Forbury Park TC 16 December 2015 – R 5 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA13791
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 16 December 2015
Meet Chair:
GHall
Race Date:
2015/12/16
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As Ms Young admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
Penalty:
Ms Young is fined the sum of $300 and reminded of her professional obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
Facts:
Mr Allison alleged that with approximately 2200 metres to run in race 5, the BRENT LUCAS BUILDERS JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, Ms Young (ARTICULIGHT) shifted ground outwards and struck the sulky tyre of BETTOR’S AVENUE (Mr C Ferguson).
Mr Allison demonstrated on the video that shortly after the start ARTICULIGHT broke for a few strides before settling back into a pace. The horse settled 3 back and one off the fence behind BETTOR’S AVENUE. Ms Young pulled ARTICULIGHT out to progress around BETTOR’S AVENUE and in so doing the near foreleg of ARTICULIGHT came into contact with the cart of BETTOR’S AVENUE. Unfortunately, this is not demonstrated on the video as the angle is such that a pole has obscured the wheel of BETTOR’S AVENUE’s cart at the relevant time. Mr Allison pointed out that Mr Ferguson from that point on looked down at his wheel a few times, and eventually the tyre deflates. Mr Ferguson finished 5th and he stated when questioned by Mr Allison after the race that he believed ARTICULIGHT had struck his wheel 2 or 3 times.
Ms Young said ARTICULIGHT was a very difficult horse to drive. The horse was pulling and hanging on the first bend and had been “volatile” right from the start. She said she had deliberately eased ARTICULIGHT out quietly and had not realised she had came into contact with Mr Ferguson’s wheel. She thought she must have just brushed it and was surprised that ARTICULIGHT had not gone rough as a consequence. She said the horse “goes better when in front”.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Allison described the breach as being at the low end of careless driving. He acknowledged ARTICULIGHT was a difficult horse to drive and that the respondent had only “barely touched the wheel”. He produced her record, which was very good except for the fact she had a recent breach of the driving in a manner likely to cause interference rule at Geraldine on 28 November last when she was fined $300. She was a busy driver and had 110 drives last season and 52 this.
He emphasised Ms Young had admitted the breach and had co-operated with the Stewards. He submitted a penalty of 1 day’s suspension and a fine of $150 was appropriate.
Ms Young submitted a fine was appropriate. When questioned by the Committee as to the circumstances of the previous breach, she said she had allowed her horse to drift out in the straight and had taken the running line of another horse. Mr Allison confirmed this and agreed it was a breach of a different type to that before the Committee.
Ms Young submitted that a fine was the appropriate penalty, given her driving commitments. Mr Chmiel emphasised that it was in the interests of junior drivers that they obtain experience through being out on the track and he also submitted that a fine be imposed.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 3 days’ suspension or in Ms Young’s case having regard to the fact that she has on average 3 drives a meeting, a fine of $450.
Ms Young has commitments in junior driver races at Winton and has forthcoming drives at Rangiora, although driver declarations are not until Friday for Rangiora.
Mr Allison has submitted that a combination of a fine and suspension is appropriate. There is agreement the breach is right at the bottom end of carelessness. Ms Young has co-operated with the Stewards and has admitted the breach in circumstances where the video evidence was inconclusive. Her movement outwards on ARTICULIGHT was gradual and the contact with the wheel of BETTOR’S AVENUE was slight, although enough to adversely affect the chances of that horse in that the tyre eventually deflated as the race continued.
In these circumstances the Committee believes a fine is the appropriate penalty.
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: 65476bfc4e7dd7055a920001ea8564f9
informantnumber: 1441
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/12/2015
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 16 December 2015 - R 5 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Allison alleged that with approximately 2200 metres to run in race 5, the BRENT LUCAS BUILDERS JUNIOR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, Ms Young (ARTICULIGHT) shifted ground outwards and struck the sulky tyre of BETTOR’S AVENUE (Mr C Ferguson).
Mr Allison demonstrated on the video that shortly after the start ARTICULIGHT broke for a few strides before settling back into a pace. The horse settled 3 back and one off the fence behind BETTOR’S AVENUE. Ms Young pulled ARTICULIGHT out to progress around BETTOR’S AVENUE and in so doing the near foreleg of ARTICULIGHT came into contact with the cart of BETTOR’S AVENUE. Unfortunately, this is not demonstrated on the video as the angle is such that a pole has obscured the wheel of BETTOR’S AVENUE’s cart at the relevant time. Mr Allison pointed out that Mr Ferguson from that point on looked down at his wheel a few times, and eventually the tyre deflates. Mr Ferguson finished 5th and he stated when questioned by Mr Allison after the race that he believed ARTICULIGHT had struck his wheel 2 or 3 times.
Ms Young said ARTICULIGHT was a very difficult horse to drive. The horse was pulling and hanging on the first bend and had been “volatile” right from the start. She said she had deliberately eased ARTICULIGHT out quietly and had not realised she had came into contact with Mr Ferguson’s wheel. She thought she must have just brushed it and was surprised that ARTICULIGHT had not gone rough as a consequence. She said the horse “goes better when in front”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Young admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Allison described the breach as being at the low end of careless driving. He acknowledged ARTICULIGHT was a difficult horse to drive and that the respondent had only “barely touched the wheel”. He produced her record, which was very good except for the fact she had a recent breach of the driving in a manner likely to cause interference rule at Geraldine on 28 November last when she was fined $300. She was a busy driver and had 110 drives last season and 52 this.
He emphasised Ms Young had admitted the breach and had co-operated with the Stewards. He submitted a penalty of 1 day’s suspension and a fine of $150 was appropriate.
Ms Young submitted a fine was appropriate. When questioned by the Committee as to the circumstances of the previous breach, she said she had allowed her horse to drift out in the straight and had taken the running line of another horse. Mr Allison confirmed this and agreed it was a breach of a different type to that before the Committee.
Ms Young submitted that a fine was the appropriate penalty, given her driving commitments. Mr Chmiel emphasised that it was in the interests of junior drivers that they obtain experience through being out on the track and he also submitted that a fine be imposed.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 3 days’ suspension or in Ms Young’s case having regard to the fact that she has on average 3 drives a meeting, a fine of $450.
Ms Young has commitments in junior driver races at Winton and has forthcoming drives at Rangiora, although driver declarations are not until Friday for Rangiora.
Mr Allison has submitted that a combination of a fine and suspension is appropriate. There is agreement the breach is right at the bottom end of carelessness. Ms Young has co-operated with the Stewards and has admitted the breach in circumstances where the video evidence was inconclusive. Her movement outwards on ARTICULIGHT was gradual and the contact with the wheel of BETTOR’S AVENUE was slight, although enough to adversely affect the chances of that horse in that the tyre eventually deflated as the race continued.
In these circumstances the Committee believes a fine is the appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Ms Young is fined the sum of $300 and reminded of her professional obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms J Young - Junior Horsewoman
Otherperson: Mr T Chmiel - Open Horseman assisting Ms Young
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c30e491eaf4055aa1dbb5e2f07e7c8cf
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
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meetdate: 16/12/2015
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 16 December 2015
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: none
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name: Forbury Park TC