Timaru HRC 26 April 2018 – R 6 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA13082
Meet Title:
Timaru HRC - 26 April 2018
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2018/04/26
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
Mr Schwamm having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Schwamm’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 26 April 2018 up to and including 5 July 2018 – 10 weeks.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Morrison’s Saddlery & Feed Mobile Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr I L Schwamm, alleging that Mr Schwamm, as the driver of MOY in the race, “was careless when shifting inwards in the early stages contacting ORLANDO MAGIC (S J Ottley) which broke and lost ground.”
Mr Schwamm was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he understood the Rule and the charge and that he admitted the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the start of the race, a mobile start event for trotters over the 1950 metres distance. Mr Schwamm, driving MOY, had drawn barrier position 2 with ORLANDO MAGIC, driven by Miss Ottley, having drawn inside Mr Schwamm in barrier position 1. Both runners went forward from the start but, approaching the bend out of the back straight, Mr Schwamm went ahead. Miss Ottley, at that point, took a hold of her horse to take a trail but as Mr Schwamm went around the bend he was never clear of Miss Ottley and Miss Ottley’s horse broke.
Mr Renault demonstrated, on the back straight video, that there was clear contact by Mr Schwamm’s inside sulky wheel to the off-front leg of Miss Ottley’s runner. Switching to the side-on video, Mr Renault was able to show that, at the point of contact, Mr Schwamm was not clear of Miss Ottley. Her horse’s head was always to the inside of Mr Schwamm’s wheel. Mr Schwamm had made an error of judgement when he crossed, Mr Renault submitted and, as a result, Miss Ottley’s horse had broken and lost considerable ground.
Mr Schwamm suggested that Miss Ottley had plenty of room and was racing away from the markers. She had taken a hold of her horse to take a trail. Her horse is only a 2-year-old having its second start. It had touched his horse’s leg but he did not “lay down” on her at all, Mr Schwamm said. The incident could have been avoided had Miss Ottley been down on the markers, he submitted. Having drawn, Miss Ottley should have been down on the markers, he said. Mr Renault responded that Miss Ottley had maintained a straight line down the back straight and neither had she moved out on the bend.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Schwamm has had 14 drives this season and, last season, had 33 drives. He has a clear record over the past 12 months.
He then referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives’ suspension or a $500 fine. In cases of shifting ground causing interference, Stewards were seeking suspensions, Mr Renault said. A suspension for the next 10 meetings would be inappropriate as MOY is the only horse that Mr Schwamm is driving at the present time and the horse would not be racing at all of the next 10 meetings. He submitted that, perhaps, a combined penalty of a fine and a suspension would be appropriate in those circumstances. He submitted 2 months and $200. Miss Ottley’s runner was 2nd favourite for the race and was checked out of it. The degree of carelessness was mid-range, he said.
The starting point and Mr Renault’s submission were explained to Mr Schwamm. Mr Schwamm said that Mr Renault’s submission was fair. MOY had just come back into work after a spell and would be racing “most weeks”. The carelessness was “not serious” Mr Schwamm submitted. Having had the option of a combined penalty explained to him by the Committee, Mr Schwamm said that his preference was for a suspension and no fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee agreed with Mr Renault that a suspension was the appropriate penalty for this particular breach. In determining the period of that suspension, the Committee had regard to the 10 drives starting point provided in the Penalty Guide. There was an obvious difficulty in Mr Schwamm’s case because of the infrequency of his raceday drives. The best estimate that the Committee could make was that Mr Schwamm would possibly have 10 drives in 12 weeks. On that basis, we took a starting point of a 12 weeks suspension, which we believed to be very fair to Mr Schwamm.
Mr Schwamm was entitled to a discount from that starting point for a couple of mitigating factors – his admission of the breach (albeit a somewhat reluctant admission) and his good record. The Committee assessed this discount at 2 weeks.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 3f780484c79d2cb2103dd1c69171b8b3
informantnumber: A10181
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/04/2018
hearing_title: Timaru HRC 26 April 2018 - R 6 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, Morrison’s Saddlery & Feed Mobile Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr I L Schwamm, alleging that Mr Schwamm, as the driver of MOY in the race, “was careless when shifting inwards in the early stages contacting ORLANDO MAGIC (S J Ottley) which broke and lost ground.”
Mr Schwamm was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he understood the Rule and the charge and that he admitted the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the start of the race, a mobile start event for trotters over the 1950 metres distance. Mr Schwamm, driving MOY, had drawn barrier position 2 with ORLANDO MAGIC, driven by Miss Ottley, having drawn inside Mr Schwamm in barrier position 1. Both runners went forward from the start but, approaching the bend out of the back straight, Mr Schwamm went ahead. Miss Ottley, at that point, took a hold of her horse to take a trail but as Mr Schwamm went around the bend he was never clear of Miss Ottley and Miss Ottley’s horse broke.
Mr Renault demonstrated, on the back straight video, that there was clear contact by Mr Schwamm’s inside sulky wheel to the off-front leg of Miss Ottley’s runner. Switching to the side-on video, Mr Renault was able to show that, at the point of contact, Mr Schwamm was not clear of Miss Ottley. Her horse’s head was always to the inside of Mr Schwamm’s wheel. Mr Schwamm had made an error of judgement when he crossed, Mr Renault submitted and, as a result, Miss Ottley’s horse had broken and lost considerable ground.
Mr Schwamm suggested that Miss Ottley had plenty of room and was racing away from the markers. She had taken a hold of her horse to take a trail. Her horse is only a 2-year-old having its second start. It had touched his horse’s leg but he did not “lay down” on her at all, Mr Schwamm said. The incident could have been avoided had Miss Ottley been down on the markers, he submitted. Having drawn, Miss Ottley should have been down on the markers, he said. Mr Renault responded that Miss Ottley had maintained a straight line down the back straight and neither had she moved out on the bend.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Schwamm having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Schwamm has had 14 drives this season and, last season, had 33 drives. He has a clear record over the past 12 months.
He then referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives’ suspension or a $500 fine. In cases of shifting ground causing interference, Stewards were seeking suspensions, Mr Renault said. A suspension for the next 10 meetings would be inappropriate as MOY is the only horse that Mr Schwamm is driving at the present time and the horse would not be racing at all of the next 10 meetings. He submitted that, perhaps, a combined penalty of a fine and a suspension would be appropriate in those circumstances. He submitted 2 months and $200. Miss Ottley’s runner was 2nd favourite for the race and was checked out of it. The degree of carelessness was mid-range, he said.
The starting point and Mr Renault’s submission were explained to Mr Schwamm. Mr Schwamm said that Mr Renault’s submission was fair. MOY had just come back into work after a spell and would be racing “most weeks”. The carelessness was “not serious” Mr Schwamm submitted. Having had the option of a combined penalty explained to him by the Committee, Mr Schwamm said that his preference was for a suspension and no fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee agreed with Mr Renault that a suspension was the appropriate penalty for this particular breach. In determining the period of that suspension, the Committee had regard to the 10 drives starting point provided in the Penalty Guide. There was an obvious difficulty in Mr Schwamm’s case because of the infrequency of his raceday drives. The best estimate that the Committee could make was that Mr Schwamm would possibly have 10 drives in 12 weeks. On that basis, we took a starting point of a 12 weeks suspension, which we believed to be very fair to Mr Schwamm.
Mr Schwamm was entitled to a discount from that starting point for a couple of mitigating factors – his admission of the breach (albeit a somewhat reluctant admission) and his good record. The Committee assessed this discount at 2 weeks.
penalty:
Mr Schwamm’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 26 April 2018 up to and including 5 July 2018 – 10 weeks.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: I L Schwamm, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4babf3f43b1630462d7c74874e1467b9
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: 7ebe7492c64593ac266a6dd8649e1bd6
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/04/2018
meet_title: Timaru HRC - 26 April 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: timaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Timaru HRC