Winton HRC 11 February 2011 – R 6
ID: JCA17251
Meet Title:
Winton HRC - 11 February 2011
Meet Chair:
ADennis
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2011/02/11
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr Shirley is fined the sum of $400, which we believe will hold him accountable for his actions on this occasion. He is reminded of his responsibilities and the likely consequences of any further breaches of this rule.
Charge:
Following the running of Race 6, an Information was filed by Stipendary Steward Mr Allison against driver Mr Shirley, alleging a breach of rule 869(2)(a) in that Mr Shirley (Hitthegroundrunning) used his whip excessively over the final stages.
Facts:
Mr Allison showed a video replay of the relevant part of the race. He pointed out that from approximately the 400m marker, Mr Shirley had begun to use his whip. He stated that, apart from a brief pause following the removal of the ear plugs, Mr Shirley had used his whip some 22 times.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Allison stated that the final strikes as the race came to a conclusion were particularly forceful.
Mr Shirley stated that at least five of the strikes given in a backhand motion were not full strikes, but merely brushing movements under the tail and left side of the horse. He did however admit that the number of strikes was getting near the top end, stating also that his horse was continually making ground and that it finished 3rd, only a short distance from the winner.
Reasons for Decision:
After watching the video replay a number of times, we were satisfied that the horse was in fact struck some 22 times during the run to the line, this number included the 5 backhand strikes. There was only one brief respite as the horse straightened.
We believe this amount is excessive.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Allison informed this committee that Mr Shirley had one previous breach of this rule in the past 12 months. That was in September 2010 where he received a suspension from 24/9 to 17/10. Mr. Allison stated that in his opinion, this breach was at the lower end of the scale and the previous breach in 2010 was of a much more serious nature. He further stated that Mr Shirley had been in breach of this rule on a number of occasions in his career and that the stipendiary stewards were working with him in order to change his whip action to one that would not bring him foul of the rules.
Mr Shirley confirmed this and said he had let himself down on this occasion. He said that as his horse was always making ground and the margins were close he had simply used his whip too many times.
Mr Allison recommended a starting point of 3-4 days suspension. Mr Shirley asked us to consider imposing a fine.
Mr Allison stated that he did not have a problem with this submission, but that the fine would need to reflect the breach.
Reasons for Penalty:
We believe the matter can be dealt with by way of a fine and take a starting point of $500 as this is Mr Shirley's 2nd breach this past year. We agree with Mr Allison that this particular breach is towards the lower end of the scale although the forceful nature of the last 4 or 5 strikes is of concern.
We also have regard to the previous record of Mr Shirley under this rule, but give him credit for the fact he is endeavouring to change his whip action and that the stipendiary steward has commented favourably on this.
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: f06954417f726bb61b308093a5e4d637
informantnumber: 68859
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 09/02/2011
hearing_title: Winton HRC 11 February 2011 - R 6
charge:
Following the running of Race 6, an Information was filed by Stipendary Steward Mr Allison against driver Mr Shirley, alleging a breach of rule 869(2)(a) in that Mr Shirley (Hitthegroundrunning) used his whip excessively over the final stages.
facts:
Mr Allison showed a video replay of the relevant part of the race. He pointed out that from approximately the 400m marker, Mr Shirley had begun to use his whip. He stated that, apart from a brief pause following the removal of the ear plugs, Mr Shirley had used his whip some 22 times.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Allison stated that the final strikes as the race came to a conclusion were particularly forceful.
Mr Shirley stated that at least five of the strikes given in a backhand motion were not full strikes, but merely brushing movements under the tail and left side of the horse. He did however admit that the number of strikes was getting near the top end, stating also that his horse was continually making ground and that it finished 3rd, only a short distance from the winner.
reasonsfordecision:
After watching the video replay a number of times, we were satisfied that the horse was in fact struck some 22 times during the run to the line, this number included the 5 backhand strikes. There was only one brief respite as the horse straightened.
We believe this amount is excessive.
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Allison informed this committee that Mr Shirley had one previous breach of this rule in the past 12 months. That was in September 2010 where he received a suspension from 24/9 to 17/10. Mr. Allison stated that in his opinion, this breach was at the lower end of the scale and the previous breach in 2010 was of a much more serious nature. He further stated that Mr Shirley had been in breach of this rule on a number of occasions in his career and that the stipendiary stewards were working with him in order to change his whip action to one that would not bring him foul of the rules.
Mr Shirley confirmed this and said he had let himself down on this occasion. He said that as his horse was always making ground and the margins were close he had simply used his whip too many times.
Mr Allison recommended a starting point of 3-4 days suspension. Mr Shirley asked us to consider imposing a fine.
Mr Allison stated that he did not have a problem with this submission, but that the fine would need to reflect the breach.
reasonsforpenalty:
We believe the matter can be dealt with by way of a fine and take a starting point of $500 as this is Mr Shirley's 2nd breach this past year. We agree with Mr Allison that this particular breach is towards the lower end of the scale although the forceful nature of the last 4 or 5 strikes is of concern.
We also have regard to the previous record of Mr Shirley under this rule, but give him credit for the fact he is endeavouring to change his whip action and that the stipendiary steward has commented favourably on this.
penalty:
Mr Shirley is fined the sum of $400, which we believe will hold him accountable for his actions on this occasion. He is reminded of his responsibilities and the likely consequences of any further breaches of this rule.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(2)(a)
Informant: Mr C Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr B Shirley
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 79dc6b164ae5c41f96a239e3c604f2fc
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 435d0fcc8d0e98310cede59e5652be5c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/02/2011
meet_title: Winton HRC - 11 February 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: winton-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: ADennis
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Winton HRC