Rangiora HRC 5 May 2019 – R 5 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA11762
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 5 May 2019
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
OJarvis
Race Date:
2019/05/05
Race Number:
5
Decision:
Mr Sheenan having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Sheenan’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 5 May up to and including 2 June next. In addition, Mr Sheenan is fined the sum of $150.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, NZ Amateur Drivers’ Championship 26th May Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mrs C M Tibbs, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr J C Sheenan, alleging that Mr Sheenan, as the driver of DIE STANDING in the race, “drove in a manner likely to cause interference when attempting to shift PERAKI REACTOR (S J Ottley) down the track when not entitled to do so”.
Mr Sheenan had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing and he confirmed that the breach was admitted.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress
Mrs Tibbs showed video replays of the relevant part of the race, approaching the 800 metres. At that point, Mr Sheenan, driving DIE STANDING, was racing three places back in the one-out line with Ms Ottley, driving PERAKI REACTOR, on his inside. Mrs Tibbs showed that Ms Ottley had an advantage over Mr Sheenan and was able to, and did, ease Mr Sheenan out as there was no other runner to Mr Sheenan’s outside. Ms Ottley had become established on the back of KWIK SPORT (B A Zampese) in the one-out line. Mr Sheenan attempted to force Ms Ottley back down, and the wheels of the two runners were locked for a brief period. Although Ms Ottley was entitled to ease Mr Sheenan out, she was inconvenienced by Mr Sheenan resisting the move.
Mr Sheenan declined the opportunity to make any submission in relation to the incident.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mrs Tibbs referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 6-drives suspension or a fine of $300. Mr Sheenan had a clear record, she said. He has had two drives this season, last season he had two drives and, in the 2016/2017 season, Mr Sheenan had 18 drives, Mrs Tibbs said. The breach was in the mid-to-high range, Mrs Tibbs submitted. Stewards were seeking a 6-drives suspension, Mrs Tibbs said, but Stewards would not oppose a combined penalty.
Mr Sheenan asked that the Committee consider a suspension, as he could not afford to pay a fine. When asked by the Committee, Mr Sheenan said that DIE STANDING is the only horse that he has in work and racing at the present time. In the next few weeks, it would be racing anywhere that it could get a start, he said.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of Rule 869 (4) is a 6-drives suspension or a $300 fine. The fact that Mr Sheenan has had very few drives in recent time and, he told us, he is not in a position to pay a fine made the penalty exercise a difficult one, which the Committee decided to resolve by way of a combined penalty.
The Committee assessed the breach as being mid-to-high and, on that basis, uplifted the starting point to an 8-drives suspension.
Mitigating factors are Mr Sheenan’s admission of the breach and his previous good record under the Rule, albeit from a limited number of drives. For these factors, we give him a discount of 2 drives from the adjusted starting point of 8 drives.
In the circumstances, the Committee decided that the matter of penalty can be best dealt with by a combined penalty. We noted that today’s race was DIE STANDING’s third start in the last 3 weeks, this fact adding weight to Mr Sheenan’s submission that the horse will continue to race over coming weeks wherever it can obtain a start.
It is likely that DIE STANDING would have had, say, three starts in the next four weeks and we have calculated the period of suspension on that basis – that is to say, three drives. For the other three drives, we substitute a fine of $150.
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: 250a65d6a1cc08b11a4c0f7eadab3aac
informantnumber: A11210
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Driving Likely to Cause Interference
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 09/05/2019
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 5 May 2019 - R 5 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, NZ Amateur Drivers’ Championship 26th May Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mrs C M Tibbs, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr J C Sheenan, alleging that Mr Sheenan, as the driver of DIE STANDING in the race, “drove in a manner likely to cause interference when attempting to shift PERAKI REACTOR (S J Ottley) down the track when not entitled to do so”.
Mr Sheenan had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing and he confirmed that the breach was admitted.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress
Mrs Tibbs showed video replays of the relevant part of the race, approaching the 800 metres. At that point, Mr Sheenan, driving DIE STANDING, was racing three places back in the one-out line with Ms Ottley, driving PERAKI REACTOR, on his inside. Mrs Tibbs showed that Ms Ottley had an advantage over Mr Sheenan and was able to, and did, ease Mr Sheenan out as there was no other runner to Mr Sheenan’s outside. Ms Ottley had become established on the back of KWIK SPORT (B A Zampese) in the one-out line. Mr Sheenan attempted to force Ms Ottley back down, and the wheels of the two runners were locked for a brief period. Although Ms Ottley was entitled to ease Mr Sheenan out, she was inconvenienced by Mr Sheenan resisting the move.
Mr Sheenan declined the opportunity to make any submission in relation to the incident.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Sheenan having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mrs Tibbs referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 6-drives suspension or a fine of $300. Mr Sheenan had a clear record, she said. He has had two drives this season, last season he had two drives and, in the 2016/2017 season, Mr Sheenan had 18 drives, Mrs Tibbs said. The breach was in the mid-to-high range, Mrs Tibbs submitted. Stewards were seeking a 6-drives suspension, Mrs Tibbs said, but Stewards would not oppose a combined penalty.
Mr Sheenan asked that the Committee consider a suspension, as he could not afford to pay a fine. When asked by the Committee, Mr Sheenan said that DIE STANDING is the only horse that he has in work and racing at the present time. In the next few weeks, it would be racing anywhere that it could get a start, he said.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of Rule 869 (4) is a 6-drives suspension or a $300 fine. The fact that Mr Sheenan has had very few drives in recent time and, he told us, he is not in a position to pay a fine made the penalty exercise a difficult one, which the Committee decided to resolve by way of a combined penalty.
The Committee assessed the breach as being mid-to-high and, on that basis, uplifted the starting point to an 8-drives suspension.
Mitigating factors are Mr Sheenan’s admission of the breach and his previous good record under the Rule, albeit from a limited number of drives. For these factors, we give him a discount of 2 drives from the adjusted starting point of 8 drives.
In the circumstances, the Committee decided that the matter of penalty can be best dealt with by a combined penalty. We noted that today’s race was DIE STANDING’s third start in the last 3 weeks, this fact adding weight to Mr Sheenan’s submission that the horse will continue to race over coming weeks wherever it can obtain a start.
It is likely that DIE STANDING would have had, say, three starts in the next four weeks and we have calculated the period of suspension on that basis – that is to say, three drives. For the other three drives, we substitute a fine of $150.
penalty:
Mr Sheenan’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 5 May up to and including 2 June next. In addition, Mr Sheenan is fined the sum of $150.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(4)
Informant: C M Tibbs, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J C Sheenan, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7c1fc2b6366099296d836a83bccd1913
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race_emailed2: 0
race_title: 5
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meetid: 4290b661e478ff3d7938a473fe0f5fe2
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meetdate: 05/05/2019
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 5 May 2019
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: OJarvis
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name: Rangiora HRC