Counties RC 12 March 2021 – R 4 – Chair, Mr A Smith
ID: JCA14059
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Counties RC - 12 March 2021
Meet Chair:
ASmith
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2021/03/12
Race Number:
r6
Decision:
As Mr Weatherley admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Weatherley is fined $200.
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of race 4, the Dunstan Horse Feeds Maiden 1200. Stipendiary Steward, Mr Coles filed an Information pursuant to Rule 330(3)(a) alleging that Mr Weatherley wilfully broke a riding engagement on “DEAR OH DEAR”
Mr Weatherley acknowledged he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 330(3)(a) provides: A Rider shall not wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement.
Mr Coles explained to the Committee that after arriving on course Mr Weatherley approached the Stipendiary Stewards and requested that he wished to break his riding engagement on the horse DEAR OH DEAR, due to concerns regarding its racing manners. The Stipendiary Stewards granted Mr Weatherley his request but advised that he would be charged under Rule 330(3)(a).
Mr Weatherley explained that Mr A Rodley was his Riding Manager and had accepted the ride on his behalf to ride the horse “DEAR OH DEAR”. which was having its first raceday start. Mr Weatherley said it was common practice for Mr Rodley to accept and confirm rides on his behalf.
After arriving on course Mr Weatherley said he was approached by several riders and was asked as to why he accepted the ride on DEAR OH DEAR as the horse had behaved badly in previous trials and was dangerous. Mr Weatherley made further enquiries and formed the opinion that riding the horse would be a risk to his personal safety and he sought to break his riding engagement. Mr Weatherley also added that had he known prior, the horse had poor manners he would never had accepted the ride, he only did so on the advice of his Racing Manager. He said he felt sorry for the Connections but his choice to break his engagement was based on his own personal safety.
The Committee asked Mr Coles if DEAR OH DEAR had previously been bought to the attention of the Stewards in relation to its manners. Mr Coles advised that he personally had not received any prior advice as to the racing manners of DEAR OH DEAR but the horse was based in the Waikato.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Coles advised that Mr Weatherley had not had a breach of this Rule previously and submitted that a monetary penalty in the vicinity of $100-$200 would be appropriate.
Mr Weatherley had no submissions in regard to penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the Committee referred to the JCA guidelines which had a starting point of a $200 fine.
While the Committee does have some sympathy for Mr Weatherley’s position in that his Riding Manager, Mr Rodley accepted the ride on his behalf, this needs to be balanced against the fact that the Public and Connections would have expected Mr Weatherley to take the mount he was engaged for. The Committee did have regard for his health and safety concerns which we accept as being paramount.
On this occasion the Committee can see no aggravating factors and we apply no uplift.
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: 92878775ac48877af75c61853e6cf2eb
informantnumber: A13839
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breaking of Riding Engagement
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/03/2021
hearing_title: Counties RC 12 March 2021 – R 4 – Chair, Mr A Smith
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of race 4, the Dunstan Horse Feeds Maiden 1200. Stipendiary Steward, Mr Coles filed an Information pursuant to Rule 330(3)(a) alleging that Mr Weatherley wilfully broke a riding engagement on “DEAR OH DEAR”
Mr Weatherley acknowledged he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 330(3)(a) provides: A Rider shall not wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement.
Mr Coles explained to the Committee that after arriving on course Mr Weatherley approached the Stipendiary Stewards and requested that he wished to break his riding engagement on the horse DEAR OH DEAR, due to concerns regarding its racing manners. The Stipendiary Stewards granted Mr Weatherley his request but advised that he would be charged under Rule 330(3)(a).
Mr Weatherley explained that Mr A Rodley was his Riding Manager and had accepted the ride on his behalf to ride the horse “DEAR OH DEAR”. which was having its first raceday start. Mr Weatherley said it was common practice for Mr Rodley to accept and confirm rides on his behalf.
After arriving on course Mr Weatherley said he was approached by several riders and was asked as to why he accepted the ride on DEAR OH DEAR as the horse had behaved badly in previous trials and was dangerous. Mr Weatherley made further enquiries and formed the opinion that riding the horse would be a risk to his personal safety and he sought to break his riding engagement. Mr Weatherley also added that had he known prior, the horse had poor manners he would never had accepted the ride, he only did so on the advice of his Racing Manager. He said he felt sorry for the Connections but his choice to break his engagement was based on his own personal safety.
The Committee asked Mr Coles if DEAR OH DEAR had previously been bought to the attention of the Stewards in relation to its manners. Mr Coles advised that he personally had not received any prior advice as to the racing manners of DEAR OH DEAR but the horse was based in the Waikato.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Weatherley admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Coles advised that Mr Weatherley had not had a breach of this Rule previously and submitted that a monetary penalty in the vicinity of $100-$200 would be appropriate.
Mr Weatherley had no submissions in regard to penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the Committee referred to the JCA guidelines which had a starting point of a $200 fine.
While the Committee does have some sympathy for Mr Weatherley’s position in that his Riding Manager, Mr Rodley accepted the ride on his behalf, this needs to be balanced against the fact that the Public and Connections would have expected Mr Weatherley to take the mount he was engaged for. The Committee did have regard for his health and safety concerns which we accept as being paramount.
On this occasion the Committee can see no aggravating factors and we apply no uplift.
penalty:
Mr Weatherley is fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 330(3)(a)
Informant: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S Weatherley - Class A Rider
Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d79f740796a5d3f60ffca717691c80c0
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: r6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 25454647f2e9efff3b04088dde97fe14
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/03/2021
meet_title: Counties RC - 12 March 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: counties-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ASmith
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Counties RC