Reefton TC 30 December 2013 – R8
ID: JCA13978
Meet Title:
Reefton TC - 30 December 2013
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2013/12/30
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Miss Hunter having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Miss Hunter was fined the sum of $150.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, Lantern Court Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss C I Hunter, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of WAIKARI CASH in the race, she “used her whip in an excessive manner”.
Miss Hunter was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach. She was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C J Markham.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Wallis said that Miss Hunter was the driver of WAIKARI CASH in Race 8. He showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out Miss Hunter, driving WAIKARI CASH, racing at the rear of the field as the field approached the home turn. He said that Miss Hunter was having difficulty with the horse as she angled it out wide to improve. She turned her whip, which was in her right hand, and proceeded to strike the horse on the inside and then again in a forehand manner. Mr Wallis alleged that the Stewards had counted 24 times in the run home and Miss Hunter accepted this as being correct. He said that the Stewards deemed this number to be excessive, but they were not with force. The horse finished in 7th placing, Mr Wallis said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis told the Committee that Miss Hunter had a clear record. In the 2012/2013 season, Miss Hunter had 7 drives and, in the current season to date, has had 31 drives before today.
Mr Wallis referred to the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a fine of $300 or a suspension for 6 drives. In this case, he said, Miss Hunter should be commended for the professional manner in which she had dealt with the Stewards in relation to this charge and her admission of the breach. He submitted that a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty.
Miss Hunter said that she has driven WAIKARI CASH several times and she has always been “very difficult hanging in that way”. She had attempted to try something different with the mare on this occasion by giving her some “taps” on the inside. The mare had been responding quite well but she had misjudged the number of strikes. She submitted, and Mr Wallis accepted, that there had been some pauses in her use of the whip
Mr Markham, on Miss Hunter’s behalf, said that her record was “exemplary”. Further, she had travelled all the way to the meeting for the one drive on WAIKARI CASH and was “well out of pocket”. He further submitted that the weather and track conditions were “not pleasant” and “just awful”. Miss Hunter had to keep tapping the horse to keep her out of the worst going and off the horses inside her, Mr Markham said. He asked for some leniency in the circumstances.
Miss Hunter indicated that she did not wish the Commission to consider a suspension rather than a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $300 fine as suggested by the Penalty Guide. Miss Hunter was entitled to a discount for her good record and her admission of the breach. The usual discount for these factors is $100. There are other factors in this case which we have taken into account – more specifically, the heavy track conditions and that fact that Miss Hunter is a Junior Driver and had travelled to the meeting for just the one drive on WAIKARI CASH. The breach was at the low end of a scale of seriousness. Taking all of those other factors into account, the Committee felt that a further discount was appropriate.
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: 86befa0987aecb935faa2e0cc3ecfee7
informantnumber: A2439
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 17/12/2013
hearing_title: Reefton TC 30 December 2013 - R8
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, Lantern Court Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss C I Hunter, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of WAIKARI CASH in the race, she “used her whip in an excessive manner”.
Miss Hunter was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach. She was assisted at the hearing by Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C J Markham.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.
Mr Wallis said that Miss Hunter was the driver of WAIKARI CASH in Race 8. He showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out Miss Hunter, driving WAIKARI CASH, racing at the rear of the field as the field approached the home turn. He said that Miss Hunter was having difficulty with the horse as she angled it out wide to improve. She turned her whip, which was in her right hand, and proceeded to strike the horse on the inside and then again in a forehand manner. Mr Wallis alleged that the Stewards had counted 24 times in the run home and Miss Hunter accepted this as being correct. He said that the Stewards deemed this number to be excessive, but they were not with force. The horse finished in 7th placing, Mr Wallis said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Miss Hunter having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis told the Committee that Miss Hunter had a clear record. In the 2012/2013 season, Miss Hunter had 7 drives and, in the current season to date, has had 31 drives before today.
Mr Wallis referred to the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a fine of $300 or a suspension for 6 drives. In this case, he said, Miss Hunter should be commended for the professional manner in which she had dealt with the Stewards in relation to this charge and her admission of the breach. He submitted that a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty.
Miss Hunter said that she has driven WAIKARI CASH several times and she has always been “very difficult hanging in that way”. She had attempted to try something different with the mare on this occasion by giving her some “taps” on the inside. The mare had been responding quite well but she had misjudged the number of strikes. She submitted, and Mr Wallis accepted, that there had been some pauses in her use of the whip
Mr Markham, on Miss Hunter’s behalf, said that her record was “exemplary”. Further, she had travelled all the way to the meeting for the one drive on WAIKARI CASH and was “well out of pocket”. He further submitted that the weather and track conditions were “not pleasant” and “just awful”. Miss Hunter had to keep tapping the horse to keep her out of the worst going and off the horses inside her, Mr Markham said. He asked for some leniency in the circumstances.
Miss Hunter indicated that she did not wish the Commission to consider a suspension rather than a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the starting point of a $300 fine as suggested by the Penalty Guide. Miss Hunter was entitled to a discount for her good record and her admission of the breach. The usual discount for these factors is $100. There are other factors in this case which we have taken into account – more specifically, the heavy track conditions and that fact that Miss Hunter is a Junior Driver and had travelled to the meeting for just the one drive on WAIKARI CASH. The breach was at the low end of a scale of seriousness. Taking all of those other factors into account, the Committee felt that a further discount was appropriate.
penalty:
Miss Hunter was fined the sum of $150.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: S W Wallis, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: C I Hunter, Licensed Junior Driver
Otherperson: CJ Markham - Licensed Open Horseman assisting Miss Hunter
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3a7724757056e6e04f43939b348f07b9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ada0a38df6cc8938508f1d8d1c54e4fa
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 30/12/2013
meet_title: Reefton TC - 30 December 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: reefton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Reefton TC