IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT 2000, S.O. 2000, c.20;
AND IN THE MATTER IN THE APPEAL OF
THOROUGHBRED JOCKEY GERALD OLGUIN
Thoroughbred Licensee Gerald Olguin appealed a $200.00 fine imposed by the stewards at Woodbine in Ruling TB4268/2006 for violation of Rule 9.27.04(iii) of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing for excessive use of his whip on his mount BRIGHT ENGAGEMENT in the first race on June 14, 2006.
On August 22, 2006, a panel of the Ontario Racing Commission consisting of Chair Lynda Tanaka and Commissioners David Gorman and Brenda Walker convened to hear the matter.
Luisa Ritacca appeared at the hearing for the Administration and Harvey Schwartz appeared on behalf of Mr. Olguin.
On hearing the evidence and on reading and reviewing the exhibits filed, and on hearing the submissions of counsel, the Commission determined that Mr. Olguin’s appeal should be dismissed.
The Commission’s reasons are attached to this ruling.
DATED at Toronto this 26th day of September 2006.
BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION
John L. Blakney
Executive Director
REASONS FOR DECISION
Jockey Gerald Olguin appealed a $200 fine imposed by the Stewards at Woodbine in Ruling TB 4268/2006 for violation of Rule 9.27.04(iii) of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing for excessive use of the whip on his mount Bright Engagement in the 1st race on June 14, 2006 at Woodbine Racetrack.
As is explained in the reasons for decision in the appeal by jockey Todd Kabel with respect to Stewards’ Ruling TB4287/2006, Mr. Olguin’s appeal was heard by the Commission on August 22, 2006 along with the appeals by Mr. Kabel and jockey Slade Callaghan.
The three appeals all arose from rulings with respect to three different races but under the same provisions of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing. The submissions to this panel on Mr. Olguin’s appeal included references to the evidence of witnesses Steward Gunner Lindberg, Raymond Sabourin, Robert Landry, Emma Wilson and Nick Coukos. This panel’s decision with respect to Mr. Kabel’s appeal, dealing with the preliminary matters that affected all three appeals and the panel’s findings on the general principles as to the Rules in question and the use of the whip, are incorporated and should be read as part of this decision. In this decision we will deal with the evidence concerning the specific conduct of Mr. Olguin in the race in question and his specific appeal.
Steward Gunner Lindberg testified with respect to the Stewards’ Ruling in this specific case and the penalty imposed on Mr. Olguin for his ride on the horse Bright Engagement. The finding of excessive use of the whip was based on their view of the number of times Mr. Olguin had used the whip during the stretch run and their discretion under the Rule. Steward Lindberg testified that the jockey’s only other effort to urge the horse on was to “show him the stick” and then he whipped the horse 17 times in the stretch run. He acknowledged that it was a close race but he said that the jockey never missed a stride or paused in use of his whip.
Mr. Olguin is a very experienced jockey who has been licensed in Mexico, California, Seattle, Vancouver and Barbados. He has been licensed in Ontario since 2000. He testified that he did not believe he used the whip excessively on this horse in this race. He had ridden the horse in two of its last 6 starts and the horse always responded to the whip. He said that he only lost the race by a head bob. He said his whip did go over his head but he did not recall if his arm went over. He said he started whipping when the horse slipped loose from behind other horses and had running room. He said that the horse responded to the whip, i.e. ran faster. He also testified that the trainer was glad with the way he rode. He did not know if the veterinarian checked the horse after the race but he said the horse was fine the next day.
In our view of the videotape evidence, it is not clear that the jockey was successful in urging the horse on by using the whip. In fact there is some evidence in the videotape that the horse seems in fact to slow down (as some will), when Mr. Olguin started to use the whip. We note that Mr. Olguin used the whip repeatedly and without any break during the stretch run. We agree with Steward Lindberg’s assessment that Mr. Olguin never gave the horse a breather in the entire stretch run. He did not allow time to assess whether or not the horse would keep running at a 100% effort if he did not use the whip again. While we acknowledge that there were no complaints made by the trainer in this case, our view is that the videotape evidence supports the finding of the Stewards.
The appeal by Gerald Olguin from Ruling TB 4268/2006 for violation of Rule 9.27.04(iii) of the Rules of Thoroughbred Racing for excessive use of the whip on his mount Bright Engagement in the 1st race on June 14, 2006 at Woodbine Racetrack is therefore dismissed.
DATED this 26th day of September 2006.
Lynda Tanaka
Chair