Rotorua-BOP HC 15 September 2019 – R 4 – Chair, G Jones
ID: JCA10563
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Rotorua-BOP HC - 15 September 2019
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2019/09/15
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
As Cole admitted the breach the charge is proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cole is fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of race 4, the T.W Moore Ltd Hwt. Stipendiary Steward Mr Jones filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i) alleging that Jumps Rider Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary, when his mount was clearly winning the race.
Mr Cole acknowledged he understood the nature of the charge and the relevant Rule. He confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(i) provides that a Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to the extent which is:
(1) Unnecessary
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
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.
Using available video footage Mr Jones demonstrated the final 500 metres of the race. He said that Mr Cole’s mount, RODMAR was in front and 4 lengths clear of as the field rounded the home turn. At that point Mr Cole struck his mount with a “back-hander”. He said that over the concluding stages he struck his mount on a further 6 occasions when clearly winning the race. He added that RODMAR won the race by 6.3 lengths and Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary.
In response Mr Cole advised the Committee that the evidence was clear and he fully accepted his transgression.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Jones produced Mr Cole’s record which showed no previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months. On that basis he submitted he has a good record. He further submitted that a charge of this nature was particularly rare and the only recent precedent case related to the horse JACKFROST who won the 2018 Grand National Hurdle race. He submitted that Stewards would leave it to the Committee to determine an appropriate penalty.
Mr Cole submitted that this breach was not as bad as the JACKFROST breach. He said he has learned a lesson and would not breach this rule again in the future.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We confirmed that Mr Cole struck his mount 6 times from the straight entrance to the winning post when his mount was clearly in front. In our assessment Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary, particularly when considering RODMAR increased his winning margin from 4 lengths at the home turn to 6.3 lengths at the finish. Hence, RODMAR'S lead was never threatened.
The Committee understands that the rider of JACKFROST struck his mount 8 times when clearly in front. On that occasion after taking into account the winning margin and the status of the race the race day Committee imposed an 8 week suspension as well as an $800 fine. We have used this as a benchmark, albeit we consider this breach to be at a lower end.
The JCA Penalty Guide establishes the starting point for (first, second, or third) breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii) as follows:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension
After taking into account all the above factors, including the level of force used and the number of strikes, the Committee considers a $200 uplift from the $300 starting point is appropriate. We did not deem a suspension was warranted in addition to the fine.
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: 0b333895c52de5b48889cb48f391e9e8
informantnumber: A09692
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unnecessary use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/09/2019
hearing_title: Rotorua-BOP HC 15 September 2019 – R 4 – Chair, G Jones
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of race 4, the T.W Moore Ltd Hwt. Stipendiary Steward Mr Jones filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(3)(b)(i) alleging that Jumps Rider Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary, when his mount was clearly winning the race.
Mr Cole acknowledged he understood the nature of the charge and the relevant Rule. He confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 638(3)(b)(i) provides that a Rider shall not:
(b) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to the extent which is:
(1) Unnecessary
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
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.
Using available video footage Mr Jones demonstrated the final 500 metres of the race. He said that Mr Cole’s mount, RODMAR was in front and 4 lengths clear of as the field rounded the home turn. At that point Mr Cole struck his mount with a “back-hander”. He said that over the concluding stages he struck his mount on a further 6 occasions when clearly winning the race. He added that RODMAR won the race by 6.3 lengths and Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary.
In response Mr Cole advised the Committee that the evidence was clear and he fully accepted his transgression.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Cole admitted the breach the charge is proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Jones produced Mr Cole’s record which showed no previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months. On that basis he submitted he has a good record. He further submitted that a charge of this nature was particularly rare and the only recent precedent case related to the horse JACKFROST who won the 2018 Grand National Hurdle race. He submitted that Stewards would leave it to the Committee to determine an appropriate penalty.
Mr Cole submitted that this breach was not as bad as the JACKFROST breach. He said he has learned a lesson and would not breach this rule again in the future.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We confirmed that Mr Cole struck his mount 6 times from the straight entrance to the winning post when his mount was clearly in front. In our assessment Mr Cole’s use of the whip was unnecessary, particularly when considering RODMAR increased his winning margin from 4 lengths at the home turn to 6.3 lengths at the finish. Hence, RODMAR'S lead was never threatened.
The Committee understands that the rider of JACKFROST struck his mount 8 times when clearly in front. On that occasion after taking into account the winning margin and the status of the race the race day Committee imposed an 8 week suspension as well as an $800 fine. We have used this as a benchmark, albeit we consider this breach to be at a lower end.
The JCA Penalty Guide establishes the starting point for (first, second, or third) breaches of Rule 638(3) (b) (ii) as follows:
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding day suspension
After taking into account all the above factors, including the level of force used and the number of strikes, the Committee considers a $200 uplift from the $300 starting point is appropriate. We did not deem a suspension was warranted in addition to the fine.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cole is fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(i)
Informant: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Cole-Licensed jockey
Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 34540b1d70e7ce2dc6290195113c03e0
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
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meetid: 212d8abaee777ebd27ffed2427f9c8bf
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meet_emailed1: 0
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meetdate: 15/09/2019
meet_title: Rotorua-BOP HC - 15 September 2019
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: rotorua-bop-hc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Rotorua-BOP HC