt the use of his/her whip by using any of the suggested alternative actions:
Running the reins over the horse’s rump
Running the whip through the horse’s tail
Holding the ship on the horse’s tail or rump
A rein in each hand while using the whip – not continuous
Mr Williamson admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr Wadley, with the use of the video replays, showed that 'She’s All The Craze' was trailing on the pole line approaching the home straight. 'She’s All The Craze' was observed to run inwards briefly over several pylons before settling. Mr Williamson was observed to use his whip on 17 occasions in a reasonably continuous manner with a number of those strikes free of the reign. The force of the whip use was not an issue.
Mr Williamson stated that 'She's All The Craze' had over reacted badly when shifted inwards onto the marker pegs at the top of the straight. He had used his whip to keep her mind on the job. He understood there was a number but believed his use of the whip was not excessive.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Williamson has admitted the breach. The committee is satisfied Mr Williamson breached the rule and it is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren stated that Mr Williamson is a very busy Otago/Southland driver. He had driven 319 times this season, 591 times last season and 536 times the season before. Mr Williamson was fined $300 for a similar offence at Roxburgh on January 4th.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines for a second offence within six months recommend a suspension of 3 to 5 days. The use of the whip was at the mid to high range and he submitted a suspension of three days was appropriate. However, Mr Ydgren submitted that the committee may want to consider a suspension and a fine as an alternative as a three day suspension would likely include Ashburton Jewels day on June 3rd. He submitted the relevant days to consider were Addington May 26th, Invercargill May 27th, Rangiora May 28th, Forbury Park June 1st and Ashburton June 3rd. He said Mr Williamson was not a regular driver at either Addington or Rangiora.
Mr Williamson submitted he may have a drive at Addington and was considering nominating a horse for Rangiora. He had commitments on Jewels Day and would accept a fine only if that is what the committee imposed.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson admitted the breach, his second for a similar offence within six months. The recommended penalty under the JCA guidelines is a suspension of 3 to 5 days. We view the breach as mid-range due to the number of times the whip was used. The use of force was not an issue and we accept Mr Williamson’s explanation that his use of the whip was to keep the horse's mind on the job.
We don’t believe the breach warrants a fine only as in the case of “exceptional circumstances” shown to Ms Rasmussen ($1250). We also believe Mr Williamson is not a regular driver at either Addington or Rangiora and those days cannot be included in any suspension in this instance.
A suspension of three days would include Ashburton on June 3rd which the committee feels is unduly harsh given the use of the whip was mid-range. The Penalty Guidelines are a guide only and in this instance the committee exercises its discretion and imposes a suspension of two days and a fine.
penalty:
Mr Williamson is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including Forbury Park on June 1st (2 days) and fined $300.
Suspension days include Invercargill 27th May and Forbury Park 1st June.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr NP Williamson - Senior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr D Wadley - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3a04650897293d23bb7b3383a536c3d3
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: 2159f49c26ef4c06cec8b859dd71e953
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/05/2017
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 21 May 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PKnowles
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC