Westport TC 26 December 2016 – R 7 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA11411
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 26 December 2016
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/12/26
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Miss Ottley had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Miss Ottley is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 31 December 2016 up to and including 6 January 2017. Meetings encompassed in this period are Omakau on 2 January, Roxburgh on 4 January and Timaru on 6 January 2017.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Pulse Energy Westport Cup, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis against Licensed Open Horsewoman, Miss S Ottley, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used her 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.
Miss Ottley had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which she confirmed at the hearing. Miss Ottley also confirmed that she understood the rule she was being charged with.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video replays of the run home. He pointed out Miss Ottley driving JOHNNY EYRE turning for home when racing in the lead.
Mr Wallis said that after entering the home straight, Miss Ottley drew the whip and used it on 7 occasions free of the rein initially before pausing briefly and going back to the whip rein. Miss Ottley then used the whip on a further 10 occasions continuously with the whip hand on the whip rein giving a total of 17 strikes inside the 400m. He said that although the strikes were only mid-range in force, the basis of this charge was that Miss Ottley used her whip continuously with no discernible pauses or mixing up her urgings of the horse.
Miss Ottley stated she thought she was doing the right thing by using the whip when in the whip rein bit did not realise the continuous use of the whip was a breach. She also stated that the strikes were not forceful and she was only trying to do her best for the connections.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Miss Ottley was a very busy driver and had driven on 410 occasions last season with drives this season of 188 to date. Mr Wallis stated that Miss Ottley had a previous breach of this rule at Oamaru on 3 December where she was fined $200 initially but on appeal the penalty was increased to $300. As this was her second breach within 6 months the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a 3 to 5-day suspension as penalty. Mr Wallis submitted that after taking all factors into consideration, including Miss Ottley’s frank admission of the breach, that a 3-day suspension be considered as penalty in this case.
Mr Ottley stated that she normally has 8 drives per meeting and a 3-day suspension would be a harsh penalty. She also requested a deferment of penalty until after Auckland on 31 December where she had engagements for her employer at that meeting.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a 3-5-day suspension for a second breach of this Rule within 6 months. In adopting a starting point of a 3-day suspension the Committee determined that the only aggravating factor in this case was the sheer number of strikes being 17. We determined that this aggravating factor commanded an uplift of 1 day to 4 days. We were however, able to afford Miss Ottley a discount of 1 day for her frank admission of the breach. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a 3-day suspension. We also granted Miss Ottley’s request for a deferment of penalty until after racing at Auckland on 31 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: 1b123f7a00919449c418a2bcb07202ee
informantnumber: A8349
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 7 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Pulse Energy Westport Cup, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis against Licensed Open Horsewoman, Miss S Ottley, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used her 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.
Miss Ottley had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which she confirmed at the hearing. Miss Ottley also confirmed that she understood the rule she was being charged with.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video replays of the run home. He pointed out Miss Ottley driving JOHNNY EYRE turning for home when racing in the lead.
Mr Wallis said that after entering the home straight, Miss Ottley drew the whip and used it on 7 occasions free of the rein initially before pausing briefly and going back to the whip rein. Miss Ottley then used the whip on a further 10 occasions continuously with the whip hand on the whip rein giving a total of 17 strikes inside the 400m. He said that although the strikes were only mid-range in force, the basis of this charge was that Miss Ottley used her whip continuously with no discernible pauses or mixing up her urgings of the horse.
Miss Ottley stated she thought she was doing the right thing by using the whip when in the whip rein bit did not realise the continuous use of the whip was a breach. She also stated that the strikes were not forceful and she was only trying to do her best for the connections.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Miss Ottley 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 Miss Ottley was a very busy driver and had driven on 410 occasions last season with drives this season of 188 to date. Mr Wallis stated that Miss Ottley had a previous breach of this rule at Oamaru on 3 December where she was fined $200 initially but on appeal the penalty was increased to $300. As this was her second breach within 6 months the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a 3 to 5-day suspension as penalty. Mr Wallis submitted that after taking all factors into consideration, including Miss Ottley’s frank admission of the breach, that a 3-day suspension be considered as penalty in this case.
Mr Ottley stated that she normally has 8 drives per meeting and a 3-day suspension would be a harsh penalty. She also requested a deferment of penalty until after Auckland on 31 December where she had engagements for her employer at that meeting.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a 3-5-day suspension for a second breach of this Rule within 6 months. In adopting a starting point of a 3-day suspension the Committee determined that the only aggravating factor in this case was the sheer number of strikes being 17. We determined that this aggravating factor commanded an uplift of 1 day to 4 days. We were however, able to afford Miss Ottley a discount of 1 day for her frank admission of the breach. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty on this occasion was a 3-day suspension. We also granted Miss Ottley’s request for a deferment of penalty until after racing at Auckland on 31 December.
penalty:
Accordingly, Miss Ottley is suspended from the conclusion of racing on 31 December 2016 up to and including 6 January 2017. Meetings encompassed in this period are Omakau on 2 January, Roxburgh on 4 January and Timaru on 6 January 2017.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Miss S Ottley - Licensed Open Horsewoman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 05e02678cbd1bc83092b42f8250ce56a
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
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