Winton HRC 31 December 2019 – R 8 (adjourned – heard 2 January 2020 at Omakau) – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA19862
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Winton HRC - 31 December 2019
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway
Race Date:
2019/12/31
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
Winton Harness Racing Club 31 December 2019 (heard 2 January 2020 at Omakau)
Information: A12704
Informant: Mr V Munro
Respondent: Mr B Hope – Junior Horseman
Meeting: Winton Harness Racing Club
Date: 31 December 2019
Race No: 8
Rule No: 869 (2) and Whip Regulations
Judicial Committee: Mr P Knowles, Chair – Mr M Conway, Committee Member
Charge: Contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations
Plea: Not Admitted
Also Present: Mr J Dunn, Senior Horseman - Assisting Mr Hope
Facts
At the Winton HRC meeting on 31 December 2019, Junior Driver, Ben Hope was charged with excessive use of the whip (r 869 (2)) after his drive on MOSSDALE ART in race 8.
The Information was adjourned sine die and was heard at the Central Otago TC meeting on the 2nd January.
Mr Hope did not admit the charge and was assisted at the hearing by Mr J Dunn – Senior Horseman.
Mr Munro, with the use of the videos, said Mr Hope was the leading horse at the 400 metres. From just inside the 400 metres mark he was observed to use his whip about 11 times. He said Mr Hope used a combination of false hits, flicks, strikes with an upward hand motion and strikes with a downward hand motion. In all the Stewards counted about 11 of the strikes were with a downward hand motion.
In viewing the videos, Mr Munro stated that a difficulty of picking up clear downward strikes with the whip was that Mr Hope is left-handed. He said some of the downward strikes with the whip did not show contact with the horse or sulky under the guidelines, but were counted as a strike.
Mr Dunn stated Mr Hope was endeavouring to change his whip action. He said his strikes were not forceful and he was mixing up his action.
Mr Hope said he was making a conscious effort to improve his whip action.
The Committee has to be satisfied that Mr Hope has breached the Rule. After viewing the videos and hearing the oral submissions we are satisfied that Mr Hope has breached the Rule.
Decision
The charge is found proved.
Submissions for Penalty
Written submissions on penalty to be filed within 3 working days.
Penalty Submissions for Informant
Mr Munro stated that this was Mr Hope’s fourth breach of the rule inside four months. The previous breaches were at Oamaru HRC - 24th October 2019 - $200: Geraldine TC - 23rd November 2019 - 4 days suspension: Westport TC - 26th December 2019 - 5 days suspension. He said in total Mr Hope had breached the same rule a total of eight times since gaining his JD licence in the 2017/18 season. Mr Hope has had approximately 469 drives lifetime, 226 drives last season and approximately 126 drives this season. While the latest breach was in the lower bracket (11 strikes) he sought a substantial suspension.
Penalty Submissions for Respondent
Mr Dunn submitted that the recent breach was a 50/50 call. Mr Hope had been working hard to change his whip action and continued to make good progress in that area. He said Mr Hope was a busy Junior Driver nationally and a suspension would not fix the problem.
Reasons for Penalty
Mr Hope has a penalty record for this breach of the rules which can only be described as poor. He has eight breaches since he started driving in the 2017/18 season, with the most recent four in a period less than three months.
While he has made a conscious effort to change his whip action to comply with the Whip Guidelines, he has continued to breach the rule. While every effort is being made by Senior Horsemen to assist him the desired result has not been forthcoming.
Mr Hope’s latest breach was at Winton on the 31st December 2019, just five days after he incurred a five day suspension at Westport TC on the 26th December 2019.
The Penalty Guidelines only refer to a second or subsequent offence inside six months with a starting point of a 3-5 day suspension range. Mr Hope’s fourth breach inside three months falls outside the guidelines which leaves the committee with a discretion to set a penalty higher than five days. Given that Mr Hope’s overall record is poor we take a starting point of seven days suspension. While Mr Hope is a Junior Driver and is making attempts to improve his whip action he has been dealt with leniently in the past, we see no need to give any credit.
Penalty
Mr Hope is suspended from the end of racing at Marlborough HRC on the 19th January up to and including the 2nd February 2020 (7 days).
P Knowles
Chair
Dated 20 January 2020
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: 3f10a17b770424fb39f3ea53619c1d37
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 31/12/2019
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Winton HRC 31 December 2019 - R 8 (adjourned - heard 2 January 2020 at Omakau) - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Winton Harness Racing Club 31 December 2019 (heard 2 January 2020 at Omakau)
Information: A12704
Informant: Mr V Munro
Respondent: Mr B Hope – Junior Horseman
Meeting: Winton Harness Racing Club
Date: 31 December 2019
Race No: 8
Rule No: 869 (2) and Whip Regulations
Judicial Committee: Mr P Knowles, Chair – Mr M Conway, Committee Member
Charge: Contravention of the Use of Whip Regulations
Plea: Not Admitted
Also Present: Mr J Dunn, Senior Horseman - Assisting Mr Hope
Facts
At the Winton HRC meeting on 31 December 2019, Junior Driver, Ben Hope was charged with excessive use of the whip (r 869 (2)) after his drive on MOSSDALE ART in race 8.
The Information was adjourned sine die and was heard at the Central Otago TC meeting on the 2nd January.
Mr Hope did not admit the charge and was assisted at the hearing by Mr J Dunn – Senior Horseman.
Mr Munro, with the use of the videos, said Mr Hope was the leading horse at the 400 metres. From just inside the 400 metres mark he was observed to use his whip about 11 times. He said Mr Hope used a combination of false hits, flicks, strikes with an upward hand motion and strikes with a downward hand motion. In all the Stewards counted about 11 of the strikes were with a downward hand motion.
In viewing the videos, Mr Munro stated that a difficulty of picking up clear downward strikes with the whip was that Mr Hope is left-handed. He said some of the downward strikes with the whip did not show contact with the horse or sulky under the guidelines, but were counted as a strike.
Mr Dunn stated Mr Hope was endeavouring to change his whip action. He said his strikes were not forceful and he was mixing up his action.
Mr Hope said he was making a conscious effort to improve his whip action.
The Committee has to be satisfied that Mr Hope has breached the Rule. After viewing the videos and hearing the oral submissions we are satisfied that Mr Hope has breached the Rule.
Decision
The charge is found proved.
Submissions for Penalty
Written submissions on penalty to be filed within 3 working days.
Penalty Submissions for Informant
Mr Munro stated that this was Mr Hope’s fourth breach of the rule inside four months. The previous breaches were at Oamaru HRC - 24th October 2019 - $200: Geraldine TC - 23rd November 2019 - 4 days suspension: Westport TC - 26th December 2019 - 5 days suspension. He said in total Mr Hope had breached the same rule a total of eight times since gaining his JD licence in the 2017/18 season. Mr Hope has had approximately 469 drives lifetime, 226 drives last season and approximately 126 drives this season. While the latest breach was in the lower bracket (11 strikes) he sought a substantial suspension.
Penalty Submissions for Respondent
Mr Dunn submitted that the recent breach was a 50/50 call. Mr Hope had been working hard to change his whip action and continued to make good progress in that area. He said Mr Hope was a busy Junior Driver nationally and a suspension would not fix the problem.
Reasons for Penalty
Mr Hope has a penalty record for this breach of the rules which can only be described as poor. He has eight breaches since he started driving in the 2017/18 season, with the most recent four in a period less than three months.
While he has made a conscious effort to change his whip action to comply with the Whip Guidelines, he has continued to breach the rule. While every effort is being made by Senior Horsemen to assist him the desired result has not been forthcoming.
Mr Hope’s latest breach was at Winton on the 31st December 2019, just five days after he incurred a five day suspension at Westport TC on the 26th December 2019.
The Penalty Guidelines only refer to a second or subsequent offence inside six months with a starting point of a 3-5 day suspension range. Mr Hope’s fourth breach inside three months falls outside the guidelines which leaves the committee with a discretion to set a penalty higher than five days. Given that Mr Hope’s overall record is poor we take a starting point of seven days suspension. While Mr Hope is a Junior Driver and is making attempts to improve his whip action he has been dealt with leniently in the past, we see no need to give any credit.
Penalty
Mr Hope is suspended from the end of racing at Marlborough HRC on the 19th January up to and including the 2nd February 2020 (7 days).
P Knowles
Chair
Dated 20 January 2020
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