Waikato BOP H 21 March 2019 – R 5 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA14276
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 21 March 2019
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2019/03/21
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
As Mr Iremonger has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee therefore fined Mr Iremonger the sum of $250. In doing so we advised him that a further breach of this Rule in the next 6 months would result in a suspension of his driver's license.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Fairview Motors Mobile Pace 2200m an Information was presented by Mr Mulcay alleging that Junior Driver Mr S Iremonger, driving ROMY FRANCO, 'used his whip on the final bend when out of contention.'
Mr Iremonger, assisted by Mr J Abernethy, was present at the hearing and acknowledged that:
(a) He understood the Rule and Regulations, and
(b) He admitted the breach.
Rule 869(2) provides that 'No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of The Whip Regulations made by the Board.'
Clause (d) of the Use of The Whip Regulations states 'No horseman shall apply a whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.'
Using the films Mr Mulcay identified the horse ROMY FRANCO, driven by Mr Iremonger, as the field neared the home straight. Mr Mulcay pointed out that the horse was near the rear of the field, and not progressing its position. Mr Mulcay then identified Mr Iremonger striking the horse with his whip 6 times, 3 forehand and 3 backhand. He added that as the horse was weakening out of contention these strikes were clearly in breach of the Rules and Regulations.
Neither Mr Iremonger nor Mr Abernethy had any comment to make.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay stated that Mr Iremonger was an inexperienced Junior Driver who had not breached this or any Rule previously. He added that it was to his credit that he had admitted the breach, and added that while the JCA Penalty Guide had a started point of $300 for a breach of this Rule the Stewards submitted that a reduction of this amount due to the factors stated could be appropriate. He added that the Stewards believed that Mr Iremonger should learn from this experience, which he felt fell into the mid range on the level of seriousness.
Mr Iremonger nor Mr Abernethy had nothing to add on the matter of penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took into account Mr Iremonger's clear record and his admission of the breach. It is of concern that he felt he could apply the whip to his drive when it was clearly weakening and would not feature in the finish. The perception of the viewing public as regards to animal welfare is paramount and this breach would not present a good look. However we agree with Mr Mulcay that his inexperience may have been a factor and therefore have decided that we could extend some leniency to him on this occasion, and give some concession of the starting point of a fine of $300.
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: 6fae871538c5517e024b3957966a9315
informantnumber: A10597
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Using whip when out of contention
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 22/03/2019
hearing_title: Waikato BOP H 21 March 2019 - R 5 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Fairview Motors Mobile Pace 2200m an Information was presented by Mr Mulcay alleging that Junior Driver Mr S Iremonger, driving ROMY FRANCO, 'used his whip on the final bend when out of contention.'
Mr Iremonger, assisted by Mr J Abernethy, was present at the hearing and acknowledged that:
(a) He understood the Rule and Regulations, and
(b) He admitted the breach.
Rule 869(2) provides that 'No horseman shall during any race use a whip in a manner in contravention of the Use of The Whip Regulations made by the Board.'
Clause (d) of the Use of The Whip Regulations states 'No horseman shall apply a whip to a runner which is out of contention for either a stake or dividend bearing place or on any horse which is not responding or unable to hold its position in the race.'
Using the films Mr Mulcay identified the horse ROMY FRANCO, driven by Mr Iremonger, as the field neared the home straight. Mr Mulcay pointed out that the horse was near the rear of the field, and not progressing its position. Mr Mulcay then identified Mr Iremonger striking the horse with his whip 6 times, 3 forehand and 3 backhand. He added that as the horse was weakening out of contention these strikes were clearly in breach of the Rules and Regulations.
Neither Mr Iremonger nor Mr Abernethy had any comment to make.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Iremonger has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay stated that Mr Iremonger was an inexperienced Junior Driver who had not breached this or any Rule previously. He added that it was to his credit that he had admitted the breach, and added that while the JCA Penalty Guide had a started point of $300 for a breach of this Rule the Stewards submitted that a reduction of this amount due to the factors stated could be appropriate. He added that the Stewards believed that Mr Iremonger should learn from this experience, which he felt fell into the mid range on the level of seriousness.
Mr Iremonger nor Mr Abernethy had nothing to add on the matter of penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took into account Mr Iremonger's clear record and his admission of the breach. It is of concern that he felt he could apply the whip to his drive when it was clearly weakening and would not feature in the finish. The perception of the viewing public as regards to animal welfare is paramount and this breach would not present a good look. However we agree with Mr Mulcay that his inexperience may have been a factor and therefore have decided that we could extend some leniency to him on this occasion, and give some concession of the starting point of a fine of $300.
penalty:
The Committee therefore fined Mr Iremonger the sum of $250. In doing so we advised him that a further breach of this Rule in the next 6 months would result in a suspension of his driver's license.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2), Clause (d) of the Use of The Whip Regulations
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Iremonger-Junior Driver
Otherperson: Mr J Abernethy - Open Horseman assisting Mr Iremonger
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 1312ff2a8d098cd52c409385983d134b
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c883179537422214af318080fd6b6541
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/03/2019
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 21 March 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato