Banks Peninsula TC 14 April 2013 – R 3
ID: JCA11067
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 14 April 2013
Meet Chair:
JPhelan
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2013/04/14
Race Number:
R 3
Decision:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties that full reasons for our decision would be given in our written decision, as set out above. We gave brief reasons and advised that we found that the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our reasons (see above) and that Mr Kerr's Open Horseman's Licence was suspended from after the conclusion of racing today (14 April 2013) until after the conclusion of racing on 3 May 2013. This period of suspension encompasses 5 race days, these being 19 April 2013 at NZMTC, 25 April 2013 at NZMTC, 26 April 2013 at Marlborough, 28 April 2013 at Rangiora or Marlborough, and 3 May 2013 at NZMTC.
Charge:
Alleged failing to drive horse out to the finish.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Mark Alexander Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. W. Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 868(3) by Mr B. A. Kerr, the driver of “Blytheburn” (10).
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 868(3) (in that) you, as the driver of “BLYTHEBURN” failed to drive this horse out to the end of the race when having a reasonable chance of finishing in a better position.”
Rule 868(3) reads as follows –
”(3) Every horseman shall drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has any reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth”
Mr Kerr had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Kerr also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under. As this was a relatively serious charge Mr Kerr was asked if he would like to have the matter heard at a later date, but he said he did not wish to delay the hearing.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Wallis gave evidence and used video coverage to show that well into the straight Mr Kerr was comfortably holding second place and driving his horse vigorously. About 35 metres before the winning post Mr Kerr stopped driving his horse, and at that time he was still holding 2nd place. He was then overtaken by “History Maker” (12) and beaten by a nose into 3rd place.
Mr Kerr gave evidence that he had given his horse every chance in the race. He said that he had used his whip about 15 times near the end of the race, and he believed he had hit it enough, and just let “….it go to the line”. Mr Kerr did not dispute that he stopped driving his horse about 35 metres from the finish, but said that he would not have finished 2nd anyway.
After hearing the evidence from Mr Kerr Mr Wallis emphasised that Mr Kerr did nothing to drive his horse out in the last 35 metres of the race, when it would have been expected he would have done so.
We adjourned to consider our decision.
Reasons for Decision:
We carefully considered the evidence and the video coverage of this incident. We were satisfied that Mr Kerr did stop driving his horse over the final 35 metres of the race when holding second place, being eventually beaten by a nose. Rule 868(3) is clear that horseman is required “….to drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has any reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth”. Mr Kerr said that he had hit his horse enough and just let it go to the line. He said he didn’t believe he would have finished 2nd in any event. However it is relevant that the margin between 2nd and 3rd was a nose, which is the smallest margin available to a Judge.
After we had reviewed the evidence and the video coverage we were satisfied that Mr Kerr had not driven his horse out to the end of the race as required by the Rules. It is well established that the test is an objective one and an alleged breach of the Rule is to be considered by objective standards and not by the subjective views of the driver. The Rule requires a demonstration of tactics which can, by objective standards, be said to show that a horse was driven out to the end of the race. In particular we took account of the lack of use of the whip or alternative means of driving his horse out.
We were satisfied that the Rule required Mr Kerr to drive his horse out over the final 35 metres of the race, not necessarily with the whip. Whether or not he would have finished second was not the issue.
Submissions for Penalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Wallis advised that Mr Kerr had not previously breached this Rule, and he assessed the seriousness of the breach as being “mid-range”. The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $600-00 fine or a 12 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule. Mr Wallis also advised that Mr Kerr had 22 drives last season and has had 13 drives so far this season.
After discussions Mr Kerr advised that he preferred a suspension to a fine, as he could not afford a fine if it was in the vicinity of $500-00. He had no other relevant submissions to make.
We adjourned to consider the matter of penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In relation to penalty we took into account that Mr Kerr had a good record, and that the breach was assessed as being in the mid-range of seriousness. We also took into account that this is a relatively serious breach. It was also relevant that Mr Kerr only had 22 drives last season and has onlky had 13 drives so far this season.
Taking all matters into account we decided that a five (5) day suspension was appropriate in this case.
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: 146608b46419619454afb1ccf2423755
informantnumber: A1871
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/04/2013
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 14 April 2013 - R 3
charge:
Alleged failing to drive horse out to the finish.
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Mark Alexander Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. W. Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 868(3) by Mr B. A. Kerr, the driver of “Blytheburn” (10).
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 868(3) (in that) you, as the driver of “BLYTHEBURN” failed to drive this horse out to the end of the race when having a reasonable chance of finishing in a better position.”
Rule 868(3) reads as follows –
”(3) Every horseman shall drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has any reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth”
Mr Kerr had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Kerr also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under. As this was a relatively serious charge Mr Kerr was asked if he would like to have the matter heard at a later date, but he said he did not wish to delay the hearing.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Wallis gave evidence and used video coverage to show that well into the straight Mr Kerr was comfortably holding second place and driving his horse vigorously. About 35 metres before the winning post Mr Kerr stopped driving his horse, and at that time he was still holding 2nd place. He was then overtaken by “History Maker” (12) and beaten by a nose into 3rd place.
Mr Kerr gave evidence that he had given his horse every chance in the race. He said that he had used his whip about 15 times near the end of the race, and he believed he had hit it enough, and just let “….it go to the line”. Mr Kerr did not dispute that he stopped driving his horse about 35 metres from the finish, but said that he would not have finished 2nd anyway.
After hearing the evidence from Mr Kerr Mr Wallis emphasised that Mr Kerr did nothing to drive his horse out in the last 35 metres of the race, when it would have been expected he would have done so.
We adjourned to consider our decision.
reasonsfordecision:
We carefully considered the evidence and the video coverage of this incident. We were satisfied that Mr Kerr did stop driving his horse over the final 35 metres of the race when holding second place, being eventually beaten by a nose. Rule 868(3) is clear that horseman is required “….to drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has any reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth”. Mr Kerr said that he had hit his horse enough and just let it go to the line. He said he didn’t believe he would have finished 2nd in any event. However it is relevant that the margin between 2nd and 3rd was a nose, which is the smallest margin available to a Judge.
After we had reviewed the evidence and the video coverage we were satisfied that Mr Kerr had not driven his horse out to the end of the race as required by the Rules. It is well established that the test is an objective one and an alleged breach of the Rule is to be considered by objective standards and not by the subjective views of the driver. The Rule requires a demonstration of tactics which can, by objective standards, be said to show that a horse was driven out to the end of the race. In particular we took account of the lack of use of the whip or alternative means of driving his horse out.
We were satisfied that the Rule required Mr Kerr to drive his horse out over the final 35 metres of the race, not necessarily with the whip. Whether or not he would have finished second was not the issue.
Decision:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties that full reasons for our decision would be given in our written decision, as set out above. We gave brief reasons and advised that we found that the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Wallis advised that Mr Kerr had not previously breached this Rule, and he assessed the seriousness of the breach as being “mid-range”. The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of a $600-00 fine or a 12 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule. Mr Wallis also advised that Mr Kerr had 22 drives last season and has had 13 drives so far this season.
After discussions Mr Kerr advised that he preferred a suspension to a fine, as he could not afford a fine if it was in the vicinity of $500-00. He had no other relevant submissions to make.
We adjourned to consider the matter of penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In relation to penalty we took into account that Mr Kerr had a good record, and that the breach was assessed as being in the mid-range of seriousness. We also took into account that this is a relatively serious breach. It was also relevant that Mr Kerr only had 22 drives last season and has onlky had 13 drives so far this season.
Taking all matters into account we decided that a five (5) day suspension was appropriate in this case.
penalty:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our reasons (see above) and that Mr Kerr's Open Horseman's Licence was suspended from after the conclusion of racing today (14 April 2013) until after the conclusion of racing on 3 May 2013. This period of suspension encompasses 5 race days, these being 19 April 2013 at NZMTC, 25 April 2013 at NZMTC, 26 April 2013 at Marlborough, 28 April 2013 at Rangiora or Marlborough, and 3 May 2013 at NZMTC.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 868(3)
Informant: Mr S. W. Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr B. A. Kerr - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b7126987cd33f96db739e16fc7d3c348
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
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race_pm2:
meetid: fc3202176b6a3254972b940a1af0cce8
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meetdate: 14/04/2013
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 14 April 2013
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: JPhelan
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Banks Peninsula TC