Wellington RC 18 January 2020 – R 9 (heard 20 January 2020 at Otaki) – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

hearingid: 9dfe81795d9655c89026391d48975665

informantnumber:

horsename:

hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

startdate: 18/01/2020

newcharge:

plea:

penaltyrequired:

decisiondate: no date provided

hearing_title: Wellington RC 18 January 2020 - R 9 (heard 20 January 2020 at Otaki) - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

charge:

facts:

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION

Informant: Mr J Oatham – Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent: Mr S Weatherley – Apprentice Rider

Information No: A11682

Meeting: Wellington Racing Club

Date: 18 January 2020 (heard at Otaki on 20 January 2020)

Venue: Trentham Racecourse, Wellington

Race: 9

Rule No: 638(3)(b)(ii)

Judicial Committee: Mrs N Moffatt Chair – Mr N McCutcheon, Committee Member

Also Present: Mrs K Clapperton – Central District Mentor assisting Mr Weatherley

Charge: Excessive use of the Whip

Plea: Admitted

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 Sam Weatherley (THE GOOD FIGHT) used his whip excessively prior to the 100m.

This charge was heard at the Otaki racecourse on Monday, January 20th with Mr Weatherley on speaker-phone from Waikato. Mrs Clapperton assisted him from the judicial room.

Mr Oatham used the video footage to show his ride and estimated that Mr Weatherley struck his mount 9-10 times before the 100m.

Although Mr Weatherley was not physically present at the hearing, he told the Committee he had watched the films and agreed with this number. Mrs Clapperton confirmed there were 9-10 strikes.

Decision:

As Mr Weatherley admitted the breach, the charge was deemed proved.

Submissions for Penalty

Mr Oatham said Mr Weatherley had one previous charge of excessive whip use on January 4th at Awapuni where he was fined $400. Since October when all riders’ records were reset, he has had 245 rides. Mr Oatham said Mr Weatherley’s whip use was not overly vigorous and this placed the breach towards the lower end. The Stewards submission was for a term of suspension and a monetary penalty in line with the Judicial Commmittee penalty guidelines.

Mr Weatherley was invited to make submissions on penalty. He advised of riding commitments through until next Saturday.

Reason for Penalty

Revised whip guidelines came into effect in 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 all submissions including Mr Weatherley’s record. The breach occurred in the Group 3 Wellington Cup, where Mr Weatherley’s mount finished in second place for a stake of $46,000. Although the Committee was satisfied that the manner in which the whip was used was moderate, riders must be aware that high stakes races are not an excuse to throw caution to the wind. 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 7-day suspension and an additional monetary penalty was appropriate for this breach.

Penalty

Accordingly, Mr Weatherley is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday, January 25th up to and including racing on Friday, February 7th, 2020. He is also fined the sum of $1000.

The Committee was aware that this period includes 1 premier days racing.

N Moffatt

Chair

sumissionsforpenalty:

reasonsforpenalty:

penalty:

hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)

Informant:

JockeysandTrainer:

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid:

race_expapproval:

racecancelled:

race_noreport:

race_emailed1:

race_emailed2:

race_title:

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid:

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport:

waitingforpublication:

meet_emailed1:

meet_emailed2:

meetdate: no date provided

meet_title:

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation:

meet_racingtype:

meet_chair:

meet_pm1:

meet_pm2:

name: