Archive Decision

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HR Waikato 20 August 2015 – R 1 – Chair, Mr B Scott

ID: JCA12761

Applicant:
Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Ms S Wigg - Licensed Amateur Horsewoman

Other Person:
Mr T R Vince - Advanced Amateur Horseman supporting Ms Wigg

Information Number:
A3994

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Driving

Rules:
Rule 869(3)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 20 August 2015

Meet Chair:
BScott

Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve

Race Date:
2015/08/20

Race Number:
R1

Decision:

The breach is admitted and therefore the Charge is upheld.

Penalty:

We impose a suspension of Ms Wigg's Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing tonight up to the conclusion of racing at the Harness Racing Waikato meeting on the 25th of September 2015.  We believe that this is 2 driving days.

Facts:

Following the running of the FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Licensed Amateur Horsewoman Ms S Wigg alleging that Ms Wigg drove HADRIAN carelessly causing interference to VIEWFIELD APACHE (Driver S Butcher) when approaching the 1100 metres mark.

Rule 869(3)(b) provides:  that no horseman in any race shall drive carelessly.

Ms Wigg was present at the Hearing and advised the Committee that she admitted the breach. Ms Wigg was supported by Advanced Amateur Horseman Mr TR Vince.

Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and showed that with about 1100 metres to run HADRIAN was on the inside back in the field and VIEWFIELD APACHE was behind it but 1 out. Ms Wigg angled her horse out and at the time VIEWFIELD APACHE was moving forward and there was contact with the sulky wheel of HADRIAN and VIEWFIELD APACHE broke and its chances were badly affected.

Ms Wigg said her horse was hanging in and this caused her some difficulty.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of 10 Drives suspension or a $500.00 fine.

He said that the incident was above medium on the scale of seriousness but he also said Ms Wigg should be given credit for admitting the breach and her good record. He submitted that a suspension of her Driver's Licence for 3 days would be appropriate.

Mr Vince on behalf of Ms Wigg submitted that the incident was more in the medium range of carelessness because he said Ms Wigg was almost clear before the incident happened. He submitted that a fine would be a more appropriate penalty. He also pointed to Ms Wigg's inexperience with this being her 10th drive.

Reasons for Penalty:

The films are very clear and show the incident well . Ms Wigg has admitted the breach and she gets credit for that as she does for her good record.

We thought the incident was mid range on the scale of seriousness and in reality it was a close thing and could almost have not happened.

We do not think that a fine is appropriate and we propose to deal with this by way of suspension of Ms Wigg's Drivers Licence. It is difficult with Amateur Drivers because of the number of such races.

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: 55a00694e01a201d391d543e80a591e2


informantnumber: A3994


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 20/08/2015


hearing_title: HR Waikato 20 August 2015 - R 1 - Chair, Mr B Scott


charge:


facts:

Following the running of the FAIRVIEW MOTORS CAMBRIDGE AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Licensed Amateur Horsewoman Ms S Wigg alleging that Ms Wigg drove HADRIAN carelessly causing interference to VIEWFIELD APACHE (Driver S Butcher) when approaching the 1100 metres mark.

Rule 869(3)(b) provides:  that no horseman in any race shall drive carelessly.

Ms Wigg was present at the Hearing and advised the Committee that she admitted the breach. Ms Wigg was supported by Advanced Amateur Horseman Mr TR Vince.

Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by use of the race films and showed that with about 1100 metres to run HADRIAN was on the inside back in the field and VIEWFIELD APACHE was behind it but 1 out. Ms Wigg angled her horse out and at the time VIEWFIELD APACHE was moving forward and there was contact with the sulky wheel of HADRIAN and VIEWFIELD APACHE broke and its chances were badly affected.

Ms Wigg said her horse was hanging in and this caused her some difficulty.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

The breach is admitted and therefore the Charge is upheld.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA Guidelines which provide for a starting point penalty of 10 Drives suspension or a $500.00 fine.

He said that the incident was above medium on the scale of seriousness but he also said Ms Wigg should be given credit for admitting the breach and her good record. He submitted that a suspension of her Driver's Licence for 3 days would be appropriate.

Mr Vince on behalf of Ms Wigg submitted that the incident was more in the medium range of carelessness because he said Ms Wigg was almost clear before the incident happened. He submitted that a fine would be a more appropriate penalty. He also pointed to Ms Wigg's inexperience with this being her 10th drive.


reasonsforpenalty:

The films are very clear and show the incident well . Ms Wigg has admitted the breach and she gets credit for that as she does for her good record.

We thought the incident was mid range on the scale of seriousness and in reality it was a close thing and could almost have not happened.

We do not think that a fine is appropriate and we propose to deal with this by way of suspension of Ms Wigg's Drivers Licence. It is difficult with Amateur Drivers because of the number of such races.


penalty:

We impose a suspension of Ms Wigg's Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing tonight up to the conclusion of racing at the Harness Racing Waikato meeting on the 25th of September 2015.  We believe that this is 2 driving days.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 869(3)(b)


Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Wigg - Licensed Amateur Horsewoman


Otherperson: Mr T R Vince - Advanced Amateur Horseman supporting Ms Wigg


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 3f689ec4ad0689fc6fa88e3c1b9ccf9d


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R1


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


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race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 7ffc006007bdf68c5d528c95f044b645


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 20/08/2015


meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 20 August 2015


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


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tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: BScott


meet_pm1: AGodsalve


meet_pm2: none


name: Harness Racing Waikato