Wellington Rc 19 January 2019 – R 7 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA10844
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2019/01/19
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As Mr Cameron admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cameron is fined the sum of $1000.
Facts:
Following Race 7 (JR & N Berkett Telegraph Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that M Cameron used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
Rule 638(3)(b) provides
A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
At the outset of the hearing Mr Cameron confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham showed video replays of the race from the top of the straight. He pointed out Mr Cameron in the front on FERRANDO and counted him striking his horse 14 times before reaching the 100m. Mr Oatham said while there were some breaks between the strikes they were only for 2-3 strides, not the required five.
Mr Cameron agreed with the number of strikes counted by Mr Oatham.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr Cameron ’s second breach in the last 12 months with him being fined the sum of $500 on January 26th 2018. Mr Oatham said today Mr Cameron had breached the rule quite markedly with aggravating factors being that the race was a Group 1 worth $250,000.
He also pointed out that Mr Cameron was a bare nose beaten and submitted that an uplift should be applied to the starting point. He said the Committee had the option of increasing the monetary penalty or imposing a suspension.
Mr Cameron said, looking at the videos, the incident was quite straightforward. Explaining his actions he said it was a Group 1 race and he was just trying to do his best. Mr Cameron said his horse was a stallion and sometimes switched on and off so he was just trying to keep him up to the mark. Mr Cameron acknowledged however that that was not an excuse adding he probably just got a bit carried away in a Group 1 race. He reminded the Committee of his good record under the rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty, The Committee adopted a starting point of $500 as outlined in the Judicial Committee Penalty Guide.
We accept Mr Cameron has a relatively good record and we have taken that into account.
Aggravating factors were the number of strikes by Mr Cameron. He was well outside the guidelines in drawing his whip 14 times. While his use may not have been continuous, he neglected to give the required respite of 5-on and 5-off.
The Group 1 status of the race and the stake money are further aggravating factors along with his second placing.
Taking into account all submissions it was the Committee’s opinion that a monetary penalty of $1000 was appropriate.
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: 0425bb0f092483648e698d95b5f05d5e
informantnumber: A12125
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessived use of whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2019
hearing_title: Wellington Rc 19 January 2019 - R 7 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following Race 7 (JR & N Berkett Telegraph Group 1), Mr Oatham lodged an Information with the Judicial Committee alleging a breach of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii) in that M Cameron used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite.
Rule 638(3)(b) provides
A Rider shall not:
(ii) strike a horse with a whip in a manner or to an extent which is excessive
The “Guidelines with Respect to Acceptable Use of the Whip” provide:
Without affecting the generality of Rule 638(3) (b) a rider may be penalised if their whip use is outside of the following guidelines:
Inside the final 600 metres of any Race, official trial or jump-out a horse may be struck with the drawn whip up to five times after which the rider must cease their use of the whip for a minimum of five strides before striking the horse again with the drawn whip, with this restriction to apply prior to the final 100 metres. The whip may then be used at the rider’s discretion until the winning post is reached.
Prior to the final 600 metres of a race, official trial or jump-out the use of the drawn whip is acceptable if used in moderation and not continually.
At the outset of the hearing Mr Cameron confirmed that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Mr Oatham showed video replays of the race from the top of the straight. He pointed out Mr Cameron in the front on FERRANDO and counted him striking his horse 14 times before reaching the 100m. Mr Oatham said while there were some breaks between the strikes they were only for 2-3 strides, not the required five.
Mr Cameron agreed with the number of strikes counted by Mr Oatham.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Cameron admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said this was Mr Cameron ’s second breach in the last 12 months with him being fined the sum of $500 on January 26th 2018. Mr Oatham said today Mr Cameron had breached the rule quite markedly with aggravating factors being that the race was a Group 1 worth $250,000.
He also pointed out that Mr Cameron was a bare nose beaten and submitted that an uplift should be applied to the starting point. He said the Committee had the option of increasing the monetary penalty or imposing a suspension.
Mr Cameron said, looking at the videos, the incident was quite straightforward. Explaining his actions he said it was a Group 1 race and he was just trying to do his best. Mr Cameron said his horse was a stallion and sometimes switched on and off so he was just trying to keep him up to the mark. Mr Cameron acknowledged however that that was not an excuse adding he probably just got a bit carried away in a Group 1 race. He reminded the Committee of his good record under the rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides the following starting points for breaches of Rule 638(3)(b)(ii):
1st breach $300
2nd breach $500
3rd or subsequent breach 6-8 national riding days
In determining penalty, The Committee adopted a starting point of $500 as outlined in the Judicial Committee Penalty Guide.
We accept Mr Cameron has a relatively good record and we have taken that into account.
Aggravating factors were the number of strikes by Mr Cameron. He was well outside the guidelines in drawing his whip 14 times. While his use may not have been continuous, he neglected to give the required respite of 5-on and 5-off.
The Group 1 status of the race and the stake money are further aggravating factors along with his second placing.
Taking into account all submissions it was the Committee’s opinion that a monetary penalty of $1000 was appropriate.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cameron is fined the sum of $1000.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(3)(b)(ii)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Cameron - Licensed Rider
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0cde0f86c0edc5fb2c5f24f877463277
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: bdcaf483a4b85413aa8ba83606ededa9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/01/2019
meet_title: Wellington RC - 19 January 2019
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