Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v N Teeluck – Decision dated 16 May 2016 – Chair, Mr N McCutcheon

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hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v N Teeluck - Decision dated 16 May 2016 - Chair, Mr N McCutcheon

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NON RACEDAY INQUIRY RIU v MR N TEELUCK – 12 MAY 2016

BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Thoroughbred Racing

IN THE MATTER of Information No. A4179

BETWEEN MR S IRVING

Racecourse Investigator

Informant

And MR N TEELUCK, Licensed Apprentice Jockey

Respondent

Plea – Admitted

Date of Hearing – 12 May 2016

A document from the RIU was presented authorising Mr Irving to lodge the Information.

Venue – Otaki Maori Racecourse Boardroom

Judicial Committee – N McCutcheon, Chair – N Moffatt, Committee Member

Present – Mrs T Fulford assisting Mr Teeluck

Rule(s) – 709(1)(2)

Penalty Clause – 803(1)

Information No. A4179 alleged that:

Between 15 August 2015 and 2 December 2015 while a NZTR Licensed Apprentice Rider, Mr Teeluck did place 15 bets on the NZ TAB “Jockey Challenge” option electronically through his TAB account.

Rule 709 (1) provides:

A rider may not bet or have another person bet on their behalf on a Jockey Challenge

(2) provides:

Any rider making a Jockey Challenge bet is committing a breach of these Rules.

Penalty 803(1) provides:

A person who, or body or other entity which, commits or is deemed to have committed a breach of these rules or any of them for which a penalty is not provided elsewhere in these Rules shall be liable to:

(a) Be disqualified for a period not exceeding 12 months; and/or

(b) Be suspended from holding or obtaining a licence for a period not exceeding 12 months. If a Licence is renewed during a term of suspension, then the suspension shall continue to apply to the renewed licence; and/or

(c) A fine not exceeding $20,000

THE PLEA

Mr Teeluck said that he understood the relevant rules and confirmed that he admitted the charge.

SUMMARY OF FACTS

The respondent Nivesh TEELUCK is a Licenced Class B (Apprentice Jockey) rider under the Rules of New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing. He is 29 years old and commenced his first apprenticeship in Queensland in 2010.

Mr TEELUCK opened a New Zealand TAB account on the 21st June 2015, account #156877.

During March 2016 the RIU betting analyst completed analysis on all licenced riders TAB accounts.

In August 2015 Mr TEELUCK placed three bets on himself via his account using his mobile phone to win the ‘Jockey Challenge’ at Otaki and Wanganui. His investment was $80 for no return.

On the 26th October Mr TEELUCK placed a $10 multi bet, including the ‘Any Other Individual’ option of the Jockey Challenge at Woodville, for which he was one of the riders in this category. The bet was placed via his account using his mobile phone for no return.

Mr TEELUCK was injured in a riding accident on the 31st October and was unable to ride thereafter.

While unable to ride Mr TEELUCK has placed 11 further bets on the ‘Jockey Challenge’ option during November and December. These bets were placed via his account using his mobile phone and totalled $209 for a return of $412.70.

When interviewed on the 09th April Mr TEELUCK admitted to placing the bets via his cellphone. In explanation he stated that he didn’t know you couldn’t bet on yourself in the ‘Jockey Challenge’ and that when he was injured he wasn’t going to return to riding in NZ and therefore bet on the races from home.

Mr TEELUCK has no previous betting offences under the Rules.

Mr Teeluck said that the summary was correct and that he did not wish to make any comment.

PENALTY SUBMISSIONS

1. The respondent Nivesh Teeluck is a Class B Apprentice Jockey employed by licensed trainer Mrs Karen Zimmerman. He is 29 years old and has been involved in the racing industry since 2009.

2. He has admitted to one ‘representative charge’ in breach of Rule 709(1) in relation to placing 15 bets on the NZ TAB ‘Jockey Challenge’ option between August and December 2015.

3. Four of these bets were placed on himself when riding in the ‘Jockey Challenge’ and the remainder were placed on other jockeys when he was not riding due to a significant injury.

4. When interviewed Mr Teeluck stated that he was unaware that he could not bet on himself in the ‘Jockey Challenge’ and that when he was out injured he was betting as he was not planning on returning to race-day riding.

5. It is submitted that a $1500 fine should be imposed.

6. In support of penalty I refer firstly to the only other previous case under this NZTR Rule:

RIU v “JOCKEY C” (02.06.2012) – one bet placed on himself to win the ‘Jockey Challenge.’ $500 fine imposed.

Of note is that when this charge was laid in 2012 jockeys were allowed to bet on themselves in other betting options when riding in races.

7. Even given that a ‘representative charge’ was preferred over 15 individual charges, some weighting in penalty must be given to the number of bets placed and in the two different circumstances – when riding and when not. While not submitting that a cumulative approach should be adopted most other relevant cases have involved a ‘one off’ bet.

8. Other cases which may be of assistance, including those under the different ‘general betting’ Rules include:

RIU v “DRIVER J” (03.03.2013) – one bet placed on himself to win the ‘Driver Challenge.’ $500 fine imposed.

RIU v “DRIVER K” (11.01.2015) – one ‘all up’ bet placed including a horse in one leg that he was driving. $650 fine imposed.

RIU v “DRIVER R” (18.12.2015) – three charges including one for betting on herself in one race she was driving (Charge 3). $750 fine on this charge – cumulative with two more serious charges totalling $3750.

COSTS

9. The RIU are seeking no costs.

MITIGATING FACTORS

10. It is acknowledged that Mr Teeluck has admitted the breach at the first opportunity and has been fully cooperative throughout the process.

11. It is submitted that there were no sinister intentions in relation to the bets placed by Mr Teeluck in that they did not influence how he or others rode in the relevant races. He made no money from the best placed on himself when riding.

12. Mr Teeluck suffered a broken collar bone in a track riding fall on October 31, 2015. For two months he was unable to ride and was essentially unable to work. It is during this time that he placed the majority of bets on the ‘Jockeys Challenge’.

13. Mr Teeluck has no previous charges for betting.

AGGRAVATING FACTORS

14. Rule 709 – ‘No betting on Jockey Challenge’, has been in legislation since October 2009, unlike the rule changes to betting by riders which were amended on the 03rd March 2015 to a complete NZTR sanction.

15. Mr Teeluck commenced his ‘second’ apprenticeship in NZ in 2013, having been initially apprenticed in Queensland in 2009. He should have been well aware of the rules involving betting by riders. As a student of the CD Apprentice School the topic of non-betting by riders has been discussed at length since the new legislation was introduced. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse.

CONCLUSION

16. Given the mitigating and aggravating factors as listed and the overall circumstances considered in this case, I believe that a penalty of a $1500 fine should be imposed.

Mr Irving reiterated that there had been a rule change on 3 March 2015 which prohibited Jockeys from betting. He said that shortly following that date, he had attended the Apprentice School in Palmerston North and had advised all Apprentice Jockeys in attendance of the rule change and that all forms of betting was prohibited.

In answer to a question from the committee, Mr Teeluck said that he was in attendance at the Apprentice School when addressed by Mr Irving on the matters of jockeys betting and understood that jockeys were prohibited from any form of betting following the rule change on 3 March 2015. Mr Teeluck advised that following this meeting he continued to place bets on the TAB. Mr Teeluck said that other than betting on himself, he only bet on other jockeys when he was not riding. For those reasons he believed that a fine of $1500 was too much.

Mrs Fulford advised that she had no comment to make.

REASONS FOR PENALTY

The mitigating factor is that Mr Teeluck admitted the breach. However, the committee saw this as a neutral factor as it would have been a difficult exercise in defending the charge as the evidence was conclusive. It is noted that this was the first breach of the rule by Mr Teeluck. An aggravating factor is that Mr Teeluck placed bets on the NZ TAB subsequent to being advised at the Apprentice School by Mr Irving, that as from 3 March 2015 there was a rule change that prohibited jockeys from all types of betting. Since the rule change there has not been a charge of this nature preferred against any rider. Three previous betting cases were put before the committee, which we had regard to. Previous cases highlighted areas of confusion surrounding the betting rules. However, since 3 March 2015, there cannot be any confusion as the rule prohibits jockeys from betting on NZ Thoroughbred Racing.

There needs to be a deterrent factor in any penalty imposed, in particular a charge of jockeys betting, as this could result in questionable riding tactics being adopted.

Whilst it is not common for a penalty to be greater than that submitted by the prosecution, the committee believed that under the circumstances of the said charge, that an uplift was justified.

Penalty

Mr Teeluck was fined $2000.

There was no order as to costs.

N McCutcheon             N Moffatt

Chair                            Committee Member

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