Forbury Park TC 2 February 2017 – R 6 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA11012
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 2 February 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Race Date:
2017/02/02
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
As Mr O’Connell has admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr O’Connell is suspended from the end of racing this evening up to and including 18 March. This is 6 calendar weeks and is calculated as being 9 days.
Facts:
Mr Renault, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that in race 6, the Aburns Glass Pace, by miscounting the rounds and expending the energies of his horse LIVE TO TELL between the 1250 metres and the 1050 metres, the respondent has diminished the chances of his horse winning the race.
Rule 869(3) provides: No horseman in any race shall drive: (g) in any manner capable of diminishing the chances of his horse winning.
Mr Renault demonstrated on the videos that with a lap to race the respondent was fourth last and was racing five back on the fence. He pulled his horse into the passing lane and urged it forward. He was about to pull the sliding blinds when drivers on his outside shouted there was still a lap still to go. Mr O’Connell restrained his horse to the rear and the horse eventually lost ground and finished second last.
Mr O’Connell stated he had miscounted the number of rounds of the 2700 metre race. He explained that Mr May was racing one out ahead of him and when Mr May had shifted out for a run as the field came down the home straight, he had thought this was because it was the last lap. He had thus shifted his horse down on the track and taken a run in the passing lane.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault produced the respondent’s record, which was clear under this rule. He said Mr O’Connell only drove infrequently. He had had 9 drives this season, 3 the one before and 41 the season before that.
Mr Renault referred to the 15 drives or $750 fine starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide. He submitted a penalty of 10 to 15 meetings was appropriate as he assessed the respondent drove on average one horse a meeting.
Mr O’Connell said he only drove his own horses and had 4 currently in racing trim. He said he had had 4 drives at Cromwell in early January but accepted this was unusual. He said he preferred a suspension to a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr O’Connell has made a mistake. He has miscounted the laps and, in so doing, he has improved his horse into the passing lane and asked it for an effort before realising his error. The horse has subsequently dropped away finishing second last behind a horse that had broken early in the race. The connections of the horse and those persons who invested on the horse have been adversely affected by his actions.
A similar case is that of Mr Service in May 2015. He was suspended for 10 meetings, which was assessed on the basis he had one drive a meeting. Mr Service only drove one horse, a trotter.
Mr O’Connell has a clear record and only drives his own horses. He too is assessed as driving on average one horse a meeting. He has admitted the breach at the first opportunity and it is clear he was momentarily misled by the move made by Mr May. Having regard to the starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide and taking these matters into account, a penalty of 9 meetings is imposed.
In determining the meetings encompassed by this suspension, all meetings south of Timaru have been considered in addition to grass track meetings further north, where Mr O’Connell has indicated he was intending to start his horses.
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: 10b7e7132b0ad913945bb049c4a0538f
informantnumber: A6278
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Diminished the chances of horse winning the race
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/02/2017
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 2 February 2017 - R 6 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Renault, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that in race 6, the Aburns Glass Pace, by miscounting the rounds and expending the energies of his horse LIVE TO TELL between the 1250 metres and the 1050 metres, the respondent has diminished the chances of his horse winning the race.
Rule 869(3) provides: No horseman in any race shall drive: (g) in any manner capable of diminishing the chances of his horse winning.
Mr Renault demonstrated on the videos that with a lap to race the respondent was fourth last and was racing five back on the fence. He pulled his horse into the passing lane and urged it forward. He was about to pull the sliding blinds when drivers on his outside shouted there was still a lap still to go. Mr O’Connell restrained his horse to the rear and the horse eventually lost ground and finished second last.
Mr O’Connell stated he had miscounted the number of rounds of the 2700 metre race. He explained that Mr May was racing one out ahead of him and when Mr May had shifted out for a run as the field came down the home straight, he had thought this was because it was the last lap. He had thus shifted his horse down on the track and taken a run in the passing lane.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr O’Connell has admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault produced the respondent’s record, which was clear under this rule. He said Mr O’Connell only drove infrequently. He had had 9 drives this season, 3 the one before and 41 the season before that.
Mr Renault referred to the 15 drives or $750 fine starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide. He submitted a penalty of 10 to 15 meetings was appropriate as he assessed the respondent drove on average one horse a meeting.
Mr O’Connell said he only drove his own horses and had 4 currently in racing trim. He said he had had 4 drives at Cromwell in early January but accepted this was unusual. He said he preferred a suspension to a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr O’Connell has made a mistake. He has miscounted the laps and, in so doing, he has improved his horse into the passing lane and asked it for an effort before realising his error. The horse has subsequently dropped away finishing second last behind a horse that had broken early in the race. The connections of the horse and those persons who invested on the horse have been adversely affected by his actions.
A similar case is that of Mr Service in May 2015. He was suspended for 10 meetings, which was assessed on the basis he had one drive a meeting. Mr Service only drove one horse, a trotter.
Mr O’Connell has a clear record and only drives his own horses. He too is assessed as driving on average one horse a meeting. He has admitted the breach at the first opportunity and it is clear he was momentarily misled by the move made by Mr May. Having regard to the starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide and taking these matters into account, a penalty of 9 meetings is imposed.
In determining the meetings encompassed by this suspension, all meetings south of Timaru have been considered in addition to grass track meetings further north, where Mr O’Connell has indicated he was intending to start his horses.
penalty:
Mr O’Connell is suspended from the end of racing this evening up to and including 18 March. This is 6 calendar weeks and is calculated as being 9 days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(g)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D O'Connell - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: deefb31415c70b45efa78a431812300f
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7c63eb132b0e4df78792d38fa9de24b4
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/02/2017
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 2 February 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC