Banks Peninsula TC 2 October 2016 – R 6 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA11394
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 2 October 2016
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2016/10/02
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
Mr Ford having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Ford was fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Jenny Butt Handicap Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C B Ford, alleging a breach of Rule 870 (2) (b) in that, as the driver of LITTLE MO in the race, he “failed to take all reasonable steps to return LITTLE MO to its correct gait”.
Mr Ford was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 870 provides as follows:
(1) Where any horse breaks from its gait in any race its horseman shall immediately take all reasonable steps to return it to its proper gait and where clearance exists immediately take such horse clear of the field.
(2) The following shall be a breach of sub-rule hereof:-
(b) failure to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
Mr Renault had Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, show side-on and head-on video replays of the final 200 metres of the race. He pointed out LITTLE MO, driven by Mr Ford, put in a “rough stride” and switch into a pace, approximately 150 metres from the finish. The horse continued to pace for the remainder of the race. After the horse switched to a pace, Mr Ford continued to use his whip on three occasions and continued to shake the reins and urge the horse, Mr Renault submitted. Mr Ford continued to drive the horse out and at no stage took hold of it. A driver’s obligation is to take hold of the horse and return it immediately to a trot, he said.
Mr Ford said that he agreed that the horse was pacing, as alleged, but that he was not aware that the horse had gone into a pace until about 50 metres from the finishing line at which point, he said, he tried to pull it up. He was aware that the horse was inclined to pace. It was bred to pace and had won a race as a pacer. It had “slipped into” a pace at the end of the race when it was tired, Mr Ford said.
At this point in the hearing, Mr Ford conceded that he had not immediately taken steps to return his horse to a trot. The hearing was then adjourned for the running of the next race.
On the resumption of the hearing, Mr Ford advised that he wished to change his original plea and to admit the breach.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Ford has had 4 drives to date in the current season and, in the 2015/2016 season, had a total of 34 drives. His record under the Rule was clear. Mr Renault submitted that a fine in the range of $200-250 was appropriate.
Mr Renault pointed out that LITTLE MO was clearly beaten at the time. The outcome of the race was, therefore, not affected.
Mr Ford repeated that he had failed to realise that the horse had changed its gait to a pace until just before the finishing line, although he had been aware of its tendency to do so. The horse had paced after 200 metres in its previous start on 29 September and also paced at recent workouts at Ashburton. He intended to change the shoeing of the horse to help it trot, Mr Ford said.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee noted that the Penalty Guide does not refer to the breach of this particular sub-Rule. It is rare for a charge under the sub-Rule to be brought. The Committee received some assistance from the penalties imposed in a number of previous cases since 2012 involving a breach of the same sub-Rule. In those cases, the penalties ranged from a suspension of 1 day and fines between $150 and $400.
Having regard to all of the circumstances of the present case, the Committee decided that a fine of $200 was appropriate. In arriving at this penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Ford’s good record, his admission of the breach during the course of the hearing and that the breach was at the lower end of a scale of seriousness, given that the outcome of the race was not affected in any way.
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: 196e152e1e20be5c15ced735efb44d4b
informantnumber: A8360
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failing to Return Horse to Proper Gait
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 04/10/2016
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 2 October 2016 - R 6 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Jenny Butt Handicap Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C B Ford, alleging a breach of Rule 870 (2) (b) in that, as the driver of LITTLE MO in the race, he “failed to take all reasonable steps to return LITTLE MO to its correct gait”.
Mr Ford was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 870 provides as follows:
(1) Where any horse breaks from its gait in any race its horseman shall immediately take all reasonable steps to return it to its proper gait and where clearance exists immediately take such horse clear of the field.
(2) The following shall be a breach of sub-rule hereof:-
(b) failure to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
Mr Renault had Stipendiary Steward, Mr S W Wallis, show side-on and head-on video replays of the final 200 metres of the race. He pointed out LITTLE MO, driven by Mr Ford, put in a “rough stride” and switch into a pace, approximately 150 metres from the finish. The horse continued to pace for the remainder of the race. After the horse switched to a pace, Mr Ford continued to use his whip on three occasions and continued to shake the reins and urge the horse, Mr Renault submitted. Mr Ford continued to drive the horse out and at no stage took hold of it. A driver’s obligation is to take hold of the horse and return it immediately to a trot, he said.
Mr Ford said that he agreed that the horse was pacing, as alleged, but that he was not aware that the horse had gone into a pace until about 50 metres from the finishing line at which point, he said, he tried to pull it up. He was aware that the horse was inclined to pace. It was bred to pace and had won a race as a pacer. It had “slipped into” a pace at the end of the race when it was tired, Mr Ford said.
At this point in the hearing, Mr Ford conceded that he had not immediately taken steps to return his horse to a trot. The hearing was then adjourned for the running of the next race.
On the resumption of the hearing, Mr Ford advised that he wished to change his original plea and to admit the breach.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Ford having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Ford has had 4 drives to date in the current season and, in the 2015/2016 season, had a total of 34 drives. His record under the Rule was clear. Mr Renault submitted that a fine in the range of $200-250 was appropriate.
Mr Renault pointed out that LITTLE MO was clearly beaten at the time. The outcome of the race was, therefore, not affected.
Mr Ford repeated that he had failed to realise that the horse had changed its gait to a pace until just before the finishing line, although he had been aware of its tendency to do so. The horse had paced after 200 metres in its previous start on 29 September and also paced at recent workouts at Ashburton. He intended to change the shoeing of the horse to help it trot, Mr Ford said.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee noted that the Penalty Guide does not refer to the breach of this particular sub-Rule. It is rare for a charge under the sub-Rule to be brought. The Committee received some assistance from the penalties imposed in a number of previous cases since 2012 involving a breach of the same sub-Rule. In those cases, the penalties ranged from a suspension of 1 day and fines between $150 and $400.
Having regard to all of the circumstances of the present case, the Committee decided that a fine of $200 was appropriate. In arriving at this penalty, the Committee took into account Mr Ford’s good record, his admission of the breach during the course of the hearing and that the breach was at the lower end of a scale of seriousness, given that the outcome of the race was not affected in any way.
penalty:
Mr Ford was fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 870(2)(b)
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: C B Ford, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: f6a32676aee8e9489c82a6df62c68bdb
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 5376868248fd2b1a250b24f3931745f6
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/10/2016
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 2 October 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Banks Peninsula TC