HR Waikato 31 October 2013 – R 4
ID: JCA12591
Meet Title:
Cambridge HRC - 31 October 2013
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2013/10/31
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4 THE FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE FILLIES/MARES MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Licensed Open Horsemen Mr P Ferguson alleging that Mr Ferguson failed to maintain as straight a course as possible parallel to the running line with IDEAL PARTY and not allowing JAZZ LOVER (Driver P Butcher) full access to the expanded inside lane. Mr Ferguson was present and advised the Committee that he was not prepared to enter a plea. The Committee on Mr Ferguson’s behalf then recorded that Mr Ferguson did not admit the breach.
Rule 869(4) provides:
"No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with any other horse or its progress”.
Mr Ferguson consented to the evidence given at the earlier protest hearing being relied upon as evidence at this hearing. Mr Ferguson also advised the Committee that he did not wish to view the race films again.
Mr Ferguson then began to make submissions as to penalty and the Committee recorded that Mr Ferguson now admitted the breach.
Submissions for Decision:
Reasons for Decision:
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines and also to the fact that the actions of Mr Ferguson had caused his horse to be relegated. He referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a penalty of suspension of Licence for 8 drives or a $400 fine.
He said that Mr Ferguson was a very busy horseman and that he had 468 drives in the last season. He also said that Mr Ferguson had one other charge in the last twelve months under Rule 869 but it was under a different section of that Rule. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Ferguson should be given credit for a very good record and he submitted that a fine in the order of $300 was appropriate.
Mr Ferguson for his part said again that he did not realise at the time that he was driving the lead horse in the running line and he said that Mr Herlihy’s horse had not helped him in that regard. He also said that Mr Butcher had given evidence to the effect that his chances may or may not have been affected.
Mr Ferguson said that he should be given credit for his good record and he believed that a fine in the order of $200 was appropriate.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has considered all of the evidence put before it both in the protest hearing and in this hearing. The Committee accepts that Mr Ferguson may not have realised that he was driving the lead horse in the running line. There is a message for other horseman in this situation in that if the horse in front runs wide as Mr Herlihy’s horse did, then the trailing horse generally will become the lead horse in the running line. Horseman are required to be familiar with not only the Rules but also the Regulations and the Passing Lane Regulations particularly Clauses 4,6 & 7 which are quite specific and there is a requirement on drivers to keep as straight a course as possible in the home straight.
The Committee is aware that Mr Ferguson is a very busy horseman and he does have a good record and is given credit for that. The Committee assessed Mr Ferguson’s actions as being in the mid range of seriousness although there was the aggravating factor that Mr Butcher’s horse was denied a fair chance to the Passing Lane and this resulted in Mr Ferguson’s horse being relegated. Taking all the factors into account the Committee has decided that an appropriate penalty is a fine of $250.
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: 3bbc267b0302dd9836fea242a01f378a
informantnumber: A3957
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rule 869(4) – Driving in a manner interfering with the progress of another horse
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/11/2013
hearing_title: HR Waikato 31 October 2013 - R 4
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4 THE FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE FILLIES/MARES MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Licensed Open Horsemen Mr P Ferguson alleging that Mr Ferguson failed to maintain as straight a course as possible parallel to the running line with IDEAL PARTY and not allowing JAZZ LOVER (Driver P Butcher) full access to the expanded inside lane. Mr Ferguson was present and advised the Committee that he was not prepared to enter a plea. The Committee on Mr Ferguson’s behalf then recorded that Mr Ferguson did not admit the breach.
Rule 869(4) provides:
"No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with any other horse or its progress”.
Mr Ferguson consented to the evidence given at the earlier protest hearing being relied upon as evidence at this hearing. Mr Ferguson also advised the Committee that he did not wish to view the race films again.
Mr Ferguson then began to make submissions as to penalty and the Committee recorded that Mr Ferguson now admitted the breach.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines and also to the fact that the actions of Mr Ferguson had caused his horse to be relegated. He referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a penalty of suspension of Licence for 8 drives or a $400 fine.
He said that Mr Ferguson was a very busy horseman and that he had 468 drives in the last season. He also said that Mr Ferguson had one other charge in the last twelve months under Rule 869 but it was under a different section of that Rule. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Ferguson should be given credit for a very good record and he submitted that a fine in the order of $300 was appropriate.
Mr Ferguson for his part said again that he did not realise at the time that he was driving the lead horse in the running line and he said that Mr Herlihy’s horse had not helped him in that regard. He also said that Mr Butcher had given evidence to the effect that his chances may or may not have been affected.
Mr Ferguson said that he should be given credit for his good record and he believed that a fine in the order of $200 was appropriate.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has considered all of the evidence put before it both in the protest hearing and in this hearing. The Committee accepts that Mr Ferguson may not have realised that he was driving the lead horse in the running line. There is a message for other horseman in this situation in that if the horse in front runs wide as Mr Herlihy’s horse did, then the trailing horse generally will become the lead horse in the running line. Horseman are required to be familiar with not only the Rules but also the Regulations and the Passing Lane Regulations particularly Clauses 4,6 & 7 which are quite specific and there is a requirement on drivers to keep as straight a course as possible in the home straight.
The Committee is aware that Mr Ferguson is a very busy horseman and he does have a good record and is given credit for that. The Committee assessed Mr Ferguson’s actions as being in the mid range of seriousness although there was the aggravating factor that Mr Butcher’s horse was denied a fair chance to the Passing Lane and this resulted in Mr Ferguson’s horse being relegated. Taking all the factors into account the Committee has decided that an appropriate penalty is a fine of $250.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(4), Passing Lane and Home Straight Regulation Clauses 4 & 7
Informant: Mr JM Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr P Ferguson - Driver of IDEAL PARTY
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0147f081ae5dfc04b3de9709d1faa382
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 25d0198ffd02b8b1ece29ecfa05d5623
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/10/2013
meet_title: Cambridge HRC - 31 October 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: cambridge-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Cambridge HRC