Westport TC 26 December 2016 – R 4 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA13135
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 26 December 2016
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/12/26
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
As Mr Anderson had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Anderson Horseman’s license is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 30 December 2016 up to and including 15 January 2017. Meetings encompassed in this period are Timaru on 6 January, Rangiora on 8 January, Nelson on 13 January and Nelson on 15 January 2017.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the Margo Nyhan-Made It To 50!! Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, r S Wallis against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr R Anderson, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively inside the final 400m.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Use of the Whip Guidelines provides:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines.
Mr Anderson had initially endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. Mr Anderson also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with. Shortly after the hearing began, Mr Anderson sought leave to change his plea to admitted, which the Committee granted.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video replays of the run home with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault. He pointed out Mr Anderson driving SCOOB OPERATOR in the trail of the leader passing the 400m. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson used his whip in a continuous manner in excess of 25 times over the final 400m of the race. He said that Mr Anderson used the whip with the rein in the whip hand in a continuous manner and that combined with the excess number of strikes was the reason the charge was being bought against Mr Anderson.
Mr Anderson stated he was only flicking the reins at the horse with the whip held up and not striking the horse over the early stages of the run home. His understanding with the Whip Guidelines was that he could hit the horse with the whip in the whip rein but did not realise that using it continuously was a breach of the rule. He said he had been spoken to by Mr Ydgren about changing his whip action and was under the impression that using the whip continuously with his whip hand on the whip rein was allowable.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson had driven on 55 occasions last season with drives this season 11 to date. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson had a clear record and had readily admitted the breach. He said the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension for a breach of this rule and submitted that after taking all factors into consideration, a $400 fine be considered as penalty in this case.
After lengthy discussion, Mr Anderson submitted that he would prefer a suspension as penalty and also requested a deferment of penalty until after Reefton on 30 December where he had confirmed engagements. Mr Wallis stated that the Stewards did not object to a suspension as penalty and submitted that as Mr Anderson only drives on average 1 to 2 drives per meeting, that a minimum 4-day suspension be considered as penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, we considered Mr Anderson’s submission for a suspension and determined that a suspension was an appropriate penalty in this case. The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine or a 2-day suspension for a breach of this Rule. To ensure a meaningful penalty is imposed, the Committee adopted a 4-day starting point for this case due to the low number of drives Mr Anderson normally has. The aggravating factor in this case was the high number of strikes being in excess of 25 in total. We determined that this aggravating factor commanded an uplift of 2 days to 6 days. We were however, able to afford Mr Anderson a discount of 1 day for his frank admission of the breach and a further discount of 1 day for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a 4-day suspension. We also granted Mr Anderson’s request for a deferment of penalty until after racing at Reefton on 30 December.
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: 48076187a084617b7c86c8355a774bf5
informantnumber: A8346
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 28/12/2016
hearing_title: Westport TC 26 December 2016 - R 4 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, the Margo Nyhan-Made It To 50!! Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, r S Wallis against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr R Anderson, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively inside the final 400m.
Rule 869(2)(a) reads as follows:
“(2) No horseman shall during any race:-
(a) Use his whip in an unnecessary, excessive or improper manner.”
Use of the Whip Guidelines provides:
-The whip shall not be used more than 10 times in the last 400m of a race, otherwise this will be deemed excessive use pursuant to these guidelines.
Mr Anderson had initially endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. Mr Anderson also confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with. Shortly after the hearing began, Mr Anderson sought leave to change his plea to admitted, which the Committee granted.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video replays of the run home with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault. He pointed out Mr Anderson driving SCOOB OPERATOR in the trail of the leader passing the 400m. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson used his whip in a continuous manner in excess of 25 times over the final 400m of the race. He said that Mr Anderson used the whip with the rein in the whip hand in a continuous manner and that combined with the excess number of strikes was the reason the charge was being bought against Mr Anderson.
Mr Anderson stated he was only flicking the reins at the horse with the whip held up and not striking the horse over the early stages of the run home. His understanding with the Whip Guidelines was that he could hit the horse with the whip in the whip rein but did not realise that using it continuously was a breach of the rule. He said he had been spoken to by Mr Ydgren about changing his whip action and was under the impression that using the whip continuously with his whip hand on the whip rein was allowable.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Anderson had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson had driven on 55 occasions last season with drives this season 11 to date. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Anderson had a clear record and had readily admitted the breach. He said the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2 day suspension for a breach of this rule and submitted that after taking all factors into consideration, a $400 fine be considered as penalty in this case.
After lengthy discussion, Mr Anderson submitted that he would prefer a suspension as penalty and also requested a deferment of penalty until after Reefton on 30 December where he had confirmed engagements. Mr Wallis stated that the Stewards did not object to a suspension as penalty and submitted that as Mr Anderson only drives on average 1 to 2 drives per meeting, that a minimum 4-day suspension be considered as penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, we considered Mr Anderson’s submission for a suspension and determined that a suspension was an appropriate penalty in this case. The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine or a 2-day suspension for a breach of this Rule. To ensure a meaningful penalty is imposed, the Committee adopted a 4-day starting point for this case due to the low number of drives Mr Anderson normally has. The aggravating factor in this case was the high number of strikes being in excess of 25 in total. We determined that this aggravating factor commanded an uplift of 2 days to 6 days. We were however, able to afford Mr Anderson a discount of 1 day for his frank admission of the breach and a further discount of 1 day for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a 4-day suspension. We also granted Mr Anderson’s request for a deferment of penalty until after racing at Reefton on 30 December.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Anderson Horseman’s license is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 30 December 2016 up to and including 15 January 2017. Meetings encompassed in this period are Timaru on 6 January, Rangiora on 8 January, Nelson on 13 January and Nelson on 15 January 2017.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Anderson - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 67fc843251b3ad64985152640c1340e3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0138f4f0a00f8bfea0fbe9cfbdb412b5
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/12/2016
meet_title: Westport TC - 26 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC