Auckland RC 7 March 2020 – R 10 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA10654
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 7 March 2020
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones
Race Date:
2020/03/07
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
As Mr Weatherley admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Weatherley had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 7 March and conclude after racing on 15 March 2020. In addition, we imposed a fine of $750.
8 March race meeting at Gore was not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.
Facts:
Following the running of race 10, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Weatherley allowed JAMES BARRIE to shift out near the 50 metres crowding and checking STARRING ROLE (S Collett).
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Mr Weatherley said he understood the Rule and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Mr Harris assisted Mr Weatherley at the hearing.
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified that JAMES BARRIE shifted out about 2 horse widths near the 50 metres when a bare length clear of STARRING ROLE. As a result, that runner was crowded and Ms Collett had to steady and stopped riding her mount.
Mr Weatherley said that his mount was under pressure over the final stages of the race and accepted that he shifted out when not clear of STARRING ROLE. He said that Ms Collett called out to him but it was too late.
Mr Harris said that it was a tight finish and when Jockeys are riding out a finish, they sometimes don’t realise how much ground they have shifted.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherley’s record which showed 3 previous breaches under this Rule from 400 rides in the last 12 months. The most recent breach occurred on 22 January and a 5-day suspension was imposed. He said Mr Weatherley record was a neutral factor. Mr Oatham submitted the level of carelessness was low to mid-range.
Mr Weatherley said he had no engagements in the next 7 days. He advised the Committee that he has accepted an invitation to represent New Zealand and compete in the National Apprentice Series race day on 18 March in Brisbane. He said everything has been booked and asked the Committee to consider imposing a fine and a suspension if his suspension was going to be greater than 5 days. He added that it would be a privilege to go to Australia and represent New Zealand.
Mr Harris said that it would be a shame if Mr Weatherley would miss the opportunity to represent his country in Brisbane.
Mr Oatham said that given the exceptional circumstances of this case the Stewards would have no objection to a fine and a suspension being imposed on this occasion.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
It was evident on the video films that Mr Weatherley permitted JAMES BARRIE to shift out when placed under pressure near the 50 metres. In doing so he was only 1 length clear of STARRING ROLE which was denied its rightful running line. As a result, that runner was crowded and checked. The Committee deemed the level of carelessness displayed by Mr Weatherley to be low to mid-range.
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for low to mid-range carelessness is 7 days which was adopted.
The mitigating factor was Mr Weatherley’s admission of the breach. For this he was afforded a 1-day reduction in penalty.
Mr Weatherley’s careless riding record was deemed to be a neutral factor.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that an appropriate suspension was 6 national riding days. However, the 6th day of Mr Weatherley’s proposed suspension is 18 March which is the date he has been invited to represent New Zealand in a National Apprentice Series in Brisbane.
The Committee deemed these to be exceptional circumstances and that, in our view, it would be unduly harsh to deny Mr Weatherley the opportunity to represent New Zealand Racing for the sake of a 1-day suspension. Accordingly, we deemed this to be a fitting case for us to exercise our discretion in arriving at a penalty that not only holds Mr Weatherley to account for his actions, but also acts as a suitable deterrent.
After careful consideration of the particular circumstances of this case we considered that an appropriate penalty was 5 national riding days and in addition a $750 fine. The fine is in lieu of 1 day so Mr Weatherley can represent New Zealand in a National Apprentice Series in Brisbane.
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: 05d0f56c9889a517968ff43461bd84e4
informantnumber: A13413
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Riding
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/03/2020
hearing_title: Auckland RC 7 March 2020 - R 10 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 10, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638 (1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Weatherley allowed JAMES BARRIE to shift out near the 50 metres crowding and checking STARRING ROLE (S Collett).
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Mr Weatherley said he understood the Rule and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Mr Harris assisted Mr Weatherley at the hearing.
Mr Coles demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified that JAMES BARRIE shifted out about 2 horse widths near the 50 metres when a bare length clear of STARRING ROLE. As a result, that runner was crowded and Ms Collett had to steady and stopped riding her mount.
Mr Weatherley said that his mount was under pressure over the final stages of the race and accepted that he shifted out when not clear of STARRING ROLE. He said that Ms Collett called out to him but it was too late.
Mr Harris said that it was a tight finish and when Jockeys are riding out a finish, they sometimes don’t realise how much ground they have shifted.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Weatherley admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Weatherley’s record which showed 3 previous breaches under this Rule from 400 rides in the last 12 months. The most recent breach occurred on 22 January and a 5-day suspension was imposed. He said Mr Weatherley record was a neutral factor. Mr Oatham submitted the level of carelessness was low to mid-range.
Mr Weatherley said he had no engagements in the next 7 days. He advised the Committee that he has accepted an invitation to represent New Zealand and compete in the National Apprentice Series race day on 18 March in Brisbane. He said everything has been booked and asked the Committee to consider imposing a fine and a suspension if his suspension was going to be greater than 5 days. He added that it would be a privilege to go to Australia and represent New Zealand.
Mr Harris said that it would be a shame if Mr Weatherley would miss the opportunity to represent his country in Brisbane.
Mr Oatham said that given the exceptional circumstances of this case the Stewards would have no objection to a fine and a suspension being imposed on this occasion.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
It was evident on the video films that Mr Weatherley permitted JAMES BARRIE to shift out when placed under pressure near the 50 metres. In doing so he was only 1 length clear of STARRING ROLE which was denied its rightful running line. As a result, that runner was crowded and checked. The Committee deemed the level of carelessness displayed by Mr Weatherley to be low to mid-range.
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for low to mid-range carelessness is 7 days which was adopted.
The mitigating factor was Mr Weatherley’s admission of the breach. For this he was afforded a 1-day reduction in penalty.
Mr Weatherley’s careless riding record was deemed to be a neutral factor.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered that an appropriate suspension was 6 national riding days. However, the 6th day of Mr Weatherley’s proposed suspension is 18 March which is the date he has been invited to represent New Zealand in a National Apprentice Series in Brisbane.
The Committee deemed these to be exceptional circumstances and that, in our view, it would be unduly harsh to deny Mr Weatherley the opportunity to represent New Zealand Racing for the sake of a 1-day suspension. Accordingly, we deemed this to be a fitting case for us to exercise our discretion in arriving at a penalty that not only holds Mr Weatherley to account for his actions, but also acts as a suitable deterrent.
After careful consideration of the particular circumstances of this case we considered that an appropriate penalty was 5 national riding days and in addition a $750 fine. The fine is in lieu of 1 day so Mr Weatherley can represent New Zealand in a National Apprentice Series in Brisbane.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Weatherley had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 7 March and conclude after racing on 15 March 2020. In addition, we imposed a fine of $750.
8 March race meeting at Gore was not included in the penalty because the declaration of riders had closed.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Weatherley - Apprentice Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Harris - Apprentice Jockey Mentor, Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 1f3d4b5c7b85a36b93a94f16dc536989
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6538cab00e66aecfee73cfe2aa344e67
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/03/2020
meet_title: Auckland RC - 7 March 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: GJones
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland RC