Westport TC 4 March 2016 – R 3 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA17940
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 4 March 2016
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2016/03/04
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
As Mr Rennie had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Rennie was fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Denniston Dog/Mark Jones Racing Stables Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman Mr M Rennie, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip in an unnecessary manner over the concluding stages when clearly out of contention while driving BLUES SINGER.
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.”
Mr Rennie had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Rennie had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing.
Mr Wallis, with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, gave evidence and showed video replays of the final stages of the race where he pointed out Mr Rennie, driving BLUES SINGER, who at the 600m, was at the rear of the field and tiring. Mr Wallis pointed out Mr Rennie who had asked the horse to go and had pulled the deafeners to which the horse did not respond. He pointed out BLUES SINGER losing ground on the home turn. He said Mr Rennie gave the horse a decent strike with the whip at this point to which there was no response with the horse continuing to lose ground. Mr Rennie, he said, continued on using the whip with 3 back handers of severe force near the 350m which were totally unnecessary and then several flicks of the whip near the 200m before he put the whip away.
Mr Wallis stated that BLUES SINGER was clearly not in contention or running on when at the rear of the field and submitted that the 3 forceful backhanders were totally unnecessary.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated that Mr Rennie was not a busy driver who drove on 17 occasions last season and a total of 9 drives so far this season. He said Mr Rennie had a clear record in regard to this rule and had admitted the breach at the first opportunity.
Mr Wallis stated the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2-day suspension for a breach of this rule. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Rennie had indicated to the Stewards that a suspension was preferred, to which the Stewards were opposed due the infrequency of his driving. Mr Wallis submitted that a $300 fine be considered as penalty in this case.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, we took into account Mr Rennie’s good record and his admission of the breach. The Committee also agreed with the Stewards that a suspension would not be an appropriate penalty for Mr Rennie due his infrequent driving which would make it very difficult to impose a meaningful penalty. We therefore decided that a fine was an appropriate penalty in this case. In adopting the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine we were able to give Mr Rennie a discount of $100 for his good record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty was a fine of $300.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: dad974b56992f3ac0e2ecce449055c94
informantnumber: A 8064
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rule 869(2)(a)-unnecessary use of the whip.
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/03/2016
hearing_title: Westport TC 4 March 2016 - R 3 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Denniston Dog/Mark Jones Racing Stables Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman Mr M Rennie, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2)(a) in that he used his whip in an unnecessary manner over the concluding stages when clearly out of contention while driving BLUES SINGER.
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.”
Mr Rennie had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Rennie had also informed the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing.
Mr Wallis, with the assistance of Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, gave evidence and showed video replays of the final stages of the race where he pointed out Mr Rennie, driving BLUES SINGER, who at the 600m, was at the rear of the field and tiring. Mr Wallis pointed out Mr Rennie who had asked the horse to go and had pulled the deafeners to which the horse did not respond. He pointed out BLUES SINGER losing ground on the home turn. He said Mr Rennie gave the horse a decent strike with the whip at this point to which there was no response with the horse continuing to lose ground. Mr Rennie, he said, continued on using the whip with 3 back handers of severe force near the 350m which were totally unnecessary and then several flicks of the whip near the 200m before he put the whip away.
Mr Wallis stated that BLUES SINGER was clearly not in contention or running on when at the rear of the field and submitted that the 3 forceful backhanders were totally unnecessary.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Rennie 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 Rennie was not a busy driver who drove on 17 occasions last season and a total of 9 drives so far this season. He said Mr Rennie had a clear record in regard to this rule and had admitted the breach at the first opportunity.
Mr Wallis stated the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $500 fine or a 2-day suspension for a breach of this rule. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Rennie had indicated to the Stewards that a suspension was preferred, to which the Stewards were opposed due the infrequency of his driving. Mr Wallis submitted that a $300 fine be considered as penalty in this case.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, we took into account Mr Rennie’s good record and his admission of the breach. The Committee also agreed with the Stewards that a suspension would not be an appropriate penalty for Mr Rennie due his infrequent driving which would make it very difficult to impose a meaningful penalty. We therefore decided that a fine was an appropriate penalty in this case. In adopting the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine we were able to give Mr Rennie a discount of $100 for his good record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. We therefore determined that an appropriate penalty was a fine of $300.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Rennie was fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(2)(a)
Informant: S Wallis- Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: M Rennie- Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c601f9e123b260ded8dd67bf13d554ce
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6ea5a6b4c74146262b1ac4c9cdbe23b0
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 04/03/2016
meet_title: Westport TC - 4 March 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC