Archive Decision

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Rangiora HRC 14 April 2019 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie

ID: JCA15361

Applicant:
R A Quirk, Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
C B Ford, Licensed Open Driver

Other Person:
S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8912

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Driving

Rules:
869(3)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 14 April 2019

Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 1:
OJarvis

Race Date:
2019/04/14

Race Number:
R2

Decision:

Mr Ford having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Ford is fined the sum of $300.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 2, Peter Smith FFA Mobile Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr C B Ford, alleging that Mr Ford, as the driver of MARCOOLA in the race, “drove carelessly near the 450 metres when allowing his horse to strike the sulky wheel of HABIBI INTA (B N Orange) resulting in his horse breaking”.

Mr Ford had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing and he confirmed that the breach was admitted.

Rule 869 provides as follows:

(3) No horseman in any race shall drive-
     (b) carelessly.

Mr Quirk had Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, show video replays of the incident, with approximately 450 metres to run. Mr Quirk pointed out MARCOOLA, driven by Mr Ford, racing three places back in the one-out line in the six-horse field, following HABIBI INTA, driven by Mr Orange, passing the 500 metres.

Mr Quirk then showed that Mr Ford allowed MARCOOLA to get too close to the sulky wheel of HABIBI INTA, the horse striking the wheel with its off foreleg. The horse went into a break and lost its chance in the race.

Mr Ford did not wish to say anything about the incident. The videos were quite clear, he said.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Quirk referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 6-drives suspension or a fine of $300. Mr Ford had a clear record, he said. He has had 7 drives this season and, last season, he had 12 drives, Mr Quirk said.

Mr Quirk submitted that the Committee should consider as an aggravating factor that MARCOOLA had been the favourite for the race and had lost its chances as a consequence of striking the wheel.

Mr Ford did not wish to make any submission in relation to penalty, other than to say that he was only a part-time driver and to express a preference for a fine over a term of suspension. 

Reasons for Penalty:

The Penalty Guide starting point for careless driving hitting a wheel is a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine. The Committee did not consider that a suspension was appropriate in this case. We regard the consequences of the breach – MARCOOLA, the race favourite, galloped and lost its chance in the race – as an aggravating factor, warranting an uplift, which we fixed at $100.

Mitigating factors are Mr Ford’s very frank admission of the breach and his previous good record under the Rule. For these factors, we give Mr Ford a discount of $100 from the adjusted starting point of $400.

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: 899d1dba14475a173257eade2bb2037e


informantnumber: A8912


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 17/04/2019


hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 14 April 2019 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 2, Peter Smith FFA Mobile Trot, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr C B Ford, alleging that Mr Ford, as the driver of MARCOOLA in the race, “drove carelessly near the 450 metres when allowing his horse to strike the sulky wheel of HABIBI INTA (B N Orange) resulting in his horse breaking”.

Mr Ford had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing and he confirmed that the breach was admitted.

Rule 869 provides as follows:

(3) No horseman in any race shall drive-
     (b) carelessly.

Mr Quirk had Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, show video replays of the incident, with approximately 450 metres to run. Mr Quirk pointed out MARCOOLA, driven by Mr Ford, racing three places back in the one-out line in the six-horse field, following HABIBI INTA, driven by Mr Orange, passing the 500 metres.

Mr Quirk then showed that Mr Ford allowed MARCOOLA to get too close to the sulky wheel of HABIBI INTA, the horse striking the wheel with its off foreleg. The horse went into a break and lost its chance in the race.

Mr Ford did not wish to say anything about the incident. The videos were quite clear, he said.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Ford having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Quirk referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 6-drives suspension or a fine of $300. Mr Ford had a clear record, he said. He has had 7 drives this season and, last season, he had 12 drives, Mr Quirk said.

Mr Quirk submitted that the Committee should consider as an aggravating factor that MARCOOLA had been the favourite for the race and had lost its chances as a consequence of striking the wheel.

Mr Ford did not wish to make any submission in relation to penalty, other than to say that he was only a part-time driver and to express a preference for a fine over a term of suspension. 


reasonsforpenalty:

The Penalty Guide starting point for careless driving hitting a wheel is a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine. The Committee did not consider that a suspension was appropriate in this case. We regard the consequences of the breach – MARCOOLA, the race favourite, galloped and lost its chance in the race – as an aggravating factor, warranting an uplift, which we fixed at $100.

Mitigating factors are Mr Ford’s very frank admission of the breach and his previous good record under the Rule. For these factors, we give Mr Ford a discount of $100 from the adjusted starting point of $400.


penalty:

Mr Ford is fined the sum of $300.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869(3)(b)


Informant: R A Quirk, Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: C B Ford, Licensed Open Driver


Otherperson: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 97edd73d7a2c96e00885af9d33aecad5


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R2


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 072f43e58dd18ccc18ce947b4bdf4168


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 14/04/2019


meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 14 April 2019


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: rangiora-hrc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: RMcKenzie


meet_pm1: OJarvis


meet_pm2: none


name: Rangiora HRC