Back to decisions search

Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

Levin RC 28 July 2018 – R6 – Chair, Mr P Williams

ID: JCA12643

Applicant:
Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey

Information Number:
A8845

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Failing to ride out to finish

Rules:
636(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Levin RC - 28 July 2018

Meet Chair:
PWilliams

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon

Race Date:
2018/07/28

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

As Mr Johnson admitted the breach and the Committee finds the charge proved.

Penalty:

Mr Johnson is fined $300.

Facts:

Following the running of race 6, the “Creative Catering Handicap”, Information A8845 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Goodwin under Rule 636(1)(d). The Information stated “in that C Johnson did not ride his mount fully to the finish when able to do so”.

Rule 636 (1) (d) states “A person…..being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must ride his horse out to the end of the Race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared”.

At the beginning of the hearing Mr Johnson confirmed he understood the Rule under which he was charged and also that he admitted the breach of the Rule.

Mr Goodwin, using the side-on film from approximately the 300m mark, identified Mr Johnson racing towards the rear of the field and the widest runner on the track. He said the Stewards had no issues with Mr Johnson’s ride for the majority of the run to the line as he was riding with vigour. Mr Goodwin said as the Mr Johnson approached the 50m mark he was running in 6th position and could then be seen to stop riding with vigour some 4-5 strides from the finish. He said Mr Johnson, whilst never ahead of the 5th horse, was finishing well and making up considerable ground and there was a reasonable chance that, if he had ridden his mount out to the line, he probably would have finished in 5th position. He confirmed to the Committee the distance between 5th and 6th was half a head.

Mr Johnson said he thought he had “pushed all the way” during the race and it was only when he was shown the film of the finish after weighing in that he realised he had relaxed his ride – he thought for 3-4 strides. He added he wasn’t sure if he would have beaten the 5th horse anyway as he felt his mount was flat out over the concluding stages of the race.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson had previously breached the Rule on 29 April 2018 at Blenheim when he failed to ride out over the final one and a half to two strides and was beaten for 2nd and suspended for three weeks. He said the breach today was nowhere near as serious as that previous breach but the connections of the horse had missed out on stake money of $565. He submitted the Stewards believed a fine was an appropriate penalty on this occasion.

Mr Johnson had no submissions to make on penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has reviewed the films of the final 300m of the race and agrees Mr Johnson was riding with vigour all the way down the home straight until 4-5 strides from the finish when he relaxed his ride. Whilst he was never ahead of the horse that finished 5th the Committee agrees that, had Mr Johnson ridden with vigour right to the finish of the race, there was a reasonable chance he would have finished ahead of the 5th placed horse. We accept this was an error of judgment, but it did cost the connections of his horse $565 in stake money. The Rule, however, is quite clear and there is a requirement on all riders to ensure they ride out to the finish of the race if there is a reasonable chance of them running into a position for which, in this case today, there is prize money to be awarded.

The Committee notes that Mr Johnson has admitted the breach as soon as he was shown the film and whilst the connections of the horse were denied stake money, the betting public were not impacted because Mr Johnson was never going to finish better than in 5th position.

The JCA’s Penalty Guide states the starting point for a breach of this Rule when 5th place has been lost is a fine of $300. Whilst noting Mr Johnson’s previous breach of this Rule we believe on this occasion, having taken into account all of the above factors, that a fine is an appropriate penalty.

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: 4308c3b80d70cc6e7697e077608de66b

informantnumber: A8845

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge: Failing to ride out to finish

plea: admitted

penaltyrequired: 1

decisiondate: 29/07/2018

hearing_title: Levin RC 28 July 2018 - R6 - Chair, Mr P Williams

charge:

facts:

Following the running of race 6, the “Creative Catering Handicap”, Information A8845 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Goodwin under Rule 636(1)(d). The Information stated “in that C Johnson did not ride his mount fully to the finish when able to do so”.

Rule 636 (1) (d) states “A person…..being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must ride his horse out to the end of the Race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared”.

At the beginning of the hearing Mr Johnson confirmed he understood the Rule under which he was charged and also that he admitted the breach of the Rule.

Mr Goodwin, using the side-on film from approximately the 300m mark, identified Mr Johnson racing towards the rear of the field and the widest runner on the track. He said the Stewards had no issues with Mr Johnson’s ride for the majority of the run to the line as he was riding with vigour. Mr Goodwin said as the Mr Johnson approached the 50m mark he was running in 6th position and could then be seen to stop riding with vigour some 4-5 strides from the finish. He said Mr Johnson, whilst never ahead of the 5th horse, was finishing well and making up considerable ground and there was a reasonable chance that, if he had ridden his mount out to the line, he probably would have finished in 5th position. He confirmed to the Committee the distance between 5th and 6th was half a head.

Mr Johnson said he thought he had “pushed all the way” during the race and it was only when he was shown the film of the finish after weighing in that he realised he had relaxed his ride – he thought for 3-4 strides. He added he wasn’t sure if he would have beaten the 5th horse anyway as he felt his mount was flat out over the concluding stages of the race.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

As Mr Johnson admitted the breach and the Committee finds the charge proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson had previously breached the Rule on 29 April 2018 at Blenheim when he failed to ride out over the final one and a half to two strides and was beaten for 2nd and suspended for three weeks. He said the breach today was nowhere near as serious as that previous breach but the connections of the horse had missed out on stake money of $565. He submitted the Stewards believed a fine was an appropriate penalty on this occasion.

Mr Johnson had no submissions to make on penalty.

reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has reviewed the films of the final 300m of the race and agrees Mr Johnson was riding with vigour all the way down the home straight until 4-5 strides from the finish when he relaxed his ride. Whilst he was never ahead of the horse that finished 5th the Committee agrees that, had Mr Johnson ridden with vigour right to the finish of the race, there was a reasonable chance he would have finished ahead of the 5th placed horse. We accept this was an error of judgment, but it did cost the connections of his horse $565 in stake money. The Rule, however, is quite clear and there is a requirement on all riders to ensure they ride out to the finish of the race if there is a reasonable chance of them running into a position for which, in this case today, there is prize money to be awarded.

The Committee notes that Mr Johnson has admitted the breach as soon as he was shown the film and whilst the connections of the horse were denied stake money, the betting public were not impacted because Mr Johnson was never going to finish better than in 5th position.

The JCA’s Penalty Guide states the starting point for a breach of this Rule when 5th place has been lost is a fine of $300. Whilst noting Mr Johnson’s previous breach of this Rule we believe on this occasion, having taken into account all of the above factors, that a fine is an appropriate penalty.

penalty:

Mr Johnson is fined $300.

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 636(1)(d)

Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: 989b6e253f83a00c24eac88756aeb589

race_expapproval:

racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

race_emailed2: 0

race_title: R6

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid: 88a522a3a2bc7bd5699baf2de24eb724

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 28/07/2018

meet_title: Levin RC - 28 July 2018

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: levin-rc

meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

meet_chair: PWilliams

meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon

meet_pm2: none

name: Levin RC