NZ Metro TC 24 August 2017 – R 4 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA15035
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 24 August 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2017/08/24
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
The charge was dismissed.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Peninsular Beachfront Resort Mooloolaba Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T S Chmiel, alleging that, as the driver of LAYTONS LASS in the race, he “dropped his foot from the sulky footrest and struck the leg of LAYTONS LASS”.
Mr Chmiel was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 867 provides as follows:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Chmiel was the driver of LAYTONS LASS in Race 4. In the run home, one sliding blind had failed to activate. Mr Chmiel made a further attempt to reach the cord and activate the blind but, in doing so, he had “shifted” his foot down from the sulky footrest in a “rigid and forward position” and, in the process of activating the gear, Mr Chmiel’s right foot had come into contact with the right hind leg of LAYTONS LASS., Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Ydgren said that, after questioning Mr Chmiel, Stewards were not satisfied that there had been intent in Mr Chmiel’s actions which would have resulted in a charge of improper driving. He had therefore been charged with a breach of Rule 867.
Mr Ydgren then showed a video replay of the incident. He pointed out Mr Chmiel, driving LAYTONS LASS, 3-wide and challenging for the lead as the field turned for home. Shortly thereafter, Mr Chmiel dropped his right foot from the sulky footrest and, Mr Ydgren submitted, it could clearly be seen that while that foot was down the horse’s hind leg made contact with Mr Chmiel’s foot for a stride.
Mr Ydgren then referred to the wording of the Rule and submitted that Mr Chmiel had breached the Rule. He said that Stewards were lenient in enforcing the Rule because it does assist drivers when they are able to drop a foot to activate gear. Stewards have allowed this in the past but, on this occasion, Mr Chmiel had dropped his foot which remained forward in a rigid position and had made contact with the horse, thus the charge had been brought.
Mr Chmiel explained that the gear cord had got caught around the sulky footrest. To free it, he had to get balanced and his leg had remained straight because of the configuration of the particular sulky. He had to reach forward to grab the cord and, in doing so, had lost his balance. It was not his intention to drop his foot but, in leaning forward and to keep his balance, his foot had dropped from the rest. He submitted that it was “a safety issue” to lean forward and activate the gear to give his horse the best opportunity. He had been preoccupied with finding the cord to pull it and had not worried about where his foot was, he said. It would have been impossible for him to have leaned that far forward and kept both feet in the rests at the same time, he said.
Mr Ydgren said that the main concern of the Stewards was that Mr Chmiel had held his leg forward in a rigid position which was not normal in the case of a driver attempting to activate gear. Mr Chmiel replied by submitting that, because of the position of the bar on the sulky, he was unable to drop his leg straight down and lean forward to activate the gear.
Reasons for Decision:
It was clear from the video replay that Mr Chmiel had dropped his right foot from the sulky footrest and, further, that the hind leg of LAYTONS LASS did strike Mr Chmiel’s foot while it was out of the footrest.
Mr Ydgren conceded from the outset that Mr Chmiel did not intend to make contact with the leg of his horse. Mr Chmiel’s explanation in his defence was that it had been necessary for him to drop his foot as he did to enable him get the necessary leverage and balance to enable him to activate one of the sliding blinds that had failed to activate and the cord of which had become entangled in the silky footrest. He explained to us why it was necessary for him to do this. Mr Chmiel’s explanation was plausible in the light of the video evidence.
In the end we have accepted Mr Chmiel’s explanation for his actions as being reasonable and credible and we are satisfied that his explanation provided a defence to the charge. It was also relevant in the Committee’s decision to dismiss the charge that the dropping of the foot was only momentary – probably for no more than one second.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 9d3965acc9e56d7f8bb3021cf6180e34
informantnumber: A5530
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Foot Out Of Sulky Footrest
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 28/08/2017
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 24 August 2017 - R 4 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Peninsular Beachfront Resort Mooloolaba Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr T S Chmiel, alleging that, as the driver of LAYTONS LASS in the race, he “dropped his foot from the sulky footrest and struck the leg of LAYTONS LASS”.
Mr Chmiel was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 867 provides as follows:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Chmiel was the driver of LAYTONS LASS in Race 4. In the run home, one sliding blind had failed to activate. Mr Chmiel made a further attempt to reach the cord and activate the blind but, in doing so, he had “shifted” his foot down from the sulky footrest in a “rigid and forward position” and, in the process of activating the gear, Mr Chmiel’s right foot had come into contact with the right hind leg of LAYTONS LASS., Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Ydgren said that, after questioning Mr Chmiel, Stewards were not satisfied that there had been intent in Mr Chmiel’s actions which would have resulted in a charge of improper driving. He had therefore been charged with a breach of Rule 867.
Mr Ydgren then showed a video replay of the incident. He pointed out Mr Chmiel, driving LAYTONS LASS, 3-wide and challenging for the lead as the field turned for home. Shortly thereafter, Mr Chmiel dropped his right foot from the sulky footrest and, Mr Ydgren submitted, it could clearly be seen that while that foot was down the horse’s hind leg made contact with Mr Chmiel’s foot for a stride.
Mr Ydgren then referred to the wording of the Rule and submitted that Mr Chmiel had breached the Rule. He said that Stewards were lenient in enforcing the Rule because it does assist drivers when they are able to drop a foot to activate gear. Stewards have allowed this in the past but, on this occasion, Mr Chmiel had dropped his foot which remained forward in a rigid position and had made contact with the horse, thus the charge had been brought.
Mr Chmiel explained that the gear cord had got caught around the sulky footrest. To free it, he had to get balanced and his leg had remained straight because of the configuration of the particular sulky. He had to reach forward to grab the cord and, in doing so, had lost his balance. It was not his intention to drop his foot but, in leaning forward and to keep his balance, his foot had dropped from the rest. He submitted that it was “a safety issue” to lean forward and activate the gear to give his horse the best opportunity. He had been preoccupied with finding the cord to pull it and had not worried about where his foot was, he said. It would have been impossible for him to have leaned that far forward and kept both feet in the rests at the same time, he said.
Mr Ydgren said that the main concern of the Stewards was that Mr Chmiel had held his leg forward in a rigid position which was not normal in the case of a driver attempting to activate gear. Mr Chmiel replied by submitting that, because of the position of the bar on the sulky, he was unable to drop his leg straight down and lean forward to activate the gear.
reasonsfordecision:
It was clear from the video replay that Mr Chmiel had dropped his right foot from the sulky footrest and, further, that the hind leg of LAYTONS LASS did strike Mr Chmiel’s foot while it was out of the footrest.
Mr Ydgren conceded from the outset that Mr Chmiel did not intend to make contact with the leg of his horse. Mr Chmiel’s explanation in his defence was that it had been necessary for him to drop his foot as he did to enable him get the necessary leverage and balance to enable him to activate one of the sliding blinds that had failed to activate and the cord of which had become entangled in the silky footrest. He explained to us why it was necessary for him to do this. Mr Chmiel’s explanation was plausible in the light of the video evidence.
In the end we have accepted Mr Chmiel’s explanation for his actions as being reasonable and credible and we are satisfied that his explanation provided a defence to the charge. It was also relevant in the Committee’s decision to dismiss the charge that the dropping of the foot was only momentary – probably for no more than one second.
Decision:
The charge was dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 867
Informant: Mr N M Ydgren, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: T S Chmiel, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 16c7750b294fb54d8dac15c85e360d82
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 31c201945f6e90ba088a0ddf55c83846
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 24/08/2017
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 24 August 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC