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NZ Metro TC – 1 April 2011 – R 7

ID: JCA11848

Applicant:
Mr J. M. Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr N. P. Williamson - Open Horseman

Information Number:
69030

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
869(3)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 1 April 2011

Meet Chair:
JPhelan

Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 2:
BRowe

Race Date:
2011/04/01

Race Number:
R1

Decision:

The charge was found to be proved.

Penalty:

On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our reasons and that Mr Williamson was fined the sum of $400.

Charge:

Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b)

Facts:

Following the running of Race 7, the New Zealand Herald – Inter Dominion Trotters (Heat 4), an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J. M. Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr N. P. Williamson, the driver of “Springbank Richard” (2), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly.
 
 
The charge reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that horseman N. Williamson drove SRINGBANK RICHARD carelessly allowing his horse to shift inwards and tightening LEYTON H (D. Butcher) and IMA GOLD DIGGER (T. Mitchell) over the latter stages of the run home.”
 
Rules 869(3)(b) reads as follows,
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-  (b) carelessly.”
 
Mr Williamson had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Williamson also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.

Submissions for Decision:

Chief Stipendiary Mr C. George represented the Stipendiary Stewards at this hearing, and he gave evidence and used video coverage to show that late in the run home Mr Williamson allowed his horse to shift inwards. Mr Williamson did not stop driving his horse and crowded two horses on his inside.

Mr Williamson said that he had come from behind the horses he interfered with, and that he was going faster than them. Mr Williamson accepted that he did crowd the two horses as alleged.

Reasons for Decision:

As Mr Williamson had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).

Submissions for Penalty:

In relation to penalty Mr George advised that Mr Williamson had no relevant previous convictions. It was Mr George’s submission that the breach was at the higher end of the scale of seriousness, and that the status of the race also needed to be taken into account. Mr George submitted that taking these matters into consideration a fine in the vicinity of $600 would be appropriate. It was established that the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point for a breach of this Rule as being a fine of $600.

Mr Williamson made submissions and said he didn’t believe he had cost any other horse a higher placing, and that he didn’t agree that the breach was at the higher end of the scale.

We adjourned to consider the matter of penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

In considering the matter of an appropriate penalty we took into account, to Mr Williamson’s credit, that he had admitted the breach and also that he had no previous relevant convictions. On the other hand we also took into account that this race was a $30,000 Listed Race.
 
We disagreed with Mr George that the breach was at the high end of the scale, and assessed it as being mid-range.  On looking at penalties imposed in similar circumstances we decided that a fine of $400 would be appropriate in this case.

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: 334ddd6c0387f4b479b303b85104548d

informantnumber: 69030

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea: admitted

penaltyrequired: 1

decisiondate: 24/02/2011

hearing_title: NZ Metro TC - 1 April 2011 - R 7

charge:

Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b)

facts:

Following the running of Race 7, the New Zealand Herald – Inter Dominion Trotters (Heat 4), an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J. M. Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr N. P. Williamson, the driver of “Springbank Richard” (2), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly.
 
 
The charge reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that horseman N. Williamson drove SRINGBANK RICHARD carelessly allowing his horse to shift inwards and tightening LEYTON H (D. Butcher) and IMA GOLD DIGGER (T. Mitchell) over the latter stages of the run home.”
 
Rules 869(3)(b) reads as follows,
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-  (b) carelessly.”
 
Mr Williamson had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Williamson also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

Chief Stipendiary Mr C. George represented the Stipendiary Stewards at this hearing, and he gave evidence and used video coverage to show that late in the run home Mr Williamson allowed his horse to shift inwards. Mr Williamson did not stop driving his horse and crowded two horses on his inside.

Mr Williamson said that he had come from behind the horses he interfered with, and that he was going faster than them. Mr Williamson accepted that he did crowd the two horses as alleged.

reasonsfordecision:

As Mr Williamson had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).

Decision:

The charge was found to be proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

In relation to penalty Mr George advised that Mr Williamson had no relevant previous convictions. It was Mr George’s submission that the breach was at the higher end of the scale of seriousness, and that the status of the race also needed to be taken into account. Mr George submitted that taking these matters into consideration a fine in the vicinity of $600 would be appropriate. It was established that the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point for a breach of this Rule as being a fine of $600.

Mr Williamson made submissions and said he didn’t believe he had cost any other horse a higher placing, and that he didn’t agree that the breach was at the higher end of the scale.

We adjourned to consider the matter of penalty.

reasonsforpenalty:

In considering the matter of an appropriate penalty we took into account, to Mr Williamson’s credit, that he had admitted the breach and also that he had no previous relevant convictions. On the other hand we also took into account that this race was a $30,000 Listed Race.
 
We disagreed with Mr George that the breach was at the high end of the scale, and assessed it as being mid-range.  On looking at penalties imposed in similar circumstances we decided that a fine of $400 would be appropriate in this case.

penalty:

On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our reasons and that Mr Williamson was fined the sum of $400.

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 869(3)(b)

Informant: Mr J. M. Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: Mr N. P. Williamson - Open Horseman

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: 26ef9484397c4ee657deac7ca32893e3

race_expapproval:

racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

race_emailed2: 0

race_title: R1

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid: b944e0aa65fa7854f61547a46d3bf524

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 01/04/2011

meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 1 April 2011

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: nz-metro-tc

meet_racingtype: harness-racing

meet_chair: JPhelan

meet_pm1: RMcKenzie

meet_pm2: BRowe

name: NZ Metro TC