Ashburton TC 22 February 2020 – R 10 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA14812
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 22 February 2020
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Meet Committee Member 2:
LYong
Race Date:
2020/02/22
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
Mr Chmiel having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Chmiel’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 23 February 2020 up to and including 1 March 2020 – 2 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period of suspension are NZ Metropolitan TC on 28 February 2020 and Cheviot HRC on 1 March 2020.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, Paper Plus Ashburton Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T S Chmiel, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4) in that Mr Chmiel, as the driver of NIMAH FRANCO in the race, “drove in a manner likely to cause interference when crossing GLENTHORNE (S J Tomlinson) when not sufficiently clear racing into the first bend.”
Mr Chmiel had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and he confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No driver shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the start of the race, a 1609 metres mobile start event. He pointed out NIMAH FRANCO, driven by Mr Chmiel, drawn barrier position 9, the outside of the front row. He showed that Mr Chmiel, after the start, had gone from that outside barrier position and shifted down. As he did so, GLENTHORNE, driven by Miss Tomlinson, which had gone forward from barrier position 4, was crowded for racing room. The runners to her inside, PERAKI REACTOR (T M Williams) and I’M JIMMY JAMES (B M Williamson), drawn barrier positions 3 and 2 respectively, were also crowded. Mr Chmiel had come in when not sufficiently clear of Miss Tomlinson. Fortunately, Mr Renault said, no horse had galloped and there was no contact, but Mr Chmiel made it “very awkward” for Miss Tomlinson and the other two runners.
He pointed out Mr Chmiel reacting as his horse got close to Miss Tomlinson. He had come from a position wide on the track and had crossed too quickly, which had put his horse very close to the front legs of Miss Tomlinson’s runner.
Mr Chmiel said that his horse was going to cross the field easily. He turned his whip to give it a “tap” because it went to pull up passing Miss Tomlinson, which made it look worse than it was. He stressed that he did not touch any other runner and no horse galloped.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault told the hearing that Mr Chmiel has had 148 drives this season and, in the 2018/2019 season had 215 drives. He has a clear record under the rule.
The starting point under the Penalty Guide, Mr Renault said, is a 6-drives suspension or a $300 fine. Stewards were submitting that a 6-drives suspension is an appropriate penalty which, in Mr Chmiel’s case, is the equivalent of 2 days.
Mr Renault submitted that the consequences of Mr Chmiel’s actions were low-range, his actions and the speed with which he came across were such that interference was likely to be caused. In that respect, the breach was mid-range, Mr Renault said.
Mr Chmiel told the Committee that he did not wish to seek a deferment of any term of suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee noted the starting point for a breach of the rule as pointed out by Mr Renault. Fortunately for Mr Chmiel, there were no real consequences of his actions and, for that reason, the Committee assessed the breach as being mid-range, for which the starting point of a 6-drives suspension was appropriate. We were told that, for Mr Chmiel, this would amount to 2 days. There were some mitigating factors – Mr Chmiel’s good record and his admission of the breach – but, in the view of the Committee, these did not warrant it imposing a lesser penalty than a 2-days suspension in the circumstances.
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: 7eb4793b3a3e9849d2765db57991b8f6
informantnumber: A13120
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Driving in Manner Likely to Interfere
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/02/2020
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 22 February 2020 - R 10 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, Paper Plus Ashburton Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T S Chmiel, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4) in that Mr Chmiel, as the driver of NIMAH FRANCO in the race, “drove in a manner likely to cause interference when crossing GLENTHORNE (S J Tomlinson) when not sufficiently clear racing into the first bend.”
Mr Chmiel had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and he confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No driver shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
Mr Renault showed video replays of the start of the race, a 1609 metres mobile start event. He pointed out NIMAH FRANCO, driven by Mr Chmiel, drawn barrier position 9, the outside of the front row. He showed that Mr Chmiel, after the start, had gone from that outside barrier position and shifted down. As he did so, GLENTHORNE, driven by Miss Tomlinson, which had gone forward from barrier position 4, was crowded for racing room. The runners to her inside, PERAKI REACTOR (T M Williams) and I’M JIMMY JAMES (B M Williamson), drawn barrier positions 3 and 2 respectively, were also crowded. Mr Chmiel had come in when not sufficiently clear of Miss Tomlinson. Fortunately, Mr Renault said, no horse had galloped and there was no contact, but Mr Chmiel made it “very awkward” for Miss Tomlinson and the other two runners.
He pointed out Mr Chmiel reacting as his horse got close to Miss Tomlinson. He had come from a position wide on the track and had crossed too quickly, which had put his horse very close to the front legs of Miss Tomlinson’s runner.
Mr Chmiel said that his horse was going to cross the field easily. He turned his whip to give it a “tap” because it went to pull up passing Miss Tomlinson, which made it look worse than it was. He stressed that he did not touch any other runner and no horse galloped.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Chmiel having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault told the hearing that Mr Chmiel has had 148 drives this season and, in the 2018/2019 season had 215 drives. He has a clear record under the rule.
The starting point under the Penalty Guide, Mr Renault said, is a 6-drives suspension or a $300 fine. Stewards were submitting that a 6-drives suspension is an appropriate penalty which, in Mr Chmiel’s case, is the equivalent of 2 days.
Mr Renault submitted that the consequences of Mr Chmiel’s actions were low-range, his actions and the speed with which he came across were such that interference was likely to be caused. In that respect, the breach was mid-range, Mr Renault said.
Mr Chmiel told the Committee that he did not wish to seek a deferment of any term of suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee noted the starting point for a breach of the rule as pointed out by Mr Renault. Fortunately for Mr Chmiel, there were no real consequences of his actions and, for that reason, the Committee assessed the breach as being mid-range, for which the starting point of a 6-drives suspension was appropriate. We were told that, for Mr Chmiel, this would amount to 2 days. There were some mitigating factors – Mr Chmiel’s good record and his admission of the breach – but, in the view of the Committee, these did not warrant it imposing a lesser penalty than a 2-days suspension in the circumstances.
penalty:
Mr Chmiel’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on 23 February 2020 up to and including 1 March 2020 – 2 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period of suspension are NZ Metropolitan TC on 28 February 2020 and Cheviot HRC on 1 March 2020.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(4)
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: T S Chmiel, Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 348b38c1f970cfd7bf4ffc0b0bce44b8
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 2bfffe1e71cd59cfeec67c1572ebe910
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/02/2020
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 22 February 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: LYong
name: Ashburton TC