Westport TC 9 March 2012 – R 7
ID: JCA14621
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 9 March 2012
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2012/03/09
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
Mr Thornley having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Thornley was fined the sum of $150.
Charge:
Gear incorrectly applied.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Westport Motor Hotel Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C D Thornley, alleging a breach of Rule 864 (2) (d) in that, as the driver of RACE CAFE in the race, “the seat on RACE CAFE came adrift during the final stages”.
Mr Thornley was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 864 provides as follows:
(2) Every horseman, owner, trainer and assistant thereof shall with regard to that horse ensure that:-
(d) all gear is correctly applied and/or affixed so as not to malfunction or come adrift.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault said that it was noticed that, in the last 50 metres of the race, the sulky seat of RACE CAFE, driven by Mr Thornley, had come adrift and fallen to the track. Mr Thornley had reported to the Stewards following the race that he had been the person who fitted the seat and he took responsibility for ensuring that it was affixed correctly.
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Thornley had become unbalanced after the seat came adrift but it did not affect his horse’s placing in the race as it was in 4th placing at the time and was not going to finish in a higher position than 4th, where it eventually finished.
Mr Renault said that the charge had been brought by way of information rather than the Minor Infringement System because Mr Thornley had declined to accept the fine of $250 under that Scheme.
Mr Renault showed the incident on video replays.
Mr Thornley said that he had been racing in a different cart because the cart that the trainer had used in Race 2 had received a puncture. Mr Thornley had borrowed another sulky and put the seat on. It happens occasionally that small stones from an all-weather track get into the works when it is screwed on, he said. One does not become aware of this until one sits in the seat. He had gone away and returned. When he put his weight on it, it pushed down and came loose. He tightened it up but could not get it any tighter than he did without returning to the stables and cleaning the stones out completely. He accepted that it was his responsibility to check it when he got in the sulky.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault submitted that no other horse or horseman had been affected in the incident and the Stewards believed that a fine of $250 was excessive. He submitted that a fine “at the lower end of the scale” was appropriate in the circumstances.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee accepted Mr Renault’s submission that a fine of $250 as prescribed by the Minor Infringement System would have been excessive in this case. The Committee gave Mr Thornley credit for his very frank admission of the breach and the fact that he accepted full responsibility for it. Furthermore, there were no consequences to Mr Thornley’s horse or to any other runner in the race. The seat came adrift in the very last stages of the race.
It was a breach at the low end of the scale and the Committee was of the view that a fine of $150 was an adequate 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: 9b208e1f8bde0ee99c76eb81b6204a5e
informantnumber: A5159
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 12/03/2012
hearing_title: Westport TC 9 March 2012 - R 7
charge:
Gear incorrectly applied.
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Westport Motor Hotel Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C D Thornley, alleging a breach of Rule 864 (2) (d) in that, as the driver of RACE CAFE in the race, “the seat on RACE CAFE came adrift during the final stages”.
Mr Thornley was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 864 provides as follows:
(2) Every horseman, owner, trainer and assistant thereof shall with regard to that horse ensure that:-
(d) all gear is correctly applied and/or affixed so as not to malfunction or come adrift.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault said that it was noticed that, in the last 50 metres of the race, the sulky seat of RACE CAFE, driven by Mr Thornley, had come adrift and fallen to the track. Mr Thornley had reported to the Stewards following the race that he had been the person who fitted the seat and he took responsibility for ensuring that it was affixed correctly.
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Thornley had become unbalanced after the seat came adrift but it did not affect his horse’s placing in the race as it was in 4th placing at the time and was not going to finish in a higher position than 4th, where it eventually finished.
Mr Renault said that the charge had been brought by way of information rather than the Minor Infringement System because Mr Thornley had declined to accept the fine of $250 under that Scheme.
Mr Renault showed the incident on video replays.
Mr Thornley said that he had been racing in a different cart because the cart that the trainer had used in Race 2 had received a puncture. Mr Thornley had borrowed another sulky and put the seat on. It happens occasionally that small stones from an all-weather track get into the works when it is screwed on, he said. One does not become aware of this until one sits in the seat. He had gone away and returned. When he put his weight on it, it pushed down and came loose. He tightened it up but could not get it any tighter than he did without returning to the stables and cleaning the stones out completely. He accepted that it was his responsibility to check it when he got in the sulky.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Thornley having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault submitted that no other horse or horseman had been affected in the incident and the Stewards believed that a fine of $250 was excessive. He submitted that a fine “at the lower end of the scale” was appropriate in the circumstances.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee accepted Mr Renault’s submission that a fine of $250 as prescribed by the Minor Infringement System would have been excessive in this case. The Committee gave Mr Thornley credit for his very frank admission of the breach and the fact that he accepted full responsibility for it. Furthermore, there were no consequences to Mr Thornley’s horse or to any other runner in the race. The seat came adrift in the very last stages of the race.
It was a breach at the low end of the scale and the Committee was of the view that a fine of $150 was an adequate penalty.
penalty:
Mr Thornley was fined the sum of $150.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 864(2)(d)
Informant: S P Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: C D Thornley - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 04d16884028c81a1c28fa91a57cc4daa
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0b128c2c819afc8855f93951e2348a62
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 09/03/2012
meet_title: Westport TC - 9 March 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC