Westport TC 28 December 2016 – R 7 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA15175
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 28 December 2016
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/12/28
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Mr May had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr May is fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Caltex Westport Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr RT May, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively over the concluding stages when driving RANFURLY RULZ.
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.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr May had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr May had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing. Mr Renault confirmed this at the hearing.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays of the final 400m of the race. He pointed out Mr May driving RANFURLY RULZ passing the 400m when racing 4 back on the pylons. He stated that after turning for home near the 300m, Mr May used his whip on 7 occasions with the hand on the rein in a continuous manner. This was followed by 3 strikes with the hand free of the rein and a further 10 to 11 strikes delivered backhand free of the rein giving a total of 20 to 21 strikes inside the 400m. Mr Renault submitted that the level of the breach was at a higher level due to the sheer number of strikes.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr May had driven on 656 occasions last season with drives this season 162 to date. He said that Mr May had a clear record in regard to this rule since the reset when the new guidelines came into effect and had admitted the breach. Mr Renault submitted that after taking all aggravating and mitigating factors into consideration, including Mr May’s admission of the breach, his good record and the higher level of the breach, that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. In adopting the starting point of a $500 fine the Committee determined that the aggravating factor in this case, being the higher level of the breach, commanded an uplift of $100 in penalty. We were however, able to afford Mr May a discount of $100 for his admission of the breach and a further discount of $100 for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty in this case was a fine of $400.
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: 725398cde26f5fe4728859a42f49edaa
informantnumber: A8444
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Excessive use of the whip
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/12/2016
hearing_title: Westport TC 28 December 2016 - R 7 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Caltex Westport Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr RT May, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip excessively over the concluding stages when driving RANFURLY RULZ.
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.
-At no stage of a race will Stewards permit continuous use of the whip. Horseman must show distinct pauses between the whip being used.
Mr May had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr May had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing. Mr Renault confirmed this at the hearing.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays of the final 400m of the race. He pointed out Mr May driving RANFURLY RULZ passing the 400m when racing 4 back on the pylons. He stated that after turning for home near the 300m, Mr May used his whip on 7 occasions with the hand on the rein in a continuous manner. This was followed by 3 strikes with the hand free of the rein and a further 10 to 11 strikes delivered backhand free of the rein giving a total of 20 to 21 strikes inside the 400m. Mr Renault submitted that the level of the breach was at a higher level due to the sheer number of strikes.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr May had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr May had driven on 656 occasions last season with drives this season 162 to date. He said that Mr May had a clear record in regard to this rule since the reset when the new guidelines came into effect and had admitted the breach. Mr Renault submitted that after taking all aggravating and mitigating factors into consideration, including Mr May’s admission of the breach, his good record and the higher level of the breach, that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide recommends a $500 fine as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. In adopting the starting point of a $500 fine the Committee determined that the aggravating factor in this case, being the higher level of the breach, commanded an uplift of $100 in penalty. We were however, able to afford Mr May a discount of $100 for his admission of the breach and a further discount of $100 for his good record. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty in this case was a fine of $400.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr May is fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr RT May - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 231b2a077c1c02076c6dba97118f4c8c
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: 24814172f0b8662995d73a1c659f6803
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/12/2016
meet_title: Westport TC - 28 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