Whangarei RC 27 June 2015 – R 11
ID: JCA11896
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Whangarei RC - 27 June 2015
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2015/06/27
Race Number:
R 11
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
Penalty:
We impose a fine of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 11, the Cowleys Hire Centre 1600, Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham filed an Information alleging that trainer D Logan breached Rule 614(2) in that she “omitted a towel when saddling FINNS HALO.
Rule 614(2) provides:
(2) A person must not be neglectful or careless in saddling a horse.
Mr Oatham submitted that 4th placed FINNS HALO weighed in at the conclusion of race 11 under its carded weight of 59 kilo’s and was in excess of the 0.5kg allowance as provided for by Rule 648(3). Mr Oatham said this matter was identified at weigh in by the Clerk of the Scales and an investigation was immediately launched by Stewards. He said the amount underweight was slight at 0.55kg, but nevertheless outside the parameters allowed within the rule. The investigation concluded that a towel had omitted to be included when saddling FINNS HALO. As a result FINNS HALO was disqualified from 4th place following a hearing before this Committee pursuant to Rule 918 (1) (Request for Ruling).
Ms Logan was present at the earlier hearing and reiterated her previous submissions. She said the omission was as a result of an oversight by a stable employee. She expressed sincere and genuine remorse but accepted that it was her responsibility. She told the Committee that her stable presented 19 horses to race on this day and 3 in the last race. She said that she has saddled 100’s of runners and had never breached this rule. Ms Logan said the stable had sound processes and procedures in place and this breach was an uncharacteristic ‘one off’.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham submitted Ms Logan has a clear history under this rule and has presented many horses to the races. He said the breach was for unfortunate for all concerned including the connections who were denied the $875 4th pace stake money, and punters who included FINNS HALO in their First 4 betting combinations. Mr Oatham said that in the past there has been a variety of penalties handed out for breaches involving neglect or carelessness when saddling a horse to race. He referred the Committee to 4 cases which have attracted fines ranging from $350 and $1000. He submitted in this case a mid-range fine, $400 to $500, would be an appropriate penalty.
Ms Logan submitted that a $400 fine would be better than $500 and left it to the Committee to determine.
Reasons for Penalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered recent penalties for similar breaches of this particular rule. The revised JCA Penalty Guidelines which came into effect on 1 May 2015 provide a starting point for a breach of this rule at $750 with some variation allowed for the nature of the breach – for example when there are consequences for the betting public, otherwise the starting point for omitting a towel is $300.
The Committee acknowledges Ms Logan’s clear record, her admission of the breach and her genuine remorse. Ms Logan presented 19 runners at the meeting and 3 in the last race. We accept that she was reliant on previously satisfactory systems and processes and this breach does appear to have been the result of an error on the part on an employee rather that a systems fault. These are mitigating factors in Ms Logan’s favour.
The Committee has taken into account the aggravating factors including consequences for the betting public and connections as a result of FINNS HALO disqualification.
Having taken all matters into consideration we feel that this matter should be dealt with by way of fine.
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: 2aaa2a4820ab66de5b17d76b664eb84c
informantnumber: A6910
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: neglectful or careless in saddling a horse
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 28/06/2015
hearing_title: Whangarei RC 27 June 2015 - R 11
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 11, the Cowleys Hire Centre 1600, Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham filed an Information alleging that trainer D Logan breached Rule 614(2) in that she “omitted a towel when saddling FINNS HALO.
Rule 614(2) provides:
(2) A person must not be neglectful or careless in saddling a horse.
Mr Oatham submitted that 4th placed FINNS HALO weighed in at the conclusion of race 11 under its carded weight of 59 kilo’s and was in excess of the 0.5kg allowance as provided for by Rule 648(3). Mr Oatham said this matter was identified at weigh in by the Clerk of the Scales and an investigation was immediately launched by Stewards. He said the amount underweight was slight at 0.55kg, but nevertheless outside the parameters allowed within the rule. The investigation concluded that a towel had omitted to be included when saddling FINNS HALO. As a result FINNS HALO was disqualified from 4th place following a hearing before this Committee pursuant to Rule 918 (1) (Request for Ruling).
Ms Logan was present at the earlier hearing and reiterated her previous submissions. She said the omission was as a result of an oversight by a stable employee. She expressed sincere and genuine remorse but accepted that it was her responsibility. She told the Committee that her stable presented 19 horses to race on this day and 3 in the last race. She said that she has saddled 100’s of runners and had never breached this rule. Ms Logan said the stable had sound processes and procedures in place and this breach was an uncharacteristic ‘one off’.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham submitted Ms Logan has a clear history under this rule and has presented many horses to the races. He said the breach was for unfortunate for all concerned including the connections who were denied the $875 4th pace stake money, and punters who included FINNS HALO in their First 4 betting combinations. Mr Oatham said that in the past there has been a variety of penalties handed out for breaches involving neglect or carelessness when saddling a horse to race. He referred the Committee to 4 cases which have attracted fines ranging from $350 and $1000. He submitted in this case a mid-range fine, $400 to $500, would be an appropriate penalty.
Ms Logan submitted that a $400 fine would be better than $500 and left it to the Committee to determine.
reasonsforpenalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered recent penalties for similar breaches of this particular rule. The revised JCA Penalty Guidelines which came into effect on 1 May 2015 provide a starting point for a breach of this rule at $750 with some variation allowed for the nature of the breach – for example when there are consequences for the betting public, otherwise the starting point for omitting a towel is $300.
The Committee acknowledges Ms Logan’s clear record, her admission of the breach and her genuine remorse. Ms Logan presented 19 runners at the meeting and 3 in the last race. We accept that she was reliant on previously satisfactory systems and processes and this breach does appear to have been the result of an error on the part on an employee rather that a systems fault. These are mitigating factors in Ms Logan’s favour.
The Committee has taken into account the aggravating factors including consequences for the betting public and connections as a result of FINNS HALO disqualification.
Having taken all matters into consideration we feel that this matter should be dealt with by way of fine.
penalty:
We impose a fine of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 614 (2)
Informant: Mr J Oatham – Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms D Logan – Licensed Trainer of FINNS HALO
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 19b71772588b98e1d4ce1e4c12832f5e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 11
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 11e24e3d50ae95e30a17834ab2d8b56b
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/06/2015
meet_title: Whangarei RC - 27 June 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "GJones", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "312", "Total": "193.44", "kmprice": 193.44, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: whangarei-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Whangarei RC