Westport TC 11 March 2011 – R 1
ID: JCA13444
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 11 March 2011
Meet Chair:
JPhelan
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2011/03/11
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The charge was dismissed.
Charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b)
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Motels of Westport/West Coast Messenger Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mrs K. R. Williams against Junior Horseman Mr J. C. E. Thomas, the driver of “Gunman” (14), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly.
Mr Thomas is a Junior Horseman and he was assisted at this hearing by Open Horseman Mr S. R. McNally.
The charge reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that J. Thomas drove carelessly when allowing GUNMAN to shift in checking DRIVIN DIRTY and trailing runners with the drivers of TARA TOPLADY and TINTED FIELD being tipped from their sulkies.”
Rules 869(3)(b) reads as follows,
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly..”
Mr Thomas had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted, and he agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
There had been a previous Protest hearing relating to this incident which was not contested.
Submissions for Decision:
Stipendiary Steward Mrs K. R. Williams gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate that when rounding the final bend (about 450 metres from the finish) Mr Thomas was three wide outside “Drivin Dirty”, driven by Mr McNally. At this time Mr Thomas activated the removable ear plugs, and at the same time his horse moved inwards slightly making contact with “Drivin Dirty”, causing that horse to break, with resultant interference to two other horses.
Mrs Williams said that when activating the earplugs Mr Thomas had taken some time to do so, and had allowed his horse to move inwards as he did not have proper control of it.
Mr Thomas said that the movement inwards by his horse was not caused by his carelessness, but by the horses own actions. At the time of the incident he was pulling on the right rein to keep his horse out, but the horse does take time to react.
Mr McNally said that he did not believe that Mr Thomas had been careless, and the horse’s movement inwards had been small. Mr McNally also said that Mr Thomas had been travelling three wide on his outside for 500 metres prior to this incident, with no indication that it was likely to run in.
We then adjourned to consider our decision.
Reasons for Decision:
We carefully considered the evidence and the video coverage. There was no dispute that there had been interference by “Gunman” to “Drivin Dirty” and the other two horses. Although the result of the interference was quite dramatic the movement by “Gunman” was small and the interference was described by Mr McNally as “just making contact”. We were satisfied that it was more likely the actions of the horse than Mr Thomas’s driving that cause this incident, and that the charge should be dismissed.
On resuming the hearing we advised that parties that a written decision with full reasons would be given later, and we gave the following oral decision.
“Having heard the evidence and having seen the video coverage, we are satisfied that at about the 450 metre mark “Gunman” moved inwards a little and made contact with “Drivin Dirty” which broke, with resultant interference to two other horses.
The case for the Stipendiary Stewards was that Mr Thomas didn’t have proper control of his horse at the time he activated the removable earplugs, and this resulted in the horse shifting inwards.
Mr McNally, the driver of “Drivin Dirty”, said that “Gunman” did move inwards and make contact with is horse, with the result his horse broke.
Mr Thomas said his horse was three wide just before this incident, and that when he pulled the removable earplugs it moved in a little, and before he could correct this movement the damage had been done. Mr Thomas denied he had been careless.
We are satisfied we need to decide if the inward movement was caused by Mr Thomas’s carelessness, or by the actions of his horse. We have decided that Mr Thomas should be given the benefit of the doubt in this case, and the charge is dismissed.”
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: 386b1b2994ba6f718e082469954e9885
informantnumber: 69062
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 24/02/2011
hearing_title: Westport TC 11 March 2011 - R 1
charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b)
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Motels of Westport/West Coast Messenger Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mrs K. R. Williams against Junior Horseman Mr J. C. E. Thomas, the driver of “Gunman” (14), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly.
Mr Thomas is a Junior Horseman and he was assisted at this hearing by Open Horseman Mr S. R. McNally.
The charge reads as follows.
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that J. Thomas drove carelessly when allowing GUNMAN to shift in checking DRIVIN DIRTY and trailing runners with the drivers of TARA TOPLADY and TINTED FIELD being tipped from their sulkies.”
Rules 869(3)(b) reads as follows,
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly..”
Mr Thomas had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted, and he agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
There had been a previous Protest hearing relating to this incident which was not contested.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Stipendiary Steward Mrs K. R. Williams gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate that when rounding the final bend (about 450 metres from the finish) Mr Thomas was three wide outside “Drivin Dirty”, driven by Mr McNally. At this time Mr Thomas activated the removable ear plugs, and at the same time his horse moved inwards slightly making contact with “Drivin Dirty”, causing that horse to break, with resultant interference to two other horses.
Mrs Williams said that when activating the earplugs Mr Thomas had taken some time to do so, and had allowed his horse to move inwards as he did not have proper control of it.
Mr Thomas said that the movement inwards by his horse was not caused by his carelessness, but by the horses own actions. At the time of the incident he was pulling on the right rein to keep his horse out, but the horse does take time to react.
Mr McNally said that he did not believe that Mr Thomas had been careless, and the horse’s movement inwards had been small. Mr McNally also said that Mr Thomas had been travelling three wide on his outside for 500 metres prior to this incident, with no indication that it was likely to run in.
We then adjourned to consider our decision.
reasonsfordecision:
We carefully considered the evidence and the video coverage. There was no dispute that there had been interference by “Gunman” to “Drivin Dirty” and the other two horses. Although the result of the interference was quite dramatic the movement by “Gunman” was small and the interference was described by Mr McNally as “just making contact”. We were satisfied that it was more likely the actions of the horse than Mr Thomas’s driving that cause this incident, and that the charge should be dismissed.
On resuming the hearing we advised that parties that a written decision with full reasons would be given later, and we gave the following oral decision.
“Having heard the evidence and having seen the video coverage, we are satisfied that at about the 450 metre mark “Gunman” moved inwards a little and made contact with “Drivin Dirty” which broke, with resultant interference to two other horses.
The case for the Stipendiary Stewards was that Mr Thomas didn’t have proper control of his horse at the time he activated the removable earplugs, and this resulted in the horse shifting inwards.
Mr McNally, the driver of “Drivin Dirty”, said that “Gunman” did move inwards and make contact with is horse, with the result his horse broke.
Mr Thomas said his horse was three wide just before this incident, and that when he pulled the removable earplugs it moved in a little, and before he could correct this movement the damage had been done. Mr Thomas denied he had been careless.
We are satisfied we need to decide if the inward movement was caused by Mr Thomas’s carelessness, or by the actions of his horse. We have decided that Mr Thomas should be given the benefit of the doubt in this case, and the charge is dismissed.”
Decision:
The charge was dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mrs K. Williams - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J. Thomas - Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S. McNally - Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 651fc10899c02c7e2d8491ed158d0509
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: cf833fd1e1d0e9ed0df015132dab77f9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/03/2011
meet_title: Westport TC - 11 March 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: JPhelan
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC