Auckland TC 11 November 2011 – R 4
ID: JCA13842
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 11 November 2011
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2011/11/11
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
The Committee finds the charge proved.
Penalty:
For the reasons set out above we impose a fine of $300.
Charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b) - Careless Driving.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr J Stormont, the driver of “SAMELIA” (8), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b), the Careless Driving Rule.
The Information alleged that:
“Horseman J Stormont drove SAMELIA carelessly striking the sulky wheel of “ABIDE WITH ME” (S Reid) causing his own horse to break with approximately 1300m to run”.
Rule 869(3) (b) provides that:
“No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Mr Stormont indicated to the Judicial Committee (“the Committee”) that he did not admit the breach of the Rule and that he wished to be present at the hearing.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr J Muirhead and Open Horseman Mr S Reid, the driver of ABIDE WITH ME, gave evidence on behalf of the Informant. Mr Muirhead demonstrated the alleged incident by way of video footage. Mr Muirhead said that SAMELIA was following ABIDE WITH ME five back and one out on a steady pace. At about the 1300m mark Mr Stormont eased SAMELIA off the back of ABIDE WITH ME and in doing so hit the back wheel of the sulky causing SAMELIA to break.
Under cross examination Mr Stormont proposed to Mr Muirhead that the incident was a direct result of horses in front of him easing. Mr Muirhead rejected this and stated that in his opinion the pace did not ease.
Mr Reid told the Committee that his horse was racing a little keenly and he felt something hit his sulky wheel, at least once and possibly twice. He said that at that point he did not notice any easing of the pace. Under cross examination Mr Stormont proposed to Mr Reid that some horses react differently to a change of pace. Mr Reid agreed.
Mr Stormont referred to video footage of the incident from the mile mark to the 1300m mark. He told the Committee that at the mile mark SAMELIA was travelling at least two lengths behind the body of the field and that it was able get onto the back of ABIDE WITH ME because the pace eased, and it was a consequence of the pace easing that lead to the collision with the wheel of ABIDE WITH ME.
The Committee asked Mr Stormont if the easing of the pace was the problem, why was it that other horses were not affected. Mr Stormont said that he was worst affected by the easing of the pace because he was at the rear of the field.
Mr Stormont submitted that easing of pace is sometimes not always apparent on video footage and that if sectional times of the race were a better guide. Sectional times were not available to the Committee.
Reasons for Decision:
The fact that SAMELIA ran into the sulky of ABIDE WITH ME and broke is not in dispute. This is clearly evidenced by the video footage of the incident. The issue is whether there was a significant easing of the pace which resulted in or contributed to the incident and Mr Stormont was unable to take any other course of action to avoid the collision.
The Committee is satisfied on the evidence of Mr Muirhead, Mr Reid and our own interpretation of the video footage that there was no significant easing of the pace and that the incident was a result of an error of judgement by Mr Stormont. The Committee feels that even if there was some easing of the pace, Mr Stormont had an obligation to assess this and take the necessary action to avoid colliding with the sulky of ABIDE WITH ME.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the breach was at the mid to low end of severity. Mr Stormont has one previous breach of this Rule on 20/10/11 and was fined $250. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Stormont was a highly experienced Horseman.
Mr Stormont submitted that he would prefer a fine rather than suspension and urged the Committee to take into account the fact that no other horses suffered interference as a result of the incident. He also submitted that SAMELIA was a difficult horse to drive because of its racing manners.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee accepts that breach is at the lower to mid-point in terms of seriousness. We have taken into account the submissions of all parties and the fact that Mr Stormont has one breach of the Rule, but otherwise has a good driving record given the number of drives (44) that he has had this season.
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: 761188bcf759c0a7a80081b91e0d448b
informantnumber: 66823
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/11/2011
hearing_title: Auckland TC 11 November 2011 - R 4
charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 869(3)(b) - Careless Driving.
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Open Horseman Mr J Stormont, the driver of “SAMELIA” (8), alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b), the Careless Driving Rule.
The Information alleged that:
“Horseman J Stormont drove SAMELIA carelessly striking the sulky wheel of “ABIDE WITH ME” (S Reid) causing his own horse to break with approximately 1300m to run”.
Rule 869(3) (b) provides that:
“No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Mr Stormont indicated to the Judicial Committee (“the Committee”) that he did not admit the breach of the Rule and that he wished to be present at the hearing.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr J Muirhead and Open Horseman Mr S Reid, the driver of ABIDE WITH ME, gave evidence on behalf of the Informant. Mr Muirhead demonstrated the alleged incident by way of video footage. Mr Muirhead said that SAMELIA was following ABIDE WITH ME five back and one out on a steady pace. At about the 1300m mark Mr Stormont eased SAMELIA off the back of ABIDE WITH ME and in doing so hit the back wheel of the sulky causing SAMELIA to break.
Under cross examination Mr Stormont proposed to Mr Muirhead that the incident was a direct result of horses in front of him easing. Mr Muirhead rejected this and stated that in his opinion the pace did not ease.
Mr Reid told the Committee that his horse was racing a little keenly and he felt something hit his sulky wheel, at least once and possibly twice. He said that at that point he did not notice any easing of the pace. Under cross examination Mr Stormont proposed to Mr Reid that some horses react differently to a change of pace. Mr Reid agreed.
Mr Stormont referred to video footage of the incident from the mile mark to the 1300m mark. He told the Committee that at the mile mark SAMELIA was travelling at least two lengths behind the body of the field and that it was able get onto the back of ABIDE WITH ME because the pace eased, and it was a consequence of the pace easing that lead to the collision with the wheel of ABIDE WITH ME.
The Committee asked Mr Stormont if the easing of the pace was the problem, why was it that other horses were not affected. Mr Stormont said that he was worst affected by the easing of the pace because he was at the rear of the field.
Mr Stormont submitted that easing of pace is sometimes not always apparent on video footage and that if sectional times of the race were a better guide. Sectional times were not available to the Committee.
reasonsfordecision:
The fact that SAMELIA ran into the sulky of ABIDE WITH ME and broke is not in dispute. This is clearly evidenced by the video footage of the incident. The issue is whether there was a significant easing of the pace which resulted in or contributed to the incident and Mr Stormont was unable to take any other course of action to avoid the collision.
The Committee is satisfied on the evidence of Mr Muirhead, Mr Reid and our own interpretation of the video footage that there was no significant easing of the pace and that the incident was a result of an error of judgement by Mr Stormont. The Committee feels that even if there was some easing of the pace, Mr Stormont had an obligation to assess this and take the necessary action to avoid colliding with the sulky of ABIDE WITH ME.
Decision:
The Committee finds the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the breach was at the mid to low end of severity. Mr Stormont has one previous breach of this Rule on 20/10/11 and was fined $250. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Stormont was a highly experienced Horseman.
Mr Stormont submitted that he would prefer a fine rather than suspension and urged the Committee to take into account the fact that no other horses suffered interference as a result of the incident. He also submitted that SAMELIA was a difficult horse to drive because of its racing manners.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee accepts that breach is at the lower to mid-point in terms of seriousness. We have taken into account the submissions of all parties and the fact that Mr Stormont has one breach of the Rule, but otherwise has a good driving record given the number of drives (44) that he has had this season.
penalty:
For the reasons set out above we impose a fine of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Stormont - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Reid - Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: fcaac1a909db5ac899e49d7fdfd2b919
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 83a83acd05e863bd67db865e91e4ce2e
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 11/11/2011
meet_title: Auckland TC - 11 November 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC