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South Canterbury RC 23 February 2014 – R8 (instigating a protest)

ID: JCA13460

Applicant:
R McKay - Licensed Trainer of MARY BURKE

Respondent(s):
N Ridley - Licensed Trainer of GREAT DANCER

Information Number:
A6394

Hearing Type:
Protest

Rules:
If a placed horse or its Rider causes interference within the meaning of this rule 642 to another placed horse, and the Judicial Committee is of the opinion that the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first mentioned horse had such interference not occurred, they may place the first mentioned horse immediately after the horse interfered with., Rule 642(1)

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
South Canterbury RC - 23 February 2014

Meet Chair:
KHales

Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie

Race Date:
2014/02/23

Race Number:
R8

Decision:

The protest is dismissed.

Facts:

As a result of an incident shortly after the turn for home in the "Belmont Park Dash Rating 65", Mr R McKay the trainer of "Mary Burke" lodged a protest alleging interference by the winner "Great Dancer" (K Wong). "Mary Burke" finished second with margin between first and second being  half a head. It was alleged that the interference occurred shortly after the field was "straightening for home".

Mr McKay said that Ms J Morris (Mary Burke) came off the fence in anticipation of a clear run. It was Mr McKay's allegation that "Great Dancer" shifted outwards, and took the line of "Mary Burke". He alleged that because of the margin at the finish, that had such interference not occurred, then "Mary Burke" would have beaten "Great Dancer". He showed the incident with on the head-on view of the video coverage. In response to a question from the Chair, Mr McKay acknowledged that a horse on the outside of "Mary Burke" did shift inwards to a degree but not to any great extent.

In response, Mr Ridley, the trainer of "Great Dancer", acknowledged that "Great Dancer" did move out but that "Latin Saint" (K Williams) also moved out and contributed to any interference.

Ms Morris, said that her horse's head was up on the rump of "Great Dancer" when it shifted outwards and that as a consequence her mount lost momentum. She maintained that she had to change her running line as a consequence. She thought that she would have beaten the winner had it not been for the interference.

Mr Wong placed emphasis on the inwards movement of of "Latin Saint". Mr Ridley supported this by saying that effectively the "damage had already been done" by the time Mr Wong shifted outwards.

By way of comment, Mr Zarb said that there was no doubt that "Great Dancer" shifted outwards when it was not its own length and another clear of "Mary Burke" but did not comment on the effect that it would have made on the outcome. He also said that there was no doubt that "Latin Saint" also shifted inwards but that it was for the Judicial Committee to determine the effect of that horse's movement.

Submissions for Decision:

In summary, Mr McKay, supported by Ms Morris was of the view that "Mary Burke" would have beaten "Great Dancer" had it not been for the interference.

Reasons for Decision:

Having carefully considered all of the evidence, and in particular, the margin of half a head, we take the view that "Mary Burke" did not lose the momentum that Ms Morris believes it did and we do not believe that at any time that "Mary Burke" was prevented from racing competively. The incident happened just after the home turn, and thus the horses in question had almost the entire home straight to battle out to the finish.

It is always a difficult question for a Judicial Committee to determine if the horse that alleges interference would have beaten the horse that caused interference and therefore the standard of the proof is reasonably high. The fact of the matter is that the interference occurred some distance from the winning post. "Mary Burke" had every opportunity to run the leader down. It did not do so and therefore we are not satisfied that it would have won the race had it not been for the interference.

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: 3a6782c599f0a25b17933426581519a1


informantnumber: A6394


horsename: GREAT DANCER


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge:


plea:


penaltyrequired:


decisiondate: 23/02/2014


hearing_title: South Canterbury RC 23 February 2014 - R8 (instigating a protest)


charge:


facts:

As a result of an incident shortly after the turn for home in the "Belmont Park Dash Rating 65", Mr R McKay the trainer of "Mary Burke" lodged a protest alleging interference by the winner "Great Dancer" (K Wong). "Mary Burke" finished second with margin between first and second being  half a head. It was alleged that the interference occurred shortly after the field was "straightening for home".

Mr McKay said that Ms J Morris (Mary Burke) came off the fence in anticipation of a clear run. It was Mr McKay's allegation that "Great Dancer" shifted outwards, and took the line of "Mary Burke". He alleged that because of the margin at the finish, that had such interference not occurred, then "Mary Burke" would have beaten "Great Dancer". He showed the incident with on the head-on view of the video coverage. In response to a question from the Chair, Mr McKay acknowledged that a horse on the outside of "Mary Burke" did shift inwards to a degree but not to any great extent.

In response, Mr Ridley, the trainer of "Great Dancer", acknowledged that "Great Dancer" did move out but that "Latin Saint" (K Williams) also moved out and contributed to any interference.

Ms Morris, said that her horse's head was up on the rump of "Great Dancer" when it shifted outwards and that as a consequence her mount lost momentum. She maintained that she had to change her running line as a consequence. She thought that she would have beaten the winner had it not been for the interference.

Mr Wong placed emphasis on the inwards movement of of "Latin Saint". Mr Ridley supported this by saying that effectively the "damage had already been done" by the time Mr Wong shifted outwards.

By way of comment, Mr Zarb said that there was no doubt that "Great Dancer" shifted outwards when it was not its own length and another clear of "Mary Burke" but did not comment on the effect that it would have made on the outcome. He also said that there was no doubt that "Latin Saint" also shifted inwards but that it was for the Judicial Committee to determine the effect of that horse's movement.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

In summary, Mr McKay, supported by Ms Morris was of the view that "Mary Burke" would have beaten "Great Dancer" had it not been for the interference.


reasonsfordecision:

Having carefully considered all of the evidence, and in particular, the margin of half a head, we take the view that "Mary Burke" did not lose the momentum that Ms Morris believes it did and we do not believe that at any time that "Mary Burke" was prevented from racing competively. The incident happened just after the home turn, and thus the horses in question had almost the entire home straight to battle out to the finish.

It is always a difficult question for a Judicial Committee to determine if the horse that alleges interference would have beaten the horse that caused interference and therefore the standard of the proof is reasonably high. The fact of the matter is that the interference occurred some distance from the winning post. "Mary Burke" had every opportunity to run the leader down. It did not do so and therefore we are not satisfied that it would have won the race had it not been for the interference.


Decision:

The protest is dismissed.


sumissionsforpenalty:


reasonsforpenalty:


penalty:


hearing_type: Protest


Rules: If a placed horse or its Rider causes interference within the meaning of this rule 642 to another placed horse, and the Judicial Committee is of the opinion that the horse so interfered with would have finished ahead of the first mentioned horse had such interference not occurred, they may place the first mentioned horse immediately after the horse interfered with., Rule 642(1)


Informant: R McKay - Licensed Trainer of MARY BURKE


JockeysandTrainer:


Otherperson:


PersonPresent: K Wong - Apprentice Jockey, JL Morris - Licensed Jockey, M Zarb - Stipendiary Steward


Respondent: N Ridley - Licensed Trainer of GREAT DANCER


StipendSteward:


raceid: a83e7da9f27f0a5f631623d10106a5aa


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R8


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: f7ff9d1f576a802ba1090b7062fe0d06


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 23/02/2014


meet_title: South Canterbury RC - 23 February 2014


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: south-canterbury-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: KHales


meet_pm1: RMcKenzie


meet_pm2: none


name: South Canterbury RC