Reefton TC 8 March 2020 – R 12 (request for a ruling) – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA15219
Meet Title:
Reefton TC - 8 March 2020
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2020/03/08
Race Number:
R12
Decision:
The Committee ruled that PRINCE TEKA was not denied a fair start and was a starter in the race.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 12, The Elley Clan Handicap Trot, an information requesting a ruling was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, “to determine whether PRINCE TEKA (C J Markham) was denied a fair start”.
Mr Markham, driver of PRINCE TEKA, was present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 213 provides as follows:
(1) A Stipendiary Steward at any time may scratch from a race or declare ineligible to start in a race until a specific condition is met any horse on all or any of the following grounds:
(j) if a horse was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Quirk said that Stewards had been approached by Mr Markham following Race 12 believing he may have been denied a fair start in the race.
Mr Quirk then showed video replays of the start of the race, a 2500-metres standing start for trotters. He pointed out to the hearing PRINCE TEKA, driven by Mr Markham, which had drawn the outside of the three runners on 10 metres. Mr Quirk said that the horse had shifted in and trotted for a couple of strides and then gone off stride.
Mr S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward, said that Mr Markham had reported that the tape had fallen in front of him and not cleared him properly. His horse had taken fright at it. The concern of Stewards was that there is no evidence to support Mr Markham. The starter had said that the barrier was on the outside fence when he had picked it up after the start. Mr Markham had said that his horse never gallops and had taken fright at something. Mr Renault also said that the starter’s assistant, who had held the 10 metres tape, had not noticed any problem with the release of the tape.
Mr Markham said that it was his opinion that, being hand-held, the barrier strand was not tight enough. The horse had a very good record at beginning from standing starts. The horse had trotted early, but it felt like there was something on the track which the horse had jumped. He suggested that, perhaps, the barrier strand had not quite cleared the track.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee accepts that Mr Markham held a genuine belief that his runner, PRINCE TEKA, had been hindered in some way by the 10-metres barrier strand upon its release. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no video evidence or other evidence to support that belief. No irregularity was discernible from the video replays and the starter’s assistant had reported that the release of the barrier strand was normal. No other driver had reported a problem.
In the absence of any evidence, other than Mr Markham’s belief, the Committee is unable to find that PRINCE TEKA had been denied a fair start.
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: 77c9ee644c31a026c56a6c590defc6ea
informantnumber: A10782
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 13/03/2020
hearing_title: Reefton TC 8 March 2020 - R 12 (request for a ruling) - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 12, The Elley Clan Handicap Trot, an information requesting a ruling was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, “to determine whether PRINCE TEKA (C J Markham) was denied a fair start”.
Mr Markham, driver of PRINCE TEKA, was present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 213 provides as follows:
(1) A Stipendiary Steward at any time may scratch from a race or declare ineligible to start in a race until a specific condition is met any horse on all or any of the following grounds:
(j) if a horse was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Quirk said that Stewards had been approached by Mr Markham following Race 12 believing he may have been denied a fair start in the race.
Mr Quirk then showed video replays of the start of the race, a 2500-metres standing start for trotters. He pointed out to the hearing PRINCE TEKA, driven by Mr Markham, which had drawn the outside of the three runners on 10 metres. Mr Quirk said that the horse had shifted in and trotted for a couple of strides and then gone off stride.
Mr S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward, said that Mr Markham had reported that the tape had fallen in front of him and not cleared him properly. His horse had taken fright at it. The concern of Stewards was that there is no evidence to support Mr Markham. The starter had said that the barrier was on the outside fence when he had picked it up after the start. Mr Markham had said that his horse never gallops and had taken fright at something. Mr Renault also said that the starter’s assistant, who had held the 10 metres tape, had not noticed any problem with the release of the tape.
Mr Markham said that it was his opinion that, being hand-held, the barrier strand was not tight enough. The horse had a very good record at beginning from standing starts. The horse had trotted early, but it felt like there was something on the track which the horse had jumped. He suggested that, perhaps, the barrier strand had not quite cleared the track.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee accepts that Mr Markham held a genuine belief that his runner, PRINCE TEKA, had been hindered in some way by the 10-metres barrier strand upon its release. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no video evidence or other evidence to support that belief. No irregularity was discernible from the video replays and the starter’s assistant had reported that the release of the barrier strand was normal. No other driver had reported a problem.
In the absence of any evidence, other than Mr Markham’s belief, the Committee is unable to find that PRINCE TEKA had been denied a fair start.
Decision:
The Committee ruled that PRINCE TEKA was not denied a fair start and was a starter in the race.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 213(1)(j)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr C Markham - Driver of PRINCE TEKA
Respondent:
StipendSteward: R A Quirk, Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: e219639812cf68423fae8eb8a0136b7f
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R12
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 8229fd1ea3ecbe9cfb41f75737002030
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 08/03/2020
meet_title: Reefton TC - 8 March 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: reefton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Reefton TC