Wellington RC 18 January 2020 – R 9 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA13940
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 9
Decision:
As Mrs Thornton admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mrs Thornton is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 25th up to and including racing on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020. She is also fined the sum of $1000.
The Committee was aware that this period includes 2 premier days racing.
Facts:
Following Race 9 (Group 3 Wellington Cup), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that T Thornton (SOLESEIFEI) used her whip excessively prior to the 100m.
At the outset of the hearing, Mrs Thornton confirmed that she understood the Rule and that she admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the video footage to show SOLESEIFEI leading the field on turning for home. From that point up unto the 100 metres, Mr Oatham counted the number of times Mrs Thornton used her whip. There were 9 strikes in total and SOLESEIFEI went on to win the race by half a head margin.
Mrs Thornton was satisfied that this was an accurate account.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said Mrs Thornton had a clear record since all riders’ records were reset with the implementation of the new guidelines in October 2019.
He said this was a Group 3 race with stakes of $250,000. The winning stake was $146,000.
The Stewards' submission was for a term of suspension and a monetary penalty in line with the Judicial Committee Penalty Guidelines.
Mrs Thornton was invited to make submissions on penalty but had nothing further to add. In case of suspension, she advised of riding commitments through until next Saturday.
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 he 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 and a fine. We took into account several factors, including Mrs Thornton’s clear record since October. Today’s breach occurred in the Group 3 Wellington Cup, worth a significant stake, and Mrs Thornton won the race by a half head margin. These aggravating factors require an uplift from the starting point.
It is of concern to this Committee that some riders are ignoring the whip guidelines when the stakes are high. Animal welfare is a cornerstone of the racing industry, and penalties must reflect that excessive use of the whip is not acceptable.
Taking all matters into account, it was our opinion that a 9-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: 8329483328415c33376f0dd029b06afa
informantnumber: A11680
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 9 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 9 (Group 3 Wellington Cup), Mr Oatham lodged an information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii) in that T Thornton (SOLESEIFEI) used her whip excessively prior to the 100m.
At the outset of the hearing, Mrs Thornton confirmed that she understood the Rule and that she admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham used the video footage to show SOLESEIFEI leading the field on turning for home. From that point up unto the 100 metres, Mr Oatham counted the number of times Mrs Thornton used her whip. There were 9 strikes in total and SOLESEIFEI went on to win the race by half a head margin.
Mrs Thornton was satisfied that this was an accurate account.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mrs Thornton admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said Mrs Thornton had a clear record since all riders’ records were reset with the implementation of the new guidelines in October 2019.
He said this was a Group 3 race with stakes of $250,000. The winning stake was $146,000.
The Stewards' submission was for a term of suspension and a monetary penalty in line with the Judicial Committee Penalty Guidelines.
Mrs Thornton was invited to make submissions on penalty but had nothing further to add. In case of suspension, she advised of riding commitments through until next Saturday.
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 he 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 and a fine. We took into account several factors, including Mrs Thornton’s clear record since October. Today’s breach occurred in the Group 3 Wellington Cup, worth a significant stake, and Mrs Thornton won the race by a half head margin. These aggravating factors require an uplift from the starting point.
It is of concern to this Committee that some riders are ignoring the whip guidelines when the stakes are high. Animal welfare is a cornerstone of the racing industry, and penalties must reflect that excessive use of the whip is not acceptable.
Taking all matters into account, it was our opinion that a 9-day suspension and an additional monetary penalty was appropriate for this breach.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mrs Thornton is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 25th up to and including racing on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020. She is also fined the sum of $1000.
The Committee was aware that this period includes 2 premier days racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mrs T Thornton - Class A Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 599d1fda36da58590af483b86ae4338f
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
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