Wellington RC 18 January 2020 – R 8 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA15078
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 18 January 2020
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2020/01/18
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
As Mr McKay admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McKay is suspended from the close of racing on Monday, January 20th up to and including racing on Saturday, February 8th, 2020. He is also fined the sum of $1000.
The Committee was aware that this period includes 3 premier days racing.
Facts:
Following Race 8 (Group 1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that S McKay used his whip excessively prior to the 100m on his mount THE MITIGATOR.
At the outset of the hearing, Mr McKay confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the video footage to show Mr McKay coming past the 400m leading the field. From that point up unto the 100 metres, Mr Oatham counted the number of times Mr McKay used his whip. There were 10 strikes in total with two periods of consecutive use. Hits 4-5 were consecutive as well as the final 5.
Mr McKay was satisfied that this was an accurate account.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr McKay’s third breach of the whip rule since all riders’ records were reset with the implementation of the new guidelines in October 2019.
His record reads:
16/11/19-Tauranga (Group 2)-8 strikes-$750
11/12/19-Hastings--8 strikes-$500
Mr Oatham said although it was not part of the charge the Committee might like to look at Mr McKay’s “considerable” use of the whip over the final stages of the race as well.
The Stewards' submission was for a term of suspension and a monetary penalty in line with the Judicial Committee Penalty Guidelines. Mr Oatham advised that the winning stake was $118,750.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Oatham confirmed that the rider of the second-placed horse rode within the guidelines.
Mr McKay was invited to make submissions on penalty. He agreed with the facts of the charge and advised that any suspension could begin immediately as rider declarations had not closed for Avondale on Wednesday 22nd January.
Reasons for Penalty:
Revised whip guidelines came into effect on 7th October 2019. The section relevant to this charge reads:
Where the breach occurs in a Group or Feature race and the number of strikes is 4 or more than the permitted 5 the starting point is a 6-day suspension plus a fine at the Committee’s discretion up to the rider’s percentage of prize money (where applicable). If less than this but still more than 5 then a fine appropriate to the status of the race is to be the starting point.
The second change relates to a restriction on consecutive strikes of the whip within the permitted 5 strikes before the 100 metres.
As this breach occurred in a Group race, and the number of strikes was more than 9, the Committee adopted a starting point of 6 days plus a fine. There were, however, several aggravating factors requiring a substantial uplift in penalty. The first was Mr McKay ‘s record under this rule. It concerns us that this is his third breach within three months and it is apparent that in high-stake races some riders are prepared to ignore the whip guidelines.
We also took into account the number of strikes and Mr McKay’s continuous use of the whip on two occasions, in particular where he used his stick consecutively five times. Finally, we factored in the Group 1 status of the race with a stake of $200,000. Mr McKay won the race by a narrow margin (short head) while the second-placed rider used his whip within the guidelines.
By increasing the penalties, NZTR has sent a clear message to riders that excessive whip use is a significant animal welfare concern.
We were mindful that any penalty imposed must act as a deterrent not only to Mr McKay but also to other riders.
Taking all matters into account, it was our opinion that a 12 -day suspension and an additional monetary penalty was appropriate for this breach.
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: a3d128f2c7efeaff53bce7f860f02f6d
informantnumber: A11679
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive Use of the Whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2020
hearing_title: Wellington RC 18 January 2020 - R 8 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 8 (Group 1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that S McKay used his whip excessively prior to the 100m on his mount THE MITIGATOR.
At the outset of the hearing, Mr McKay confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the video footage to show Mr McKay coming past the 400m leading the field. From that point up unto the 100 metres, Mr Oatham counted the number of times Mr McKay used his whip. There were 10 strikes in total with two periods of consecutive use. Hits 4-5 were consecutive as well as the final 5.
Mr McKay was satisfied that this was an accurate account.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr McKay admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr McKay’s third breach of the whip rule since all riders’ records were reset with the implementation of the new guidelines in October 2019.
His record reads:
16/11/19-Tauranga (Group 2)-8 strikes-$750
11/12/19-Hastings--8 strikes-$500
Mr Oatham said although it was not part of the charge the Committee might like to look at Mr McKay’s “considerable” use of the whip over the final stages of the race as well.
The Stewards' submission was for a term of suspension and a monetary penalty in line with the Judicial Committee Penalty Guidelines. Mr Oatham advised that the winning stake was $118,750.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Oatham confirmed that the rider of the second-placed horse rode within the guidelines.
Mr McKay was invited to make submissions on penalty. He agreed with the facts of the charge and advised that any suspension could begin immediately as rider declarations had not closed for Avondale on Wednesday 22nd January.
reasonsforpenalty:
Revised whip guidelines came into effect on 7th October 2019. The section relevant to this charge reads:
Where the breach occurs in a Group or Feature race and the number of strikes is 4 or more than the permitted 5 the starting point is a 6-day suspension plus a fine at the Committee’s discretion up to the rider’s percentage of prize money (where applicable). If less than this but still more than 5 then a fine appropriate to the status of the race is to be the starting point.
The second change relates to a restriction on consecutive strikes of the whip within the permitted 5 strikes before the 100 metres.
As this breach occurred in a Group race, and the number of strikes was more than 9, the Committee adopted a starting point of 6 days plus a fine. There were, however, several aggravating factors requiring a substantial uplift in penalty. The first was Mr McKay ‘s record under this rule. It concerns us that this is his third breach within three months and it is apparent that in high-stake races some riders are prepared to ignore the whip guidelines.
We also took into account the number of strikes and Mr McKay’s continuous use of the whip on two occasions, in particular where he used his stick consecutively five times. Finally, we factored in the Group 1 status of the race with a stake of $200,000. Mr McKay won the race by a narrow margin (short head) while the second-placed rider used his whip within the guidelines.
By increasing the penalties, NZTR has sent a clear message to riders that excessive whip use is a significant animal welfare concern.
We were mindful that any penalty imposed must act as a deterrent not only to Mr McKay but also to other riders.
Taking all matters into account, it was our opinion that a 12 -day suspension and an additional monetary penalty was appropriate for this breach.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr McKay is suspended from the close of racing on Monday, January 20th up to and including racing on Saturday, February 8th, 2020. He is also fined the sum of $1000.
The Committee was aware that this period includes 3 premier days racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S McKay - Class A Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: ddebef6134e33e2d5c961f91da4d781e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 42629f46b46db03794c3bde135519d26
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 18/01/2020
meet_title: Wellington RC - 18 January 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC