Oamaru HRC 3 December 2016 – R 7 – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA12423
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 3 December 2016
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2016/12/03
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
The charge of excessive use of the whip against Mr Williamson is dismissed.
Facts:
Following the running of race # 7 the FAT SALLY’S PUB DRIVERS SERIES MOBILE PACE, Stewards charged Mr M Williamson with a breach of rule 869 (2) (a) alleging “Mr Williamson used his whip in a manner which the Stewards deemed excessive over the concluding stages” when driving out Clasina Maria.
Rule 869 (2) (a) reads:
No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Following Guidelines Apply To Rule 869 (2) (a)
Stewards deem the “use of the whip” throughout the race as listed below:
· Free of rein
· On the horse itself
· On the sulky or dustsheet
· Back Handers
Excessive use of the whip simply means “too much” and relates to the number of times/and or the 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.
Mr Williamson appeared at the hearing and admitted the breach.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Quirk, with the assistance of the videos, showed the position of Clasina Maria at the top of the straight and the run to the finish. He showed where Mr Williamson used his whip on 13 occasions inside the final 200m.
Mr Renault stated that Clasina Maria was placed three back on the running line entering the home straight. Mr Williamson took the passing lane option when it became available to him and struck the shaft five times with the whip. He then used his whip to a total of 13 times. However he said the last two were pushes not strikes.
Mr Williamson stated he had struck the sulky shaft five times when entering the passing lane. The rest of the whip use was just swishes, a couple were on the tail and the rest were rein and whip. He did not believe he felt he had done much at all.
Reasons for Decision:
After viewing the video and hearing the submissions of both parties the committee takes a different view of Mr Renault’s interpretation of the Whip Guidelines and Mr Williamson’s use of the whip. Mr Renault alleges Mr Williamson used his whip 13 times, five times when entering the passing lane and a further eight times to the finish. He concedes the last two were pushes. We agree with the number. However, we find the final eight strikes with the whip are a combination of strikes free of the rein, strikes with the rein and whip and pushes. This brings the total number of allowable strikes with the whip to less than ten. The guidelines are simply that, a guide to assist committees to interpret the Whip rule. We find a breach of the Rule has not occurred. Having reached this conclusion Mr Williamson changed his plea to not admitting the breach. Mr Renault was then given the opportunity to withdraw the Information, or continue with the charge which he chose to do.
Following Mr Williamson’s change of plea there was no further evidence produced by Mr Renault to support the charge against Mr Williamson.
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: 5a5044b95b3f992dacb4b5a9f46ea04c
informantnumber: A6262
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use whip
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 05/12/2016
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 3 December 2016 - R 7 - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race # 7 the FAT SALLY’S PUB DRIVERS SERIES MOBILE PACE, Stewards charged Mr M Williamson with a breach of rule 869 (2) (a) alleging “Mr Williamson used his whip in a manner which the Stewards deemed excessive over the concluding stages” when driving out Clasina Maria.
Rule 869 (2) (a) reads:
No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
The Following Guidelines Apply To Rule 869 (2) (a)
Stewards deem the “use of the whip” throughout the race as listed below:
· Free of rein
· On the horse itself
· On the sulky or dustsheet
· Back Handers
Excessive use of the whip simply means “too much” and relates to the number of times/and or the 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.
Mr Williamson appeared at the hearing and admitted the breach.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Quirk, with the assistance of the videos, showed the position of Clasina Maria at the top of the straight and the run to the finish. He showed where Mr Williamson used his whip on 13 occasions inside the final 200m.
Mr Renault stated that Clasina Maria was placed three back on the running line entering the home straight. Mr Williamson took the passing lane option when it became available to him and struck the shaft five times with the whip. He then used his whip to a total of 13 times. However he said the last two were pushes not strikes.
Mr Williamson stated he had struck the sulky shaft five times when entering the passing lane. The rest of the whip use was just swishes, a couple were on the tail and the rest were rein and whip. He did not believe he felt he had done much at all.
reasonsfordecision:
After viewing the video and hearing the submissions of both parties the committee takes a different view of Mr Renault’s interpretation of the Whip Guidelines and Mr Williamson’s use of the whip. Mr Renault alleges Mr Williamson used his whip 13 times, five times when entering the passing lane and a further eight times to the finish. He concedes the last two were pushes. We agree with the number. However, we find the final eight strikes with the whip are a combination of strikes free of the rein, strikes with the rein and whip and pushes. This brings the total number of allowable strikes with the whip to less than ten. The guidelines are simply that, a guide to assist committees to interpret the Whip rule. We find a breach of the Rule has not occurred. Having reached this conclusion Mr Williamson changed his plea to not admitting the breach. Mr Renault was then given the opportunity to withdraw the Information, or continue with the charge which he chose to do.
Following Mr Williamson’s change of plea there was no further evidence produced by Mr Renault to support the charge against Mr Williamson.
Decision:
The charge of excessive use of the whip against Mr Williamson is dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869 (2) (a)
Informant: Mr SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Williamson - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 24fe7c2cb598487ba06f577364593e4c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7baa39bb24d890193bc8ce6a64419675
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/12/2016
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 3 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PKnowles
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC