Archive Decision

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Manawatu RC 23 December 2017 – R 5 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA13189

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr D Turner - Licensed Rider

Other Person:
Mr S Brown - Licensed Trainer of HANDFULL, Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8800

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Manawatu RC - 23 December 2017

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon

Race Date:
2017/12/23

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

As Mr Turner admitted the breach we found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Taking into account the mitigating factors we suspended Mr Turner’s license from the close of racing on Wednesday December 27th up to and including racing on Tuesday January 2nd.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 5 (The Pavemasters Premier 1550m), an Information was lodged by Mr J Oatham alleging a breach of Rule 638(1)(d) in that D Turner (HANDFULL) allowed his mount to shift inwards near the 100m when not clear of THE RIPPA which was tightened.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Turner confirmed to the Committee that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the incident using the available camera angles.

At approximately the 100m the head-on video showed Mr Tanaka (THE RIPPA) attempting to take a gap between Mr Turner (HANDFULL) on the outside and STACCATO on the inside. The paused video showed that there was a clear run available for Mr Tanaka between these two runners. As THE RIPPA got its head level with the hindquarters of HANDFULL, Mr Turner (HANDFULL) rolled inwards approximately 1½ horse widths, which tightened THE RIPPA, denying Mr Tanaka a clear run.
Mr Goodwin said there was no outward movement from STACCATO and Mr Tanaka told the Stewards that the gap closed on him as a direct result of Mr Turner moving inwards.
Mr Turner said his horse was green and it changed legs which caused it to shift inwards.

Mr Brown (trainer of HANDFULL) told the Committee that his horse is still “learning the game” and chops and changes leg a lot in a race. He said it was difficult for Mr Turner to know which way the horse was going to move as it changed legs often, first rolling out and then rolling in.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Mr Turner’s riding record over the last 12 months which show four suspensions as follows:

1/1/17 Hawkes Bay - 5 days
18/2/17 Taranaki - 5 days
8/4/17 Wellington - 4 days
5/10/17 Waverley - 5 days

Mr Oatham said although Mr Turner’s record might look poor most of the charges were some time ago and, in view of that, they would view his record as relatively neutral.

He said Mr Turner admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and the Stewards would classify today’s breach as in the low to midrange.

Mr Turner said all his breaches this year were in the low range of carelessness. He advised of riding commitments up until Wednesday next week and asked the Committee to consider a combined suspension/fine penalty due to the fact that there are a limited number of riders available in certain places over this busy racing period, in particular Hastings on New Years Day.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee took into account all submissions. In assessing the level of the breach we looked at the degree of Mr Turner’s carelessness and the consequences of his actions. It was obvious on the films that his mount (HANDFULL) was changing legs and we heard from its trainer that it was a green horse. Mr Turner however, showed no signs of correcting its line of running and continued riding forward with vigour. THE RIPPA (Mr Tanaka) was full of running and taking a legitimate gap. As a result of Mr Turner drifting inwards THE RIPPA lost ground at a crucial stage of the race and finished in 5th place. It is likely that THE RIPPA would have finished in a higher placing had it received a clear run.

We assessed the level of breach as in the mid-low range and adopted a starting point of 7 national riding days. Mr Turner has had one careless riding charge since April which is a relatively good record.

We considered Mr Turner’s specific request for part of his penalty to include a fine in lieu of 1-2 day’s suspension however it was our opinion that this should be reserved for exceptional circumstances, and Mr Turner’s reasons did not fit this category.

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: 504c97401a450225fe220b9524f6d7cf


informantnumber: A8800


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 24/12/2017


hearing_title: Manawatu RC 23 December 2017 - R 5 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 5 (The Pavemasters Premier 1550m), an Information was lodged by Mr J Oatham alleging a breach of Rule 638(1)(d) in that D Turner (HANDFULL) allowed his mount to shift inwards near the 100m when not clear of THE RIPPA which was tightened.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Turner confirmed to the Committee that he understood the charge and that he admitted the breach.

Mr Oatham had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the incident using the available camera angles.

At approximately the 100m the head-on video showed Mr Tanaka (THE RIPPA) attempting to take a gap between Mr Turner (HANDFULL) on the outside and STACCATO on the inside. The paused video showed that there was a clear run available for Mr Tanaka between these two runners. As THE RIPPA got its head level with the hindquarters of HANDFULL, Mr Turner (HANDFULL) rolled inwards approximately 1½ horse widths, which tightened THE RIPPA, denying Mr Tanaka a clear run.
Mr Goodwin said there was no outward movement from STACCATO and Mr Tanaka told the Stewards that the gap closed on him as a direct result of Mr Turner moving inwards.
Mr Turner said his horse was green and it changed legs which caused it to shift inwards.

Mr Brown (trainer of HANDFULL) told the Committee that his horse is still “learning the game” and chops and changes leg a lot in a race. He said it was difficult for Mr Turner to know which way the horse was going to move as it changed legs often, first rolling out and then rolling in.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Turner admitted the breach we found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham produced Mr Turner’s riding record over the last 12 months which show four suspensions as follows:

1/1/17 Hawkes Bay - 5 days
18/2/17 Taranaki - 5 days
8/4/17 Wellington - 4 days
5/10/17 Waverley - 5 days

Mr Oatham said although Mr Turner’s record might look poor most of the charges were some time ago and, in view of that, they would view his record as relatively neutral.

He said Mr Turner admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and the Stewards would classify today’s breach as in the low to midrange.

Mr Turner said all his breaches this year were in the low range of carelessness. He advised of riding commitments up until Wednesday next week and asked the Committee to consider a combined suspension/fine penalty due to the fact that there are a limited number of riders available in certain places over this busy racing period, in particular Hastings on New Years Day.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee took into account all submissions. In assessing the level of the breach we looked at the degree of Mr Turner’s carelessness and the consequences of his actions. It was obvious on the films that his mount (HANDFULL) was changing legs and we heard from its trainer that it was a green horse. Mr Turner however, showed no signs of correcting its line of running and continued riding forward with vigour. THE RIPPA (Mr Tanaka) was full of running and taking a legitimate gap. As a result of Mr Turner drifting inwards THE RIPPA lost ground at a crucial stage of the race and finished in 5th place. It is likely that THE RIPPA would have finished in a higher placing had it received a clear run.

We assessed the level of breach as in the mid-low range and adopted a starting point of 7 national riding days. Mr Turner has had one careless riding charge since April which is a relatively good record.

We considered Mr Turner’s specific request for part of his penalty to include a fine in lieu of 1-2 day’s suspension however it was our opinion that this should be reserved for exceptional circumstances, and Mr Turner’s reasons did not fit this category.


penalty:

Taking into account the mitigating factors we suspended Mr Turner’s license from the close of racing on Wednesday December 27th up to and including racing on Tuesday January 2nd.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Turner - Licensed Rider


Otherperson: Mr S Brown - Licensed Trainer of HANDFULL, Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: b54e37a063311537addc1f6cef51f835


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 5


submittochair:


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meetdate: 23/12/2017


meet_title: Manawatu RC - 23 December 2017


meet_expappcomment:


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tracklocation: manawatu-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon


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name: Manawatu RC