Oamaru HRC 16 February 2019 – R 2 – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA11804
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 16 February 2019
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2019/02/16
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Close admitted the breach and it is found proved.
Penalty:
We have some sympathy for Mr Close. He has a good record and admitted the breach at the outset. We take a starting point of $200 and give Mr Close credit for his guilty plea, excellent record and the mitigating factors.
Mr Close is fined $125.
Facts:
Mr Close was charged by the Stewards for breaking a driving engagement in race 2 at the meeting the Fasttrack Insurance Mobile Pace. Stewards lodged an information alleging that Mr Close was in breach of r 507 (1) in that he “…failed to arrive on course on time to fulfil his driving engagement on NIGHT LIGHTS which required a late driver change.”
Rule 507 (1) reads:
No horseman shall break an engagement to drive a horse.
Mr Close admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr Wallis stated that when driver engagements for the meeting closed Mr Close was engaged to drive NIGHT LIGHTS. At approximately 11.27am he received a txt message from Mr G Smith saying that they would be late arriving on the course due to heavy traffic, but should be on course by about 12.10pm. Mr Wallis said he replied to the txt message at 11.48am and 11.49am. He had no further communication with Mr Smith or Mr Close despite attempts to phone Mr Smith.
He said when it became clear that Mr Close was not on the course to fulfil his engagement Mr R Holmes accepted the drive. Mr Close arrived on the course just prior to the start of race 2 but the change had already been made.
Mr Close stated he had arranged for transport to the meeting with Mr Smith. They had agreed on a pickup time of 8.50am but Mr Smith arrived about 10 minutes late. He stated Mr Smith stopped in Ashburton to get diesel but there were delays at three petrol stations before they could continue. He said the delays cost them between 20 to 30 minutes. He said Mr Smith attempted to phone Mr Wallis but couldn’t get through.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis stated Mr Close had a clear record under the rule. He said there were some mitigating factors in Mr Close’s favour. However, the connections of NIGHT LIGHTS and the betting public expected a declared driver to be on course on time. He sought a fine of $200.
Mr Close said he had a good record and had never been late to a meeting before. He said he had three drives at the meeting (now two) and any fine would impact on him. He believed a fine of $150 was appropriate.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Wallis sought a fine of $200 but accepted there were some mitigating factors which led to Mr Close being late to the course. However, a new driver had to be engaged at late notice which affected the connections and the betting public. A late pick up, heavy traffic and a long delay to get diesel led to Mr Close arriving on course late, and losing a drive on NIGHT LIGHTS. However, Mr Close accepted the driving engagement and it is incumbent on him to make himself available for that engagement at the required time. Mr Close asked for a fine of $150.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 32598a90d6f2a35cedcf9c64fed745b1
informantnumber: A10857
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breaking a driving engagement
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/02/2019
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 16 February 2019 - R 2 - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
Mr Close was charged by the Stewards for breaking a driving engagement in race 2 at the meeting the Fasttrack Insurance Mobile Pace. Stewards lodged an information alleging that Mr Close was in breach of r 507 (1) in that he “…failed to arrive on course on time to fulfil his driving engagement on NIGHT LIGHTS which required a late driver change.”
Rule 507 (1) reads:
No horseman shall break an engagement to drive a horse.
Mr Close admitted the breach and appeared at the hearing.
Mr Wallis stated that when driver engagements for the meeting closed Mr Close was engaged to drive NIGHT LIGHTS. At approximately 11.27am he received a txt message from Mr G Smith saying that they would be late arriving on the course due to heavy traffic, but should be on course by about 12.10pm. Mr Wallis said he replied to the txt message at 11.48am and 11.49am. He had no further communication with Mr Smith or Mr Close despite attempts to phone Mr Smith.
He said when it became clear that Mr Close was not on the course to fulfil his engagement Mr R Holmes accepted the drive. Mr Close arrived on the course just prior to the start of race 2 but the change had already been made.
Mr Close stated he had arranged for transport to the meeting with Mr Smith. They had agreed on a pickup time of 8.50am but Mr Smith arrived about 10 minutes late. He stated Mr Smith stopped in Ashburton to get diesel but there were delays at three petrol stations before they could continue. He said the delays cost them between 20 to 30 minutes. He said Mr Smith attempted to phone Mr Wallis but couldn’t get through.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Close admitted the breach and it is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis stated Mr Close had a clear record under the rule. He said there were some mitigating factors in Mr Close’s favour. However, the connections of NIGHT LIGHTS and the betting public expected a declared driver to be on course on time. He sought a fine of $200.
Mr Close said he had a good record and had never been late to a meeting before. He said he had three drives at the meeting (now two) and any fine would impact on him. He believed a fine of $150 was appropriate.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis sought a fine of $200 but accepted there were some mitigating factors which led to Mr Close being late to the course. However, a new driver had to be engaged at late notice which affected the connections and the betting public. A late pick up, heavy traffic and a long delay to get diesel led to Mr Close arriving on course late, and losing a drive on NIGHT LIGHTS. However, Mr Close accepted the driving engagement and it is incumbent on him to make himself available for that engagement at the required time. Mr Close asked for a fine of $150.
penalty:
We have some sympathy for Mr Close. He has a good record and admitted the breach at the outset. We take a starting point of $200 and give Mr Close credit for his guilty plea, excellent record and the mitigating factors.
Mr Close is fined $125.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 507 (1)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Close - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a4114f19d30b2eb73d2153b679b9544c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 1effab822523a827e549850062c4bd0c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/02/2019
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 16 February 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PKnowles
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC