R Tauranga 4 November 2017 – R 7 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA11416
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Racing Tauranga - 4 November 2017
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2017/11/04
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Ms Gatu admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Ms Gatu was fined $300.
Facts:
Following the running of race 7, STE Industrial Electrical 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Gatu used her whip excessively on ITS A KINDA MAGIC prior to the 100 metres.
Ms Gatu acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” effective 1 August 2017 provides:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Gatu and showed that she struck her mount 10 times prior to the 100 metres without the required respite of 5 strides.
Ms Gatu accepted Mr Coles’ interpretation of the incident and added that she miscounted the number of times she used her whip.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Gatu had a clear record under this Rule and submitted a monetary penalty would be appropriate.
The Committee advised Ms Gatu the JCA Penalty Guide starting points for excessive use of the whip.
Ms Gatu confirmed that she had a clear record and had nothing further to add.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The starting point for a 1st breach of this Rule is a $300 fine. That level of fine assumes a good record and admission of the breach, otherwise the fine should be higher. The expectation is that no reduction in penalty is applied unless there are exceptional circumstances.
There were no aggravating factors.
The mitigating factors were Ms Gatu’s clear record under this Rule, her admission of the breach and the 10 strikes were applied with minimal force.
ITS A KINDA MAGIC finished in 2nd place.
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: 1b3c231237c76325551a6e04bf3e7f74
informantnumber: A9483
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 05/11/2017
hearing_title: R Tauranga 4 November 2017 - R 7 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 7, STE Industrial Electrical 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (3)(b)(ii). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Ms Gatu used her whip excessively on ITS A KINDA MAGIC prior to the 100 metres.
Ms Gatu acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) provides: A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines With Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” effective 1 August 2017 provides:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3)(b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached. Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Ms Gatu and showed that she struck her mount 10 times prior to the 100 metres without the required respite of 5 strides.
Ms Gatu accepted Mr Coles’ interpretation of the incident and added that she miscounted the number of times she used her whip.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Gatu admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said that Ms Gatu had a clear record under this Rule and submitted a monetary penalty would be appropriate.
The Committee advised Ms Gatu the JCA Penalty Guide starting points for excessive use of the whip.
Ms Gatu confirmed that she had a clear record and had nothing further to add.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The starting point for a 1st breach of this Rule is a $300 fine. That level of fine assumes a good record and admission of the breach, otherwise the fine should be higher. The expectation is that no reduction in penalty is applied unless there are exceptional circumstances.
There were no aggravating factors.
The mitigating factors were Ms Gatu’s clear record under this Rule, her admission of the breach and the 10 strikes were applied with minimal force.
ITS A KINDA MAGIC finished in 2nd place.
penalty:
Ms Gatu was fined $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms V Gatu - Licensed Jockey
Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a789c37797149115b34580bb9ee571ab
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 5d5f7a6ab368480c54f5bf35d82ee38a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 04/11/2017
meet_title: Racing Tauranga - 4 November 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: racing-tauranga
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Racing Tauranga