Westland RC 15 January 2019 – R 1 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA12808
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Westland RC - 15 January 2019
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp
Race Date:
2019/01/15
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Donnelly had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Donnelly is fined the sum of $450.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Railway Hotel Hokitika Maiden 1645m, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Davidson against Starter Mr R Donnelly alleging a breach of Rule 631(1) in that he loaded the field in incorrect order.
Rule 631(1) (a) reads as follows:
(2) Each horse shall, as far as is practicable, be started from the starting stalls corresponding to such stall position determined by NZTR in accordance with Rule 627.
Rule 627 (1) reads as follows:
(1) Subject to sub-Rule (2), the order of stall positions at the starting post from which horses shall start shall be determined by NZTR either conducting a draw for such stall positions or using a random number selection facility.
Mr Donnelly had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Donnelly also confirmed he understood the Rules he was being charged with.
Mr Davidson gave evidence and showed relevant video films, that prior to authorisation of pay out, the Stewards were made aware that the field had been loaded in reverse order. Mr Davidson showed the head on view of the horses in the barriers and pointed out FANTASY FLIGHT, who had drawn 1, in the outside stall and TAVISTELLA, drawn 9, in the inside stall, with all other runners loaded in reverse as well. The only horse in its correct stall was TED TALKS in the middle of the field in barrier 5. Mr Davidson explained that the gates are the same gates as used at Reefton, Greymouth and Kumara where the tracks are left handed. Hokitika being a right-handed track left the starting stall numbers from inside out in reverse to what they should be for this track. In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Davidson said the numbers on the back of the starting stalls were able to be changed to suit which way the track was configured.
Mr Davidson said that the Stewards questioned all riders involved with only Miss Comignaghi on LETZPARTYON, drawn 4 but starting from the 6-barrier position, stating that she may have been inconvenienced by being not quite as wide over the early stages had she started from the correct stall. He said she did not qualify this but went on to say that she believed that her horse would not have finished any closer in the placings, regardless. Mr Davidson went on to say that when questioned, all other riders stated that they were not disadvantaged by starting from the wrong barrier stalls. He added that it was fortunate that the race placings had been confirmed after a Request for a Ruling was heard by the Committee.
Mr Donnelly stated that he took full responsibility for the mistake. He said the numbers on the back of the stalls were in the wrong order which was confusing for him. He said Hokitika was a left-hand track and they only came here once a year. He said that racing was abandoned last year, and he hadn’t started here for 2 years. He said this was a slight human error and no riders queried him about their starting positions when loading.
In response, Mr Davidson stated that Miss D Hurini, when questioned, had said that she had queried a starting assistant that she had drawn 1, when being loaded into the outside stall. He said the attendant looked at the numbering on the stalls and saw the number 1. The assistant then then told Miss Hurini she was in the correct stall. No other riders made comment to the starter or assistants about the loading order.
Mr Donnelly added that he only worked as Starter at 4 to 5 meetings a year, mainly on the West Coast. He said that he did not get to do the job consistently and combined with race day pressure, possibly contributed to the mistake.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Davidson stated that the Stewards were seeking a monetary penalty with this case. He said prior to Christmas, on 23 December, Mr K Price, starter at Southland, loaded 2 horses in incorrect order and was fined $250 for that breach. Mr Davidson said that quite a few more horses were loaded in the incorrect positions with this case. Mr Davidson submitted that the Stewards were seeking a fine in the vicinity of $400 with this breach. Mr Davidson added that credit should be given for Mr Donnelly’s frank admission of the breach. He also said that Mr Donnelly had staff to assist him in preparing the gates for race day, but it was ultimately his responsibility that the horses were loaded in correct order.
Mr Donnelly said that staff did assist at setting up the gates but as Mr Davidson stated, it was his responsibility to ensure horses started from their correct stalls. He said $400 was a lot of money for someone who does not earn a lot from the position of Starter, only starting on 4 to 5 occasions per year.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide does not provide a starting point for a breach of this rule. We therefore rely to a degree on historical breaches and penalties imposed. Of assistance to the Committee was the Southland decision where 2 horses were loaded out of their correct position with the starter receiving a $250 fine. We researched previous breaches and found a similar breach at Kumara in January 2009, where the starter on that occasion loaded and started the majority of the field into incorrect stalls. That breach was of assistance to this Committee as the circumstances were very similar. On that occasion the Starter was fined $400 but we note was 10 years prior to today’s date. The level of this breach we determined was at an elevated level and accordingly determined that an appropriate starting point for this particular case was a fine of $600. We were, however, able to afford Mr Donnelly a discount for his frank admission of the breach. This we set at $150. We therefore determined that a fine of $450 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
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: 5abbd8ac3c9c97ebb5f8795ad1712713
informantnumber: A9059
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rules 631 (2) & 627(1)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 16/01/2019
hearing_title: Westland RC 15 January 2019 - R 1 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Railway Hotel Hokitika Maiden 1645m, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Davidson against Starter Mr R Donnelly alleging a breach of Rule 631(1) in that he loaded the field in incorrect order.
Rule 631(1) (a) reads as follows:
(2) Each horse shall, as far as is practicable, be started from the starting stalls corresponding to such stall position determined by NZTR in accordance with Rule 627.
Rule 627 (1) reads as follows:
(1) Subject to sub-Rule (2), the order of stall positions at the starting post from which horses shall start shall be determined by NZTR either conducting a draw for such stall positions or using a random number selection facility.
Mr Donnelly had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Donnelly also confirmed he understood the Rules he was being charged with.
Mr Davidson gave evidence and showed relevant video films, that prior to authorisation of pay out, the Stewards were made aware that the field had been loaded in reverse order. Mr Davidson showed the head on view of the horses in the barriers and pointed out FANTASY FLIGHT, who had drawn 1, in the outside stall and TAVISTELLA, drawn 9, in the inside stall, with all other runners loaded in reverse as well. The only horse in its correct stall was TED TALKS in the middle of the field in barrier 5. Mr Davidson explained that the gates are the same gates as used at Reefton, Greymouth and Kumara where the tracks are left handed. Hokitika being a right-handed track left the starting stall numbers from inside out in reverse to what they should be for this track. In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Davidson said the numbers on the back of the starting stalls were able to be changed to suit which way the track was configured.
Mr Davidson said that the Stewards questioned all riders involved with only Miss Comignaghi on LETZPARTYON, drawn 4 but starting from the 6-barrier position, stating that she may have been inconvenienced by being not quite as wide over the early stages had she started from the correct stall. He said she did not qualify this but went on to say that she believed that her horse would not have finished any closer in the placings, regardless. Mr Davidson went on to say that when questioned, all other riders stated that they were not disadvantaged by starting from the wrong barrier stalls. He added that it was fortunate that the race placings had been confirmed after a Request for a Ruling was heard by the Committee.
Mr Donnelly stated that he took full responsibility for the mistake. He said the numbers on the back of the stalls were in the wrong order which was confusing for him. He said Hokitika was a left-hand track and they only came here once a year. He said that racing was abandoned last year, and he hadn’t started here for 2 years. He said this was a slight human error and no riders queried him about their starting positions when loading.
In response, Mr Davidson stated that Miss D Hurini, when questioned, had said that she had queried a starting assistant that she had drawn 1, when being loaded into the outside stall. He said the attendant looked at the numbering on the stalls and saw the number 1. The assistant then then told Miss Hurini she was in the correct stall. No other riders made comment to the starter or assistants about the loading order.
Mr Donnelly added that he only worked as Starter at 4 to 5 meetings a year, mainly on the West Coast. He said that he did not get to do the job consistently and combined with race day pressure, possibly contributed to the mistake.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Donnelly had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Davidson stated that the Stewards were seeking a monetary penalty with this case. He said prior to Christmas, on 23 December, Mr K Price, starter at Southland, loaded 2 horses in incorrect order and was fined $250 for that breach. Mr Davidson said that quite a few more horses were loaded in the incorrect positions with this case. Mr Davidson submitted that the Stewards were seeking a fine in the vicinity of $400 with this breach. Mr Davidson added that credit should be given for Mr Donnelly’s frank admission of the breach. He also said that Mr Donnelly had staff to assist him in preparing the gates for race day, but it was ultimately his responsibility that the horses were loaded in correct order.
Mr Donnelly said that staff did assist at setting up the gates but as Mr Davidson stated, it was his responsibility to ensure horses started from their correct stalls. He said $400 was a lot of money for someone who does not earn a lot from the position of Starter, only starting on 4 to 5 occasions per year.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide does not provide a starting point for a breach of this rule. We therefore rely to a degree on historical breaches and penalties imposed. Of assistance to the Committee was the Southland decision where 2 horses were loaded out of their correct position with the starter receiving a $250 fine. We researched previous breaches and found a similar breach at Kumara in January 2009, where the starter on that occasion loaded and started the majority of the field into incorrect stalls. That breach was of assistance to this Committee as the circumstances were very similar. On that occasion the Starter was fined $400 but we note was 10 years prior to today’s date. The level of this breach we determined was at an elevated level and accordingly determined that an appropriate starting point for this particular case was a fine of $600. We were, however, able to afford Mr Donnelly a discount for his frank admission of the breach. This we set at $150. We therefore determined that a fine of $450 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Donnelly is fined the sum of $450.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 631 (2)- & 627 (1)
Informant: M Davidson-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: R Donnelly- Starter
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 5950611fe280ad8558e095e37fd13258
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 434ffb005898b9ca61e4121517ae23e7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/01/2019
meet_title: Westland RC - 15 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: GClapp
meet_pm2: none
name: Westland RC