HR Waikato 7 May 2015 – R 1
ID: JCA12063
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 7 May 2015
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2015/05/07
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Cronin has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $250 on Mr Cronin.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, FANCY A DRIVE IN A DUAL SULKY AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay. He alleged that Licensed Amateur Driver Mr G Cronin had breached Rules 869 (3) (b) and 869 (7A) (a) and (b). The Information stated that Mr Cronin drove LOLA JONES carelessly improving inside MISS LARA (J Darby) where there was insufficient room striking track pylons and allowing his sulky to protrude inside the marker line throughout the run home.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides ' No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'
Rule 869(7A)(a) provides ' Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that contact is not made with any track marker'
Rule 869(7A)(b) provides 'Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line'
Mr Cronin was present at the hearing and was assisted by Horseman Mr J Abernethy. Mr Cronin acknowledged that he understood the Rules, and that he admitted each of the breaches.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified LOLA JONES as the field approached the entrance to the home straight. The horse was 3 deep on the rails and appeared to be travelling well. It was clear from the films that Mr Cronin committed LOLA JONES to a run on the inside of the horse in front of him, MISS LARA, driven by Mr J Darby. MISS LARA had the trailing position and therefore had first call on the passing lane when it became available. As LOLA JONES attempted to improve on the inside of MISS LARA, Mr Darby directed that horse inwards towards the passing lane, forcing LOLA JONES to shift inwards and make contact with and run over marker pegs. Mr Mulcay stated that it was to Mr Cronin's credit that he had taken a hold off the horse and restrained it until the finish.
Mr Cronin told the Committee that he was a competitive type of person. He stated that the incident had been an error of judgement on his part, and that he had made a quick decision to head for the passing lane. He said he had put his horse's head inside the horse ahead of him which resulted in his horse being forced over the markers. He said that when he realised he had struck a marker he restrained his horse immediately.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay told the Committee that Mr Cronin was an inexperienced driver who had only had about 6 raceday drives. He had no prior breaches prior to this incident. He added that it was to his credit that he had admitted the breaches and that he had restrained his horse to prevent any chances of further breaches occurring.
Mr Mulcay added that this incident fell into the low-mid range on the level of carelessness. In respect of the other breach, he said that the stewards believed that when LOLA JONES went over the markers it was mid range on the scale.
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide, which shows the updated penalty for a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) to be a suspension for 10 drives or a fine of $500. In respect of the breaches of Rule 869 (7A), subclause (a) had a starting point of a 2 drive suspension or a fine of $100, while subclause (b) had a starting point of a 4 drive suspension or a $200 fine.
Mr Mulcay stated that the Stewards believed these breaches, since they were not particularly serious and had caused little or no effect on any other horse, could be dealt with by way of a single fine. He submitted that such fine be in the vicinity of $250.
For his part, Mr Cronin said that as he was employed only on a part-time basis and had little cash available he would prefer a term of suspension as a penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took account of all of the submissions and viewed the films of the incident. We agreed with Mr Mulcay that these incidents fell into the low-mid range on the scale. We took into account Mr Cronin's admission of the breach and accept that as an amateur he has had little experience for which we have given credit in assessing an appropriate penalty. Balanced against those factors, we are concerned that as a result of Mr Cronin's actions the betting public lost any chance of a return. It appeared that the horse he drove was travelling well at the time and it was fair to say he cost it any chance of finishing in a dividend bearing position.
In determining an appropriate penalty we felt that a fine would be an appropriate penalty as Mr Cronin's opportunity to drive in any forthcoming amateur driver races was quite limited.
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: 2c5cbf10408a1ac294bb6eec7bb2a10e
informantnumber: A3667
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving, contacting marker, protruding wheel inside marker
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/05/2015
hearing_title: HR Waikato 7 May 2015 - R 1
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, FANCY A DRIVE IN A DUAL SULKY AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Mulcay. He alleged that Licensed Amateur Driver Mr G Cronin had breached Rules 869 (3) (b) and 869 (7A) (a) and (b). The Information stated that Mr Cronin drove LOLA JONES carelessly improving inside MISS LARA (J Darby) where there was insufficient room striking track pylons and allowing his sulky to protrude inside the marker line throughout the run home.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides ' No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'
Rule 869(7A)(a) provides ' Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that contact is not made with any track marker'
Rule 869(7A)(b) provides 'Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line'
Mr Cronin was present at the hearing and was assisted by Horseman Mr J Abernethy. Mr Cronin acknowledged that he understood the Rules, and that he admitted each of the breaches.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified LOLA JONES as the field approached the entrance to the home straight. The horse was 3 deep on the rails and appeared to be travelling well. It was clear from the films that Mr Cronin committed LOLA JONES to a run on the inside of the horse in front of him, MISS LARA, driven by Mr J Darby. MISS LARA had the trailing position and therefore had first call on the passing lane when it became available. As LOLA JONES attempted to improve on the inside of MISS LARA, Mr Darby directed that horse inwards towards the passing lane, forcing LOLA JONES to shift inwards and make contact with and run over marker pegs. Mr Mulcay stated that it was to Mr Cronin's credit that he had taken a hold off the horse and restrained it until the finish.
Mr Cronin told the Committee that he was a competitive type of person. He stated that the incident had been an error of judgement on his part, and that he had made a quick decision to head for the passing lane. He said he had put his horse's head inside the horse ahead of him which resulted in his horse being forced over the markers. He said that when he realised he had struck a marker he restrained his horse immediately.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Cronin has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay told the Committee that Mr Cronin was an inexperienced driver who had only had about 6 raceday drives. He had no prior breaches prior to this incident. He added that it was to his credit that he had admitted the breaches and that he had restrained his horse to prevent any chances of further breaches occurring.
Mr Mulcay added that this incident fell into the low-mid range on the level of carelessness. In respect of the other breach, he said that the stewards believed that when LOLA JONES went over the markers it was mid range on the scale.
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide, which shows the updated penalty for a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) to be a suspension for 10 drives or a fine of $500. In respect of the breaches of Rule 869 (7A), subclause (a) had a starting point of a 2 drive suspension or a fine of $100, while subclause (b) had a starting point of a 4 drive suspension or a $200 fine.
Mr Mulcay stated that the Stewards believed these breaches, since they were not particularly serious and had caused little or no effect on any other horse, could be dealt with by way of a single fine. He submitted that such fine be in the vicinity of $250.
For his part, Mr Cronin said that as he was employed only on a part-time basis and had little cash available he would prefer a term of suspension as a penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took account of all of the submissions and viewed the films of the incident. We agreed with Mr Mulcay that these incidents fell into the low-mid range on the scale. We took into account Mr Cronin's admission of the breach and accept that as an amateur he has had little experience for which we have given credit in assessing an appropriate penalty. Balanced against those factors, we are concerned that as a result of Mr Cronin's actions the betting public lost any chance of a return. It appeared that the horse he drove was travelling well at the time and it was fair to say he cost it any chance of finishing in a dividend bearing position.
In determining an appropriate penalty we felt that a fine would be an appropriate penalty as Mr Cronin's opportunity to drive in any forthcoming amateur driver races was quite limited.
penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $250 on Mr Cronin.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(7A) (a) & (b), and/or Rule 869 (3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Cronin, Amateur Horseman
Otherperson: Mr J Abernethy, Horseman assisting Mr Cronin, Mr J Muirhead, Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a628f5ffedd23dbdd3b4a97a5148c795
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
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meetid: 0d0ca742911776405b8f3d9c6ca703a6
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meetdate: 07/05/2015
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 7 May 2015
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato