Forbury Park TC 22 May 2014 – R 8 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA11308
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 22 May 2014
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
DSteel
Race Date:
2014/05/22
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
Placings are as they were called by the Judge.
Dividends and stakes are to be paid accordingly.
Facts:
At the conclusion of Race 8, the FORBURY SPRINT SERIES FINAL MOBILE PACE, an information was lodged by Mr Allison, stipendiary steward, under 869(8)(b) alleging interference passing the 140 metres when THE HIGHTLIGHT, which finished 4th shifted inwards checking TUSCALOOSA which finished 8th.
Judge’s placings were:
1ST - 1 HIGHVIEW ANWELL
2ND - 2 JACCKA LEN
3RD - 8 GINO D’ACAMPO
4TH - 5 THE HIGHTLIGHT
5th - 3 ALEXY
Rule 869(8) states:
The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to r 1003 thereof place any horse which:
(b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr McIntyre, Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward demonstrated on the head-on and side-on videos that with approximately 140 metres to race Mr M Williamson shifted ground inwards and came into contact with TUSCALOOSA, Mr B Williamson. TUSCALOOSA then went into a gallop and lost all chance.
Mr B Williamson said that he had received “a bit of a check” but he believed he was a beaten horse at the time. He said he had scrubbed his horse up coming round the top bend and it was “not flying home”. He said his horse felt “flat”. He said Mr M Williamson’s wheel hit a leg of his horse and he was pushed briefly onto Mr N Williamson, who was racing on his inner. Mr Allison at this point stated that they were not alleging interference to Mr N Williamson as his horse was clearly beaten at this time.
Mr B Williamson continued by stating his horse had been unable to go for the gap and even if he had not broken he would have ended up running behind Mr Cox’s cart. Mr Cox had finished 3rd and Mr M Williamson had run past Mr Cox’s cart when finishing 4th. Mr B Williamson was quite certain he would not have finished in a dividend bearing position.
Mr M Williamson said he agreed there was interference by THE HIGHTLIGHT and that TUSCALOOSA galloped as a result. However, at the time of contact TUSCALOOSA was not making ground and THE HIGHTLIGHT was going clear of TUSCALOOSA, he thought he was about a wheel length ahead, when THE HIGHTLIGHT ducked in. He added he believed he had the advantage over TUSCALOOSA in the home straight.
Mr Knight stated that THE HIGHTLIGHT was clearly running past TUSCALOOSA when the interference occurred. He also alleged TUSCALOOSA had over-reacted when the contact was made and had only galloped some 3 strides after the contact. He believed THE HIGHTLIGHT was always going to finish ahead of TUSCALOOSA
Mr Allison summed up by saying it was clear interference had occurred. The issue was whether it cost TUSCALOOSA a chance of running 4th.
Reasons for Decision:
We are satisfied that TUSCALOOSA suffered interference from THE HIGHTLIGHT at the 140 metres mark when that horse ducked inwards briefly. TUSCALOOSA galloped as a consequence and lost all chance from that point of the race. We accept Mr B Williamson’s evidence that he had been “scrubbing the horse up on the turn” and that it was “flat” at the time of the interference. This is supported by the video evidence, which also demonstrates that THE HIGHTLIGHT was making ground on TUSCALOOSA at the time of the interference. We also agree that TUSCALOOSA would have found it difficult to progress beyond the back of Mr Cox’s cart, as there was no other run available. On the other hand, THE HIGHTLIGHT was alongside Mr Cox’s cart at the winning post. We exercise our discretion and dismiss the protest as we are not satisfied that had TUSCALOOSA not suffered interference it would have finished in a dividend bearing position.
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: 1c0f28dc8cfb4c245ea7ad63bdf85f2a
informantnumber: A1739
horsename: THE HIGHTLIGHT
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 16/05/2014
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 22 May 2014 - R 8 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
At the conclusion of Race 8, the FORBURY SPRINT SERIES FINAL MOBILE PACE, an information was lodged by Mr Allison, stipendiary steward, under 869(8)(b) alleging interference passing the 140 metres when THE HIGHTLIGHT, which finished 4th shifted inwards checking TUSCALOOSA which finished 8th.
Judge’s placings were:
1ST - 1 HIGHVIEW ANWELL
2ND - 2 JACCKA LEN
3RD - 8 GINO D’ACAMPO
4TH - 5 THE HIGHTLIGHT
5th - 3 ALEXY
Rule 869(8) states:
The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to r 1003 thereof place any horse which:
(b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr McIntyre, Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward demonstrated on the head-on and side-on videos that with approximately 140 metres to race Mr M Williamson shifted ground inwards and came into contact with TUSCALOOSA, Mr B Williamson. TUSCALOOSA then went into a gallop and lost all chance.
Mr B Williamson said that he had received “a bit of a check” but he believed he was a beaten horse at the time. He said he had scrubbed his horse up coming round the top bend and it was “not flying home”. He said his horse felt “flat”. He said Mr M Williamson’s wheel hit a leg of his horse and he was pushed briefly onto Mr N Williamson, who was racing on his inner. Mr Allison at this point stated that they were not alleging interference to Mr N Williamson as his horse was clearly beaten at this time.
Mr B Williamson continued by stating his horse had been unable to go for the gap and even if he had not broken he would have ended up running behind Mr Cox’s cart. Mr Cox had finished 3rd and Mr M Williamson had run past Mr Cox’s cart when finishing 4th. Mr B Williamson was quite certain he would not have finished in a dividend bearing position.
Mr M Williamson said he agreed there was interference by THE HIGHTLIGHT and that TUSCALOOSA galloped as a result. However, at the time of contact TUSCALOOSA was not making ground and THE HIGHTLIGHT was going clear of TUSCALOOSA, he thought he was about a wheel length ahead, when THE HIGHTLIGHT ducked in. He added he believed he had the advantage over TUSCALOOSA in the home straight.
Mr Knight stated that THE HIGHTLIGHT was clearly running past TUSCALOOSA when the interference occurred. He also alleged TUSCALOOSA had over-reacted when the contact was made and had only galloped some 3 strides after the contact. He believed THE HIGHTLIGHT was always going to finish ahead of TUSCALOOSA
Mr Allison summed up by saying it was clear interference had occurred. The issue was whether it cost TUSCALOOSA a chance of running 4th.
reasonsfordecision:
We are satisfied that TUSCALOOSA suffered interference from THE HIGHTLIGHT at the 140 metres mark when that horse ducked inwards briefly. TUSCALOOSA galloped as a consequence and lost all chance from that point of the race. We accept Mr B Williamson’s evidence that he had been “scrubbing the horse up on the turn” and that it was “flat” at the time of the interference. This is supported by the video evidence, which also demonstrates that THE HIGHTLIGHT was making ground on TUSCALOOSA at the time of the interference. We also agree that TUSCALOOSA would have found it difficult to progress beyond the back of Mr Cox’s cart, as there was no other run available. On the other hand, THE HIGHTLIGHT was alongside Mr Cox’s cart at the winning post. We exercise our discretion and dismiss the protest as we are not satisfied that had TUSCALOOSA not suffered interference it would have finished in a dividend bearing position.
Decision:
Placings are as they were called by the Judge.
Dividends and stakes are to be paid accordingly.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(8)(b)
Informant: Mr C A Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr B Williamson, Junior Horseman, Driver of TUSCALOOSA, Mr B McLellan - Open Horsemand assisting Mr B Williamson
Respondent: Mr M Williamson, Open Horseman, Driver of THE HIGHTLIGHT, Mr G Knight, Trainer of THE HIGHTLIGHT
StipendSteward:
raceid: ba7d1c27e97b90b8a6331b1f90c219e1
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 785e04b3364662b5601fd134c43165a7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/05/2014
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 22 May 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: DSteel
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC