Back to decisions search

Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

Wellington RC 16 April 2011 – R8

ID: JCA14496

Applicant:
R Neal Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
K Smith - Licensed Jockey

Information Number:
5298

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 16 April 2011

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams

Race Date:
2011/04/16

Race Number:
R8

Decision:

As the charge was admitted it was found to be proved. 

Penalty:

Taking into account Mr Smith's riding engagements he is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday April 23rd up to and including Thursday April 28th.

Charge:

Following race 8 Mr K Smith was charged with careless riding under Rule 638(1)(d). The information stated K Smith the rider of NOWUCIA allowed his mount to shift in when not clear of LORD FALCON (H Tinsley), INTRANSIGENT(L Whelan) and SHOW THE BEEL (S Collett) tightening those runners shortly after the start. 

Facts:

Mr Neal showed the head-on and side-on films of the incident which occurred soon after the start. Mr Smith had drawn a wide barrier and was attempting to get his mount over closer to the rail. In doing so he dictated the line of LORD FALCON when barely one length clear of Mr Tinsley, which caused tightening to two horses in behind.

Mr Smith freely admitted that he was at fault for crossing when not the required two lengths clear but he asked the committee to look again at the head-on film of the start. He pointed to Mr Stam's mount which jumped from barrier 2 and showed how it had moved outwards at about the same time as Mr Smith was coming inwards. It was his opinion that it may have contributed to the tightening that occured.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Neal produced Mr Smith's riding record which showed one charge of careless riding in the previous 12 months in October last year. He said the stewards considered this breach to be at the lower end of carelessness as all the horses were trying to establish racing positions and it was not an abrupt movement by Mr Smith. It was an error of judgement and his submission was for a period of suspension towards the lower end.
Mr Smith agreed that he had made an error of judgement but explained to the committee that the weather conditions had made visibility a problem and also that Mr Stam's mount may have contributed.
Mr Smith advised that he had riding comitments next Saturday at Hawkes Bay being engaged to ride SPIRO.

Reasons for Penalty:

The committee had regard to all of the submissions put before it. It was our opinion that a suspension was an appropriate penalty. Mr Smith came across from the start when not sufficiently clear of one runner which caused jostling and tightening to two others. Ms Collett on SHOW THE BEEL was the most affected losing ground and her rightful position in the field.
We adopted a starting point for suspension of 5 days but gave credit to Mr Smith for his full and frank admission of the breach, his very good riding record and the degree of carelesssness. Whilst 3 horses were affected it happened early in the race when it is not uncommon for general tightening to occur as all riders are seeking the best racing positions. We also accept that the weather conditions may have affected Mr Smith's visibility and contributed to his error of judgement. For these reasons we placed his carelessness at the lower end and imposed a three day suspension.

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: 8a163808b47a1bd219a71d29f33cf2d2

informantnumber: 5298

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea: admitted

penaltyrequired: 1

decisiondate: 14/04/2011

hearing_title: Wellington RC 16 April 2011 - R8

charge:

Following race 8 Mr K Smith was charged with careless riding under Rule 638(1)(d). The information stated K Smith the rider of NOWUCIA allowed his mount to shift in when not clear of LORD FALCON (H Tinsley), INTRANSIGENT(L Whelan) and SHOW THE BEEL (S Collett) tightening those runners shortly after the start. 

facts:

Mr Neal showed the head-on and side-on films of the incident which occurred soon after the start. Mr Smith had drawn a wide barrier and was attempting to get his mount over closer to the rail. In doing so he dictated the line of LORD FALCON when barely one length clear of Mr Tinsley, which caused tightening to two horses in behind.

Mr Smith freely admitted that he was at fault for crossing when not the required two lengths clear but he asked the committee to look again at the head-on film of the start. He pointed to Mr Stam's mount which jumped from barrier 2 and showed how it had moved outwards at about the same time as Mr Smith was coming inwards. It was his opinion that it may have contributed to the tightening that occured.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

As the charge was admitted it was found to be proved. 

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Neal produced Mr Smith's riding record which showed one charge of careless riding in the previous 12 months in October last year. He said the stewards considered this breach to be at the lower end of carelessness as all the horses were trying to establish racing positions and it was not an abrupt movement by Mr Smith. It was an error of judgement and his submission was for a period of suspension towards the lower end.
Mr Smith agreed that he had made an error of judgement but explained to the committee that the weather conditions had made visibility a problem and also that Mr Stam's mount may have contributed.
Mr Smith advised that he had riding comitments next Saturday at Hawkes Bay being engaged to ride SPIRO.

reasonsforpenalty:

The committee had regard to all of the submissions put before it. It was our opinion that a suspension was an appropriate penalty. Mr Smith came across from the start when not sufficiently clear of one runner which caused jostling and tightening to two others. Ms Collett on SHOW THE BEEL was the most affected losing ground and her rightful position in the field.
We adopted a starting point for suspension of 5 days but gave credit to Mr Smith for his full and frank admission of the breach, his very good riding record and the degree of carelesssness. Whilst 3 horses were affected it happened early in the race when it is not uncommon for general tightening to occur as all riders are seeking the best racing positions. We also accept that the weather conditions may have affected Mr Smith's visibility and contributed to his error of judgement. For these reasons we placed his carelessness at the lower end and imposed a three day suspension.

penalty:

Taking into account Mr Smith's riding engagements he is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday April 23rd up to and including Thursday April 28th.

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 638(1)(d)

Informant: R Neal Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: K Smith - Licensed Jockey

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: 6b6e33b78e3ef81ff2a46cbe4dabc44d

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: 35095e1a6aec94b9581953174051039f

meet_expapproval: approved

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 16/04/2011

meet_title: Wellington RC - 16 April 2011

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "kmprice": 186.0, "MemberID": "NMoffatt", "Member": "", "KMs": "300", "OtherExpenses": "0", "Total": "186.0", "MemberRole": "Chair ", "Approved": "on"}, {"Comment": [], "kmprice": 37.200000000000003, "MemberID": "PWilliams", "Member": "", "KMs": "60", "OtherExpenses": "0", "Total": "37.2", "MemberRole": "Panel member 1 ", "Approved": "on"}]

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: wellington-rc

meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

meet_chair: NMoffatt

meet_pm1: PWilliams

meet_pm2: none

name: Wellington RC