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Wairarapa HRC 2 January 2019 – R 1 – Chair, Mr P Williams

ID: JCA13348

Applicant:
Mr J Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr P Fleming - Open Horseman

Information Number:
A12201

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Contravention of Whip Regulations

Rules:
869(2)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Wairarapa HRC - 2 January 2019

Meet Chair:
PWilliams

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon

Race Date:
2019/01/02

Race Number:
R1

Decision:

As Mr Fleming has admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.

Penalty:

Mr Fleming is suspended from the close of racing on Friday 4 January 2019 to the close of racing on Saturday 19 January 2019.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 1, the “Levin Woolbuyers Mobile Pace”, Information A12201 was filed by Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead against Open Horseman, Mr P Fleming alleging Mr Fleming “used his whip in contravention of the Whip Regulations over the final stages of the Race”.
 
Mr Fleming signed Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that was correct. He also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he had been charged and the relevant portions of the Use of Whip Regulations.
 
Rule 869 states:
(2) 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.
 
The “Use of the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
 
Using the side-on film Mr Muirhead highlighted Mr Fleming racing behind Mr Butcher driving “Aint Nothing Bettor” passing the 250m. He said at that point Mr Fleming pulled out from behind Mr Butcher and used his whip in a striking motion 14 times to the finish of the race.
 
Mr Fleming had no comment to make but did confirm he did not disagree with the count of 14 strikes.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Muirhead submitted that in terms of the Use of the Whip Guidelines a fine of $300 should be imposed based on Mr Fleming hitting his horse 14 times in the final 250m.
 
Mr Fleming said for financial reasons he would prefer a suspension to a fine and Mr Muirhead said he had no objections on this occasion. To a question form the Committee Mr Fleming said he had 4 horses in work and usually only drove his own horses. He confirmed he would be campaigning his team in the Waikato region later this month.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 300m of the Race. We believe Mr Fleming hit his horse between 14 and 16 times from approximately the 250m point to the finish line. The Committee notes Mr Fleming has not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months but also that he did finish second in the race being only beaten by a short head.
 
The starting point for a breach of this kind is a $300 fine. However, we have considered Mr Fleming’s request for a suspension rather than a fine and, on this occasion, have decided a suspension will imposed and that it will be for a period of 3 days. This based on the alternative of a fine equating to 6 drives and Mr Fleming having 2 drives per meeting. In calculating the days to be included we have excluded all upcoming South Island race dates and also the Auckland TC meeting on Friday 18 January 2019.

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: 65d5f891612a2e564d651556ce1a2b97

informantnumber: A12201

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge: Contravention of Whip Regulations

plea: admitted

penaltyrequired: 1

decisiondate: 02/01/2019

hearing_title: Wairarapa HRC 2 January 2019 - R 1 - Chair, Mr P Williams

charge:

facts:

Following the running of Race 1, the “Levin Woolbuyers Mobile Pace”, Information A12201 was filed by Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead against Open Horseman, Mr P Fleming alleging Mr Fleming “used his whip in contravention of the Whip Regulations over the final stages of the Race”.
 
Mr Fleming signed Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed at the beginning of the hearing that was correct. He also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he had been charged and the relevant portions of the Use of Whip Regulations.
 
Rule 869 states:
(2) 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.
 
The “Use of the Whip Regulations” provide:
(b) No horseman is permitted to use their whip in a striking motion on more than ten occasions inside the final 400 metres. This is inclusive of “backhanders” and the use applies to the horse, harness and/or sulky.
 
Using the side-on film Mr Muirhead highlighted Mr Fleming racing behind Mr Butcher driving “Aint Nothing Bettor” passing the 250m. He said at that point Mr Fleming pulled out from behind Mr Butcher and used his whip in a striking motion 14 times to the finish of the race.
 
Mr Fleming had no comment to make but did confirm he did not disagree with the count of 14 strikes.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

As Mr Fleming has admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Muirhead submitted that in terms of the Use of the Whip Guidelines a fine of $300 should be imposed based on Mr Fleming hitting his horse 14 times in the final 250m.
 
Mr Fleming said for financial reasons he would prefer a suspension to a fine and Mr Muirhead said he had no objections on this occasion. To a question form the Committee Mr Fleming said he had 4 horses in work and usually only drove his own horses. He confirmed he would be campaigning his team in the Waikato region later this month.

reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 300m of the Race. We believe Mr Fleming hit his horse between 14 and 16 times from approximately the 250m point to the finish line. The Committee notes Mr Fleming has not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months but also that he did finish second in the race being only beaten by a short head.
 
The starting point for a breach of this kind is a $300 fine. However, we have considered Mr Fleming’s request for a suspension rather than a fine and, on this occasion, have decided a suspension will imposed and that it will be for a period of 3 days. This based on the alternative of a fine equating to 6 drives and Mr Fleming having 2 drives per meeting. In calculating the days to be included we have excluded all upcoming South Island race dates and also the Auckland TC meeting on Friday 18 January 2019.

penalty:

Mr Fleming is suspended from the close of racing on Friday 4 January 2019 to the close of racing on Saturday 19 January 2019.

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 869(2)

Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: Mr P Fleming - Open Horseman

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: b911bba257e1ab3e61327ce05b8a7250

race_expapproval:

racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

race_emailed2: 0

race_title: R1

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid: bc1cb9e42ce61b652cfad3dd29d5ba95

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 02/01/2019

meet_title: Wairarapa HRC - 2 January 2019

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: wairarapa-hrc

meet_racingtype: harness-racing

meet_chair: PWilliams

meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon

meet_pm2: none

name: Wairarapa HRC