Canterbury JC 28 January 2012 – R 9 (request for a ruling)
ID: JCA12827
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 28 January 2012
Meet Chair:
KHales
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2012/01/28
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
After due consideration, we have determined that Mr Johnson is to ride "Bremusa" in Race 9.
Facts:
The Judicial Committee was requested to resolve a dispute over which horse Mr CW Johnson should ride in Race 9, between "Patrice" and "Bremusa".
Mr Coulbeck is the trainer of "Patrice" and Mr Tony & Mrs Lynn Prendergast are the trainers of "Bremusa".
Mr Coulbeck told the hearing that he had spoken to Mr Johnson "some time ago" about riding "Patrice" and that from his point of view, Mr Johnson has had a long standing association with the horse. He rode the horse two starts ago on 30th October 2011 and had engaged him to ride the horse at subsequent race meetings (which did not happen because Mr Johnson was on suspension and because the horse was scratched as a result of unfavourable track conditions). Mr Johnson had ridden the horse at "Jump Outs" at Rangiora on 12th January 2012 and Mr Coulbeck was of the understanding that Mr Johnson was aware that he was expected to ride "Patrice" at Riccarton today.
Mrs Prendergast, told the hearing that her husband Mr Tony Prendergast had made a firm engagement with Mr Johnson to ride "Bremusa", at the Kumara meeting on Monday 9th January 2012, which engagement was confirmed by telephone a few days later. It should be noted that the Judicial Committee was concerned at the hearsay nature on Mrs Prendergast's evidence, and had it not been for the fact that Mrs Middlewood, confirmed that Mr Prendergast had made the engagement, as she was present when the discussion took place, then we would have had reservations about the nature of this evidence.
Mrs Middlewood (who is Mr Johnson's partner) said that she generally handles Mr Johnson's riding engagements. She went on to tell the hearing that she was in error, and did not think to check the race or races that "Patrice" and "Bremusa" were to run in. She went on to admit that to all intents and purposes, that two riding engagements had been made for Mr Johnson and that she was responsible for that happening. In the week prior to the Rider Declarations time, she telephoned Mr Coulbeck in an endeavour to have Mr Johnson released from the ride on "Patrice". She said that "Bremusa" was his preferred mount as he had won on it two starts ago and finished well in its last start. She said that Mr Coulbeck was adamant that he had engaged Mr Johnson and that he required Mr Johnson to ride his horse.
Mr Johnson said that he had spoken to Mr Coulbeck at the "Jump Outs" at Rangiora and didn't really think, as a result of that discussion, that he had a firm engagement to ride "Patrice".
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Coulbeck submitted that Mr Johnson should ride "Patrice" because of his association with the horse, and because he believed a firm engagement was made at the Rangiora "Jump Outs".
Mrs Prendergast said that a engagement to ride "Bremusa" had been concluded at the Kumara meeting.
Reasons for Decision:
We gave the following oral decision on Race day:
The evidence in this case is evenly balanced.
From Mr Coulbeck's perspective, Mr Johnson has had a longstanding association with the horse "Patrice". He rode the horse at the Banks Peninsula meeting on 30th October 2011. He was engaged to ride the horse at subsequent meetings which rides did not take place either because Mr Johnson was suspended, or the horse was scratched because of track conditions. Mr Johnson rode the horse at the Rangiora "Jump Outs" on 12th January 2012. Furthermore, we are aware that Mr Johnson has a long association with the Coulbeck Stable.
From the Prendergast's point of view, Mr Johnson has ridden the horse "Bremusa" at its last two starts, winning at Ashburton on 2nd December 2011 and finishing 4th at Kurow on 30th December 2011. Evidence was given that Mr Tony Prendergast made a clear arrangement with Mr Johnson at the Kumara meeting as recently as 9th January 2012. This engagement was confirmed by telephone. Ms Middlewood confirmed the fact of this engagement.
Ms Middlewood told the hearing that she was in error. She confirmed the evidence given by Mrs Prendergast and by Mr Coulbeck. She told us quite candidly that she accepted both engagements on Mr Johnson's behalf, and that she may have made a mistake with regard to the race or races that the two horses were entered for.
We note from "Thoroughbred Racing Monthly" that Ms Middlewood is not shown as Mr Johnson's agent, but Mr Johnson advised the hearing that she is authorised by him to accept rides on his behalf.
The manner in which Ms Middlewood handled the situation is totally unsatisfactory. She accepted dual riding engagements for Mr Johnson and as a consequence, we have a difficult situation to resolve.
We have to look at the evidence and determine this dispute on the strength of the evidence given by each party.
Mr Coulbeck's evidence satisfies us that Mr Johnson has a long association with the horse "Patrice". But Mrs Prendergast's evidence satisfies us that an "engagement" was made at the Kumara meeting for Mr Johnson to ride "Bremusa" today, which "engagement" was confirmed by telephone at a later time.
Thus, we conclude on balance that Mr Johnson will ride "Bremusa". We find as a fact that Mr Prendergast made a clear riding engagement which was confirmed by telephone, as opposed to the rather loose understandings that Mr Coulbeck made with Mr Johnson. In this regard, we do not mean to be overly critical of Mr Coulbeck, but say that it would have been preferable for there to have been clarity with regard to the arrangements. By doing so, Mr Johnson would have known which horse he was to ride and to have ensured that he was declared for one horse only.
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: 5d67581cfb9ff520b62a4e1ec0653c35
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 19/01/2012
hearing_title: Canterbury JC 28 January 2012 - R 9 (request for a ruling)
charge:
facts:
The Judicial Committee was requested to resolve a dispute over which horse Mr CW Johnson should ride in Race 9, between "Patrice" and "Bremusa".
Mr Coulbeck is the trainer of "Patrice" and Mr Tony & Mrs Lynn Prendergast are the trainers of "Bremusa".
Mr Coulbeck told the hearing that he had spoken to Mr Johnson "some time ago" about riding "Patrice" and that from his point of view, Mr Johnson has had a long standing association with the horse. He rode the horse two starts ago on 30th October 2011 and had engaged him to ride the horse at subsequent race meetings (which did not happen because Mr Johnson was on suspension and because the horse was scratched as a result of unfavourable track conditions). Mr Johnson had ridden the horse at "Jump Outs" at Rangiora on 12th January 2012 and Mr Coulbeck was of the understanding that Mr Johnson was aware that he was expected to ride "Patrice" at Riccarton today.
Mrs Prendergast, told the hearing that her husband Mr Tony Prendergast had made a firm engagement with Mr Johnson to ride "Bremusa", at the Kumara meeting on Monday 9th January 2012, which engagement was confirmed by telephone a few days later. It should be noted that the Judicial Committee was concerned at the hearsay nature on Mrs Prendergast's evidence, and had it not been for the fact that Mrs Middlewood, confirmed that Mr Prendergast had made the engagement, as she was present when the discussion took place, then we would have had reservations about the nature of this evidence.
Mrs Middlewood (who is Mr Johnson's partner) said that she generally handles Mr Johnson's riding engagements. She went on to tell the hearing that she was in error, and did not think to check the race or races that "Patrice" and "Bremusa" were to run in. She went on to admit that to all intents and purposes, that two riding engagements had been made for Mr Johnson and that she was responsible for that happening. In the week prior to the Rider Declarations time, she telephoned Mr Coulbeck in an endeavour to have Mr Johnson released from the ride on "Patrice". She said that "Bremusa" was his preferred mount as he had won on it two starts ago and finished well in its last start. She said that Mr Coulbeck was adamant that he had engaged Mr Johnson and that he required Mr Johnson to ride his horse.
Mr Johnson said that he had spoken to Mr Coulbeck at the "Jump Outs" at Rangiora and didn't really think, as a result of that discussion, that he had a firm engagement to ride "Patrice".
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Coulbeck submitted that Mr Johnson should ride "Patrice" because of his association with the horse, and because he believed a firm engagement was made at the Rangiora "Jump Outs".
Mrs Prendergast said that a engagement to ride "Bremusa" had been concluded at the Kumara meeting.
reasonsfordecision:
We gave the following oral decision on Race day:
The evidence in this case is evenly balanced.
From Mr Coulbeck's perspective, Mr Johnson has had a longstanding association with the horse "Patrice". He rode the horse at the Banks Peninsula meeting on 30th October 2011. He was engaged to ride the horse at subsequent meetings which rides did not take place either because Mr Johnson was suspended, or the horse was scratched because of track conditions. Mr Johnson rode the horse at the Rangiora "Jump Outs" on 12th January 2012. Furthermore, we are aware that Mr Johnson has a long association with the Coulbeck Stable.
From the Prendergast's point of view, Mr Johnson has ridden the horse "Bremusa" at its last two starts, winning at Ashburton on 2nd December 2011 and finishing 4th at Kurow on 30th December 2011. Evidence was given that Mr Tony Prendergast made a clear arrangement with Mr Johnson at the Kumara meeting as recently as 9th January 2012. This engagement was confirmed by telephone. Ms Middlewood confirmed the fact of this engagement.
Ms Middlewood told the hearing that she was in error. She confirmed the evidence given by Mrs Prendergast and by Mr Coulbeck. She told us quite candidly that she accepted both engagements on Mr Johnson's behalf, and that she may have made a mistake with regard to the race or races that the two horses were entered for.
We note from "Thoroughbred Racing Monthly" that Ms Middlewood is not shown as Mr Johnson's agent, but Mr Johnson advised the hearing that she is authorised by him to accept rides on his behalf.
The manner in which Ms Middlewood handled the situation is totally unsatisfactory. She accepted dual riding engagements for Mr Johnson and as a consequence, we have a difficult situation to resolve.
We have to look at the evidence and determine this dispute on the strength of the evidence given by each party.
Mr Coulbeck's evidence satisfies us that Mr Johnson has a long association with the horse "Patrice". But Mrs Prendergast's evidence satisfies us that an "engagement" was made at the Kumara meeting for Mr Johnson to ride "Bremusa" today, which "engagement" was confirmed by telephone at a later time.
Thus, we conclude on balance that Mr Johnson will ride "Bremusa". We find as a fact that Mr Prendergast made a clear riding engagement which was confirmed by telephone, as opposed to the rather loose understandings that Mr Coulbeck made with Mr Johnson. In this regard, we do not mean to be overly critical of Mr Coulbeck, but say that it would have been preferable for there to have been clarity with regard to the arrangements. By doing so, Mr Johnson would have known which horse he was to ride and to have ensured that he was declared for one horse only.
Decision:
After due consideration, we have determined that Mr Johnson is to ride "Bremusa" in Race 9.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: Rule 330(2)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mrs Lynn Prendergast - Licensed Trainer, Ms B Middlewood - Licensed Trainer, Mr N Coulbeck - Licensed Trainer, Mr C W Johnson - Licensed Jockey
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr A L Ray - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: ab4a04f46af7ff4963de481c76a6744d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 3085f2cfcaf9a41e0ecc89df31fb17e6
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/01/2012
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 28 January 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: KHales
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing