R Te Aroha 28 September 2012 – R 6 (request for a ruling)
ID: JCA15365
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Racing Te Aroha - 28 September 2012
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
RSeabrook
Race Date:
2012/09/28
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
Accordingly, for the reasons outlined above the committee declares GRONYX to be a non starter. We order that all bets placed on the horse be refunded.
Facts:
Following race 6, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 632 .The informant, Mr Colgan requested a ruling as to whether GRONYX was denied a fair start.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Colgan informed the committee that his intention was to ride GRONYX handy in the running. However immediately upon the gates opening, his gate swung back hitting his mount in the head causing him to lose 3 to 4 lengths.
Mr Ormsby told the committee that when GRONYX has gone to jump the gate has swung back and hit his horse in the head. He believed this cost his horse 5 lengths.
Mr Moroney confirmed the evidence of Mr Colgan and Mr Ormsby.
Mr Oatham when asked for his assessment advised the committee that he believed the gate opened correctly. He was of the opinion that Mr Grylls' mount HEZ COOL who was on the outside of Mr Colgan began very awkwardly making contact with the side of its barrier stall which was forced inwards striking GRONYX in the head region. He added the incident was not due to mechanical failure of the starting stalls, but more to the design of the gates.
Mr Colgan in summing after reviewing the films accepted that the starting gate did open correctly but would leave it to the committee to determine if his mount was denied a fair start.
Reasons for Decision:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence submitted and reviewed the video films on numerous occasions frame by frame to establish the reason for GRONYX losing several lengths at the start. It was noted that there was a barrier attendant up with the horse prior to the horse jumping but the committee is satisfied that the attendant had no bearing on the incident. It was also evident that the horse was not fractious in the gates and jumped cleanly when the gates opened. The films clearly showed that as the gates opened the horse GRONYX received a severe hit to the head caused by the left starting gate arm swinging back. However, it could not be established on the films whether this was caused by HEZ COOL who had drawn directly outside GRONYX jumping awkwardly or by the barrier gate arm swinging back by it's own accord. The committee then referred to rule 632 which we analysed carefully. Firstly we are satisfied that the gate issue was not due to mechanical failure of the starting stalls. However, the committee placed emphasis on the second section of the rule which states "If in the opinion of the Judicial Committee a horse which is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away by it's own accord) the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non starter. The committee is satisfied that GRONYX was denied a fair start which was not due to it's own accord. It is clear that the horse’s chances were materially prejudiced as he lost 4 to 5 lengths as a result of receiving a severe hit to the head from the left barrier arm and was a clear last on settling. From that point on it was noticeable that GRONYX finished the race off strongly to be in 6th position and approximately 5 lengths from the winner at the finish.
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: 8a08cd743014175a85467959907f1151
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 05/09/2012
hearing_title: R Te Aroha 28 September 2012 - R 6 (request for a ruling)
charge:
facts:
Following race 6, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 632 .The informant, Mr Colgan requested a ruling as to whether GRONYX was denied a fair start.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Colgan informed the committee that his intention was to ride GRONYX handy in the running. However immediately upon the gates opening, his gate swung back hitting his mount in the head causing him to lose 3 to 4 lengths.
Mr Ormsby told the committee that when GRONYX has gone to jump the gate has swung back and hit his horse in the head. He believed this cost his horse 5 lengths.
Mr Moroney confirmed the evidence of Mr Colgan and Mr Ormsby.
Mr Oatham when asked for his assessment advised the committee that he believed the gate opened correctly. He was of the opinion that Mr Grylls' mount HEZ COOL who was on the outside of Mr Colgan began very awkwardly making contact with the side of its barrier stall which was forced inwards striking GRONYX in the head region. He added the incident was not due to mechanical failure of the starting stalls, but more to the design of the gates.
Mr Colgan in summing after reviewing the films accepted that the starting gate did open correctly but would leave it to the committee to determine if his mount was denied a fair start.
reasonsfordecision:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence submitted and reviewed the video films on numerous occasions frame by frame to establish the reason for GRONYX losing several lengths at the start. It was noted that there was a barrier attendant up with the horse prior to the horse jumping but the committee is satisfied that the attendant had no bearing on the incident. It was also evident that the horse was not fractious in the gates and jumped cleanly when the gates opened. The films clearly showed that as the gates opened the horse GRONYX received a severe hit to the head caused by the left starting gate arm swinging back. However, it could not be established on the films whether this was caused by HEZ COOL who had drawn directly outside GRONYX jumping awkwardly or by the barrier gate arm swinging back by it's own accord. The committee then referred to rule 632 which we analysed carefully. Firstly we are satisfied that the gate issue was not due to mechanical failure of the starting stalls. However, the committee placed emphasis on the second section of the rule which states "If in the opinion of the Judicial Committee a horse which is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away by it's own accord) the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non starter. The committee is satisfied that GRONYX was denied a fair start which was not due to it's own accord. It is clear that the horse’s chances were materially prejudiced as he lost 4 to 5 lengths as a result of receiving a severe hit to the head from the left barrier arm and was a clear last on settling. From that point on it was noticeable that GRONYX finished the race off strongly to be in 6th position and approximately 5 lengths from the winner at the finish.
Decision:
Accordingly, for the reasons outlined above the committee declares GRONYX to be a non starter. We order that all bets placed on the horse be refunded.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 632
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr V Colgan - Rider of GRONYX, Mr C Ormsby - Licensed Trainer of GRONYX, Mr D Moroney - Representing the stable
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: ab74b6b2fc989eabdd25cb7c4078402a
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 25cc70e307340df41eada471422e7074
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/09/2012
meet_title: Racing Te Aroha - 28 September 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: racing-te-aroha
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: RSeabrook
meet_pm2: none
name: Racing Te Aroha