Whangarei RC 7 January 2021 – R 8 – Chair, Hon J W Gendall QC
ID: JCA10767
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Whangarei RC - 7 January 2021
Meet Chair:
WGendall
Race Date:
2021/01/07
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
As Ms Spratt admitted the breach of the Rule, it was deemed proved.
Penalty:
After hearing from Mr Coles and Ms Spratt and viewing the race films, the Committee ordered that Ms Spratt’s licence to ride be suspended in effect from the end of racing on 16 January 2021 until the end of racing on 21 January 2021 and imposed a fine of $400. That is, as well as the fine, a period of 2 national riding days of 20 and 21 January as a continuation of her separate suspension due to expire on 16 January 2021 (as was imposed orally at the hearing).
The fine of $400 is imposed to reflect the stake monies the connections of the horse would have lost.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8 Mr Coles presented an Information alleging that Ms Spratt breached Rule 636(1)(d) in that she “failed to ride her horse, WAIMOKU FALLS, to the end of the race when there was a reasonable chance of it running second (alone)”.
Rule 636(1)(d) provides: that a rider in any race “must ride his [her] horse out to the end of the race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a positions for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared”.
The Judge's placings were:
1st - Laurant
2nd - Dead heat Waimoku Falls and Sympathique
4th - Scottish Star
5th - Quality Prevails
As can be seen Ms Spratt’s mount dead heated for second. This was not quite the usual situation where a horse ‘loses’ a placing because in one sense it retained second albeit losing a reasonable chance of gaining that alone.
The race films illustrated, and Mr Coles submitted, that from about the 100 metre mark Ms Spratt was riding with vigour but was not a realistic winning chance. About 2-3 strides from the winning post she is seen to relax and stop vigorous riding with the endeavour to hold or attain second placing. The momentum of her mount, prior to her relaxing, was such that there was a reasonable chance of it attaining second place alone, but that did not occur as SYMPATHIQUE was able to dead heat with WAIMOKU FALLS for second.
In explanation Ms Spratt said that her horse had peaked on its run and she “doubted that it would have got up”. Ms Spratt said that at this venue it is very difficult to judge where the winning post is, as it is positioned well inside the running rail, and that she did not realise that she was just short of the finish when she eased her riding style.
Submissions for Penalty:
Because both Informant and Respondent said the dead heat situation was rare and unusual, the decision as to penalty was left to the judgment of the Committee.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state that for a breach of Rule 636(1)(d):
“The starting point relates to the potential placing deemed to have been lost as a result of the breach”.
And there are specified different “guides” depending on the type of placing “lost”. It says that if second place is “lost’ a starting point of “4 weeks suspension” is appropriate. But there is no reference to a situation where what is lost is, in truth the same but one half a place. The Committee did and does not accept that such a guide applies, rigidly or otherwise. That is because;
(a) It does not equate or apply to the unique and rare situation where a place is not lost but rather reduced, within that place, so the “loss” is very much less. Any penalty has to reflect that.
(b) In any event, Guidelines are no more than that and, even if adopted, there can and will always be movement both up and down. It is accepted that they are not rigid “rules”.
(c) The task of sentencing or imposing sanctions cannot to be reduced to an arithmetical or formulaic exercise. What is required is for a Committee to reach a final appropriate sanction that is appropriate, fair, just, and reasonable, taking into account and balancing all aggravating and mitigating factors, as they relate to the offence and the offender, as well as the wider interests of the Racing Industry and general public.
As the Committee could only find one previous recorded decision in the last 10 years of a suspension imposed where the breach of the Rule resulted in a dead heat. That was on 30 December 2010 where Jockey Ms Chunn relaxed her ride on a mount 2 strides from the winning post so as to dead heat for third place. She was suspended for 3 riding days and fined $150. That, of course is not a precedent which is required to be followed. But it is perhaps an illustration of a different approach that might be adopted where dead heats in lesser placings occurs. But every case is fact dependant, and suspensions which are and can be fixed in riding days where the circumstances justify that.
Ms Spratt was riding subject to a suspension imposed at Rotorua RC on 28 December 2020 for careless riding but deferred until tomorrow, to commence 8 January until 16 January 2021. The Committee had to weigh in the balance what effect any suspension imposed today would or could have a bearing in light on the totality principle of sanctions imposed when applied cumulatively.
Given the unusual circumstances, the Committee takes a starting point of 4 national riding days from 16 January 2021. That is discounted by 50% for significant mitigating factors to reflect:
(a)-Ms Spratt’s excellent riding record over the last 12 months with no offences other than a breach of Whip Rule referred to.
(b)-Her lapse was of a low level with her judgment hampered to some extent by combination of the placement of with winning post well inside the running rail and some advertising constructions, which may have affected her judgment so close to the winning post.
(c)-Her guilty plea. But it must be made clear that an admission of a charge on raceday does not, or ought not, entitle an automatic discount if no defence is possible. Where no expense is reduced or avoided by a guilty plea, and where no real defence exists, it will be rare that such a plea alone would entitle a discount. But Ms Spratt might reasonably have elected to contest the charge which might have entailed a non raceday hearing (even though it would likely have been established) but chose not to do so and showed contrition and insight. She is entitled to credit for that.
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: 01511c6f0105febc79997dba4b745508
informantnumber: A13836
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to ride horse out to end of race when there was a reasonable chance of it running second
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/01/2021
hearing_title: Whangarei RC 7 January 2021 - R 8 - Chair, Hon J W Gendall QC
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8 Mr Coles presented an Information alleging that Ms Spratt breached Rule 636(1)(d) in that she “failed to ride her horse, WAIMOKU FALLS, to the end of the race when there was a reasonable chance of it running second (alone)”.
Rule 636(1)(d) provides: that a rider in any race “must ride his [her] horse out to the end of the race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a positions for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared”.
The Judge's placings were:
1st - Laurant
2nd - Dead heat Waimoku Falls and Sympathique
4th - Scottish Star
5th - Quality Prevails
As can be seen Ms Spratt’s mount dead heated for second. This was not quite the usual situation where a horse ‘loses’ a placing because in one sense it retained second albeit losing a reasonable chance of gaining that alone.
The race films illustrated, and Mr Coles submitted, that from about the 100 metre mark Ms Spratt was riding with vigour but was not a realistic winning chance. About 2-3 strides from the winning post she is seen to relax and stop vigorous riding with the endeavour to hold or attain second placing. The momentum of her mount, prior to her relaxing, was such that there was a reasonable chance of it attaining second place alone, but that did not occur as SYMPATHIQUE was able to dead heat with WAIMOKU FALLS for second.
In explanation Ms Spratt said that her horse had peaked on its run and she “doubted that it would have got up”. Ms Spratt said that at this venue it is very difficult to judge where the winning post is, as it is positioned well inside the running rail, and that she did not realise that she was just short of the finish when she eased her riding style.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Spratt admitted the breach of the Rule, it was deemed proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Because both Informant and Respondent said the dead heat situation was rare and unusual, the decision as to penalty was left to the judgment of the Committee.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guidelines state that for a breach of Rule 636(1)(d):
“The starting point relates to the potential placing deemed to have been lost as a result of the breach”.
And there are specified different “guides” depending on the type of placing “lost”. It says that if second place is “lost’ a starting point of “4 weeks suspension” is appropriate. But there is no reference to a situation where what is lost is, in truth the same but one half a place. The Committee did and does not accept that such a guide applies, rigidly or otherwise. That is because;
(a) It does not equate or apply to the unique and rare situation where a place is not lost but rather reduced, within that place, so the “loss” is very much less. Any penalty has to reflect that.
(b) In any event, Guidelines are no more than that and, even if adopted, there can and will always be movement both up and down. It is accepted that they are not rigid “rules”.
(c) The task of sentencing or imposing sanctions cannot to be reduced to an arithmetical or formulaic exercise. What is required is for a Committee to reach a final appropriate sanction that is appropriate, fair, just, and reasonable, taking into account and balancing all aggravating and mitigating factors, as they relate to the offence and the offender, as well as the wider interests of the Racing Industry and general public.
As the Committee could only find one previous recorded decision in the last 10 years of a suspension imposed where the breach of the Rule resulted in a dead heat. That was on 30 December 2010 where Jockey Ms Chunn relaxed her ride on a mount 2 strides from the winning post so as to dead heat for third place. She was suspended for 3 riding days and fined $150. That, of course is not a precedent which is required to be followed. But it is perhaps an illustration of a different approach that might be adopted where dead heats in lesser placings occurs. But every case is fact dependant, and suspensions which are and can be fixed in riding days where the circumstances justify that.
Ms Spratt was riding subject to a suspension imposed at Rotorua RC on 28 December 2020 for careless riding but deferred until tomorrow, to commence 8 January until 16 January 2021. The Committee had to weigh in the balance what effect any suspension imposed today would or could have a bearing in light on the totality principle of sanctions imposed when applied cumulatively.
Given the unusual circumstances, the Committee takes a starting point of 4 national riding days from 16 January 2021. That is discounted by 50% for significant mitigating factors to reflect:
(a)-Ms Spratt’s excellent riding record over the last 12 months with no offences other than a breach of Whip Rule referred to.
(b)-Her lapse was of a low level with her judgment hampered to some extent by combination of the placement of with winning post well inside the running rail and some advertising constructions, which may have affected her judgment so close to the winning post.
(c)-Her guilty plea. But it must be made clear that an admission of a charge on raceday does not, or ought not, entitle an automatic discount if no defence is possible. Where no expense is reduced or avoided by a guilty plea, and where no real defence exists, it will be rare that such a plea alone would entitle a discount. But Ms Spratt might reasonably have elected to contest the charge which might have entailed a non raceday hearing (even though it would likely have been established) but chose not to do so and showed contrition and insight. She is entitled to credit for that.
penalty:
After hearing from Mr Coles and Ms Spratt and viewing the race films, the Committee ordered that Ms Spratt’s licence to ride be suspended in effect from the end of racing on 16 January 2021 until the end of racing on 21 January 2021 and imposed a fine of $400. That is, as well as the fine, a period of 2 national riding days of 20 and 21 January as a continuation of her separate suspension due to expire on 16 January 2021 (as was imposed orally at the hearing).
The fine of $400 is imposed to reflect the stake monies the connections of the horse would have lost.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 636(1)(d)
Informant: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Spratt - Class A Licensed Jockey
Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward, Mr S McHugh - JCA Observer
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a148e9a48d4771690f2416e24182d0b7
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race_title: R 8
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meetdate: 07/01/2021
meet_title: Whangarei RC - 7 January 2021
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meet_chair: WGendall
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name: Whangarei RC