Wellington RC 28 January 2017 – R 6 (request for a ruling) – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA12957
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 28 January 2017
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2017/01/28
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
After hearing all the evidence and viewing the films the Committee was satisfied that BRING TO THE BLOCK was denied a fair start and as a result had its chances affected. We declared BRING TO THE BLOCK a non-runner.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the Wellfield Desert Gold Stakes Group 3, the Stewards requested a ruling in relation to Rule 632(1) as to whether BRING TO THE BLOCK received a fair start.
Rule 632 reads: If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placings was prevented from taking an effective part in a Race owing to mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away by its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.
Submissions for Decision:
Race 6 was run over 1600m and BRING TO THE BLOCK began from barrier number 10. Mr Goodwin showed the head-on view of the start which showed an attendant standing up with the horse in the barrier. When the gates opened it appeared the attendant was holding onto the horse’s head and Ms Hemi left the gates with her left foot out of the stirrup iron.
Ms Hemi told the Committee that due to her horse sometimes becoming fractious in the starting gates it gets loaded riderless. Once she climbed onto BRING TO THE BLOCK she called out that she wasn’t ready but the gates opened when she only had one foot in the irons and the assistant was still holding onto her horse’s head.
Ms Johnson who was in the adjacent barrier confirmed she heard Ms Hemi call out that she wasn’t ready.
Mr Philips, the official starter, said he did not hear Ms Hemi call therefore he assumed that all riders were ready.
Finally we heard from the starting assistant who confirmed that he had hold of the head of Ms Hemi’s mount and that she had one foot out of the irons when the gates opened.
For the Stewards Mr Oatham said all the evidence pointed to the fact that BRING TO THE BLOCK did not receive a fair start and should be declared a non-runner.
Reasons for Decision:
The Judicial Committee carefully considered all of the submissions.
The head-on film showed that all the starting gates opened correctly in unison however Ms Hemi’s mount exited last, began awkwardly and lost several lengths. The evidence from riders and starting gate staff was unequivocal; BRING TO THE BLOCK was still being held by an assistant when the gates opened and Ms Hemi was clearly not ready with only one foot in the irons. She lost several lengths through no fault of the horse or any mechanical failure of the starting gates.
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: 6e131dd04435cfb70c5601046140bdcc
informantnumber: A8666
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 29/01/2017
hearing_title: Wellington RC 28 January 2017 - R 6 (request for a ruling) - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the Wellfield Desert Gold Stakes Group 3, the Stewards requested a ruling in relation to Rule 632(1) as to whether BRING TO THE BLOCK received a fair start.
Rule 632 reads: If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placings was prevented from taking an effective part in a Race owing to mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away by its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Race 6 was run over 1600m and BRING TO THE BLOCK began from barrier number 10. Mr Goodwin showed the head-on view of the start which showed an attendant standing up with the horse in the barrier. When the gates opened it appeared the attendant was holding onto the horse’s head and Ms Hemi left the gates with her left foot out of the stirrup iron.
Ms Hemi told the Committee that due to her horse sometimes becoming fractious in the starting gates it gets loaded riderless. Once she climbed onto BRING TO THE BLOCK she called out that she wasn’t ready but the gates opened when she only had one foot in the irons and the assistant was still holding onto her horse’s head.
Ms Johnson who was in the adjacent barrier confirmed she heard Ms Hemi call out that she wasn’t ready.
Mr Philips, the official starter, said he did not hear Ms Hemi call therefore he assumed that all riders were ready.
Finally we heard from the starting assistant who confirmed that he had hold of the head of Ms Hemi’s mount and that she had one foot out of the irons when the gates opened.
For the Stewards Mr Oatham said all the evidence pointed to the fact that BRING TO THE BLOCK did not receive a fair start and should be declared a non-runner.
reasonsfordecision:
The Judicial Committee carefully considered all of the submissions.
The head-on film showed that all the starting gates opened correctly in unison however Ms Hemi’s mount exited last, began awkwardly and lost several lengths. The evidence from riders and starting gate staff was unequivocal; BRING TO THE BLOCK was still being held by an assistant when the gates opened and Ms Hemi was clearly not ready with only one foot in the irons. She lost several lengths through no fault of the horse or any mechanical failure of the starting gates.
Decision:
After hearing all the evidence and viewing the films the Committee was satisfied that BRING TO THE BLOCK was denied a fair start and as a result had its chances affected. We declared BRING TO THE BLOCK a non-runner.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 632(1)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr S Brown - Trainer of BRING TO THE BLOCK, Ms L Hemi - Rider of BRING TO THE BLOCK, Mr G Phillips - Official Starter, Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
raceid: a3ef391934f684b480faef08da9594f3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 073f9fa4ec67933601a0032855869189
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/01/2017
meet_title: Wellington RC - 28 January 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC