Archive Decision

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Otaki-Maori RC 24 February 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA13488

Applicant:
Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr C Johnson - Senior Rider

Other Person:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8817

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Otaki-Maori RC - 24 February 2018

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
TBird

Race Date:
2018/02/24

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

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

Penalty:

Mr Johnson’s license is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday March 3rd up to and including racing on Wednesday March 14th.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 5 (El Cheapo Cars Raukawa Cup), an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that jockey C Johnson angled his mount outwards when not sufficiently clear of VICTORY DRIVE which was checked approaching the 400m.

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

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

Mr Goodwin asked Mr Oatham to describe the incident using the films. Mr Oatham identified all the runners and used three different views to explain where Mr Johnson had ridden carelessly. Initially Mr Johnson was in a trailing position on the rail but angled outwards seeking a run. Mr Coleman was outside and slightly behind him when Mr Johnson moved outwards. Mr Oatham estimated Mr Johnson to be only ½ - ¾ lengths clear of that runner when he made his run. Mr Coleman had a runner to his outside which allowed him no room to move therefore he was forced to check backwards.

Mr Johnson had nothing further to add, acknowledging that was a fair assessment by the Stewards.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Goodwin described Mr Johnson’s record as good. He has had 4 charges in the previous 12 month period, with two in one day in October, however Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson was one of the busiest riders in the country. The Stewards’ assessment was that today’s breach sat in the low-mid range. According to Mr Coleman his mount was a beaten runner at the time of the interference.

Mr Johnson said he had moved off the rail gradually, a common thing for riders to do. He was aware of Mr Coleman outside of him but as he didn’t call out he assumed that it was safe for him to do so. Mr Coleman checked backwards because there was a runner to his outside and he ran out of room.

Mr Johnson advised of riding commitments through until Saturday March 3rd and asked for a deferment of any suspension until after that day.

Reasons for Penalty:

Mr Johnson moved out in a gradual manner. He admitted being aware of Mr Coleman to his outside but as that rider did not call out to him he assumed his manoeuvre was safe and that Mr Coleman would move wider with him. Mr Johnson was perhaps unlucky that there was a rider outside of Mr Coleman which caused him to become squeezed between two runners. The only option for Mr Coleman was to check backwards. Mr Johnson described his manoeuvre as common amongst riders, however we note he was never the required distance clear of Mr Coleman when he began to angle out. A suspension is an appropriate penalty.

Mr Coleman told the Stewards that the incident did not affect his horse’s chances as it “had run its race”. The Committee assessed the degree of carelessness to be in the low-mid range and adopted a starting point of 7 days suspension.

Mr Johnson admitted the breach and has a reasonably good record in light of the large number of rides he has. The Committee noted that Mr Johnson has had 454 rides this season with only Ms Samantha Collett and Ms Alysha Collett having ridden more. There were no aggravating factors that would require an uplift in penalty.

The Committee allowed a one day reduction in penalty to reflect the mitigating factors, suspending Mr Johnson for six days.

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: 3cd203b28bf88775673df482032f8c32


informantnumber: A8817


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 26/02/2018


hearing_title: Otaki-Maori RC 24 February 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 5 (El Cheapo Cars Raukawa Cup), an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that jockey C Johnson angled his mount outwards when not sufficiently clear of VICTORY DRIVE which was checked approaching the 400m.

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

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

Mr Goodwin asked Mr Oatham to describe the incident using the films. Mr Oatham identified all the runners and used three different views to explain where Mr Johnson had ridden carelessly. Initially Mr Johnson was in a trailing position on the rail but angled outwards seeking a run. Mr Coleman was outside and slightly behind him when Mr Johnson moved outwards. Mr Oatham estimated Mr Johnson to be only ½ - ¾ lengths clear of that runner when he made his run. Mr Coleman had a runner to his outside which allowed him no room to move therefore he was forced to check backwards.

Mr Johnson had nothing further to add, acknowledging that was a fair assessment by the Stewards.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

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


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Goodwin described Mr Johnson’s record as good. He has had 4 charges in the previous 12 month period, with two in one day in October, however Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson was one of the busiest riders in the country. The Stewards’ assessment was that today’s breach sat in the low-mid range. According to Mr Coleman his mount was a beaten runner at the time of the interference.

Mr Johnson said he had moved off the rail gradually, a common thing for riders to do. He was aware of Mr Coleman outside of him but as he didn’t call out he assumed that it was safe for him to do so. Mr Coleman checked backwards because there was a runner to his outside and he ran out of room.

Mr Johnson advised of riding commitments through until Saturday March 3rd and asked for a deferment of any suspension until after that day.


reasonsforpenalty:

Mr Johnson moved out in a gradual manner. He admitted being aware of Mr Coleman to his outside but as that rider did not call out to him he assumed his manoeuvre was safe and that Mr Coleman would move wider with him. Mr Johnson was perhaps unlucky that there was a rider outside of Mr Coleman which caused him to become squeezed between two runners. The only option for Mr Coleman was to check backwards. Mr Johnson described his manoeuvre as common amongst riders, however we note he was never the required distance clear of Mr Coleman when he began to angle out. A suspension is an appropriate penalty.

Mr Coleman told the Stewards that the incident did not affect his horse’s chances as it “had run its race”. The Committee assessed the degree of carelessness to be in the low-mid range and adopted a starting point of 7 days suspension.

Mr Johnson admitted the breach and has a reasonably good record in light of the large number of rides he has. The Committee noted that Mr Johnson has had 454 rides this season with only Ms Samantha Collett and Ms Alysha Collett having ridden more. There were no aggravating factors that would require an uplift in penalty.

The Committee allowed a one day reduction in penalty to reflect the mitigating factors, suspending Mr Johnson for six days.


penalty:

Mr Johnson’s license is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday March 3rd up to and including racing on Wednesday March 14th.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Johnson - Senior Rider


Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 481f0dfdb6fd7d408802a234712eeda7


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 5


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 90c1e5057b33e665bd887ba5a751bbbd


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 24/02/2018


meet_title: Otaki-Maori RC - 24 February 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: otaki-maori-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: TBird


meet_pm2: none


name: Otaki-Maori RC