Southland RC 31 March 2019 – R 5 (instigating a protest) – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA11139
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Southland RC - 31 March 2019
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway
Race Date:
2019/03/31
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
We are not of the opinion that BEAUFIGHTER would have finished ahead MAC MURDOCH had the interference not occurred. The protest is dismissed. The placings are as called by the Judge.
Stakes and dividends are to be paid accordingly.
Facts:
Following the running of race 5, the LONE STAR CAFÉ & BAR HANDICAP 2130 metres, Ms Morris, the rider of the 2nd horse, BEAUFIGHTER, lodged a protest under r 642(1) against the 1st horse, MAC MURDOCH, alleging interference by the winner passing the 100 metres.
The official placings were:
1st-5 MAC MURDOCH
2ND -2 BEAUFIGHTER
3RD-7 FULLTOTHEBRIM
4TH -10 FRANCONI
5TH -15 LEILA EVE
The official margin between 1st and 2nd was a nose.
Rule 642(1) states: “If a placed horse or its rider causes interference within the meaning of this rule 642 to another placed horse, and the Judicial Committee is of the opinion that the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first mentioned horse had such interference not occurred, they may place the first mentioned horse immediately after the horse interfered with”.
(2) For the purposes of Rules 637 and 642:
(a) “placed horse” shall be a horse placed by the Judge in accordance with Rule 641(3); and
(b) “interference” is defined as:
(i) a horse crossing another horse without being at least its own length and one other clear length in front of such other horse at the time of crossing;
(ii) a horse jostling with another horse, unless it is proved that such jostling was caused by the fault of some other horse or Rider or that the horse or Rider jostled with was partly at fault; or
(iii) a horse itself, or its Rider, in any way interfering with another horse or the Rider of another horse in a Race, unless it is proved that such interference was caused by the fault of some other horse or Rider or that the horse or Rider interfered with was partly at fault.
Submissions for Decision:
Ms Morris pointed out the relevant runners on the video replays. She stated that MAC MURDOCH shifted ground inwards in the straight, which was later agreed to be at about the 160 metres, and bumped her mount, BEAUFIGHTER. She said her horse was unbalanced and was then dictated inwards in the run to the line. She stated MAC MURDOCH had interfered with the momentum of BEAUFIGHTER and as the official margin was a nose, she believed it had cost her 1st placing.
When questioned by the Committee as to whether she had had to stop riding, Ms Morris said she had for a stride at the time of the bumping when her horse became unbalanced.
Mr Curran said he believed Ms Morris had summed it up correctly. He believed BEAUFIGHTER would have won the race.
Mr Lowry, the rider of MAC MURDOCH, stated that BEAUFIGHTER was laying out at the time of contact and Ms Morris’ horse had moved out as much as his had shifted in. He believed the head-on angle showed that she was trying to hold her horse in and it lugged out and then had commenced to lug in in the straight. He said both horses had had every opportunity in the run to the line.
Ms Morris replied that the head of BEAUFIGHTER had only moved after there had been contact and her horse was not lugging out. She said she had thought she would go past Mr Lowry but acknowledged that at no point had she done so.
Mr Curran commented that according to Mr Lowry BEAUFIGHTER was hanging both out and in in the straight.
Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, gave expert evidence. He said there had been one major point of contact, which was 160 metres from the line. He said the majority of the shifting of ground had been by the outside horse, MAC MURDOCH, but BEAUFIGHTER had shifted a little too. He believed there was some merit in the protest and reminded the Committee it had to be satisfied the 2nd horse would have beaten the 1st horse before it could alter the placings.
Reasons for Decision:
It is clear from the videos that MAC MURDOCH has shifted in and come into contact with BEAUFIGHTER. BEAUFIGHTER did shift out a little but we agree with Mr Davidson that the more significant shift is the inwards movement by MAC MURDOCH. There is a bump and BEAUFIGHTER is unbalanced for a stride.
From that point in the race each horse had every opportunity to win and no rider had to stop riding. It is evident that Ms Morris was inconvenienced for a stride but despite the margin being only a nose, we are not satisfied that the interference was severe enough to warrant a change of placings. MAC MURDOCH was finishing off the race well and at no time in the last 160 metres was BEAUFIGHTER taking ground off that horse. The two horses simply slogged it out stride for stride and, if anything, MAC MURDOCH at the line was getting the better of BEAUFIGHTER.
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: 1e66af59e995c1c4871929e1dc61fb45
informantnumber: A9077
horsename: MAC MURDOCH
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 02/04/2019
hearing_title: Southland RC 31 March 2019 - R 5 (instigating a protest) - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 5, the LONE STAR CAFÉ & BAR HANDICAP 2130 metres, Ms Morris, the rider of the 2nd horse, BEAUFIGHTER, lodged a protest under r 642(1) against the 1st horse, MAC MURDOCH, alleging interference by the winner passing the 100 metres.
The official placings were:
1st-5 MAC MURDOCH
2ND -2 BEAUFIGHTER
3RD-7 FULLTOTHEBRIM
4TH -10 FRANCONI
5TH -15 LEILA EVE
The official margin between 1st and 2nd was a nose.
Rule 642(1) states: “If a placed horse or its rider causes interference within the meaning of this rule 642 to another placed horse, and the Judicial Committee is of the opinion that the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first mentioned horse had such interference not occurred, they may place the first mentioned horse immediately after the horse interfered with”.
(2) For the purposes of Rules 637 and 642:
(a) “placed horse” shall be a horse placed by the Judge in accordance with Rule 641(3); and
(b) “interference” is defined as:
(i) a horse crossing another horse without being at least its own length and one other clear length in front of such other horse at the time of crossing;
(ii) a horse jostling with another horse, unless it is proved that such jostling was caused by the fault of some other horse or Rider or that the horse or Rider jostled with was partly at fault; or
(iii) a horse itself, or its Rider, in any way interfering with another horse or the Rider of another horse in a Race, unless it is proved that such interference was caused by the fault of some other horse or Rider or that the horse or Rider interfered with was partly at fault.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Ms Morris pointed out the relevant runners on the video replays. She stated that MAC MURDOCH shifted ground inwards in the straight, which was later agreed to be at about the 160 metres, and bumped her mount, BEAUFIGHTER. She said her horse was unbalanced and was then dictated inwards in the run to the line. She stated MAC MURDOCH had interfered with the momentum of BEAUFIGHTER and as the official margin was a nose, she believed it had cost her 1st placing.
When questioned by the Committee as to whether she had had to stop riding, Ms Morris said she had for a stride at the time of the bumping when her horse became unbalanced.
Mr Curran said he believed Ms Morris had summed it up correctly. He believed BEAUFIGHTER would have won the race.
Mr Lowry, the rider of MAC MURDOCH, stated that BEAUFIGHTER was laying out at the time of contact and Ms Morris’ horse had moved out as much as his had shifted in. He believed the head-on angle showed that she was trying to hold her horse in and it lugged out and then had commenced to lug in in the straight. He said both horses had had every opportunity in the run to the line.
Ms Morris replied that the head of BEAUFIGHTER had only moved after there had been contact and her horse was not lugging out. She said she had thought she would go past Mr Lowry but acknowledged that at no point had she done so.
Mr Curran commented that according to Mr Lowry BEAUFIGHTER was hanging both out and in in the straight.
Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, gave expert evidence. He said there had been one major point of contact, which was 160 metres from the line. He said the majority of the shifting of ground had been by the outside horse, MAC MURDOCH, but BEAUFIGHTER had shifted a little too. He believed there was some merit in the protest and reminded the Committee it had to be satisfied the 2nd horse would have beaten the 1st horse before it could alter the placings.
reasonsfordecision:
It is clear from the videos that MAC MURDOCH has shifted in and come into contact with BEAUFIGHTER. BEAUFIGHTER did shift out a little but we agree with Mr Davidson that the more significant shift is the inwards movement by MAC MURDOCH. There is a bump and BEAUFIGHTER is unbalanced for a stride.
From that point in the race each horse had every opportunity to win and no rider had to stop riding. It is evident that Ms Morris was inconvenienced for a stride but despite the margin being only a nose, we are not satisfied that the interference was severe enough to warrant a change of placings. MAC MURDOCH was finishing off the race well and at no time in the last 160 metres was BEAUFIGHTER taking ground off that horse. The two horses simply slogged it out stride for stride and, if anything, MAC MURDOCH at the line was getting the better of BEAUFIGHTER.
Decision:
We are not of the opinion that BEAUFIGHTER would have finished ahead MAC MURDOCH had the interference not occurred. The protest is dismissed. The placings are as called by the Judge.
Stakes and dividends are to be paid accordingly.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 642(1)
Informant: Ms J Morris - Licensed Jockey
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Lowry - Rider of MAC MURDOCH, Mr J Curran - Trainer of BEAUFIGHTER
Respondent: Ms J Dalton - Licensed Trainer
StipendSteward:
raceid: 85faf6f1a02c78e8409358f0d4f41012
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4587b628bf5d772a58ad58ffce99d382
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/03/2019
meet_title: Southland RC - 31 March 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: southland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: MConway
meet_pm2: none
name: Southland RC