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Forbury Park TC 9 May 2014 – R 3

ID: JCA15494

Applicant:
Mr C Allison, Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr J Cox, Open Horseman

Information Number:
A1738

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
driving in a manner likely to cause interference

Rules:
Rule 869(4)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 9 May 2014

Meet Chair:
GHall

Meet Committee Member 1:
DSteel

Race Date:
2014/05/09

Race Number:
R3

Decision:

As Mr Cox has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.

Penalty:

Mr Cox is fined the sum of $200 and reminded of his professional obligations.

Facts:

Mr Allison alleged that Mr Cox (SARA HOLLEY) attempted to shift ground inwards after approximately 300 metres resulting in SARA HOLLEY locking wheels with LIGHTNING MACH (M Williamson).

Rule 869 provides:

(4) No horseman 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 Allison used the videos to demonstrate that Mr Williamson had established himself in a position to the inside of Mr Cox when Mr Cox shifted inwards trying to move Mr Williamson down on the track. There was a brief locking of wheels, which very slightly inconvenienced the two horses and one or two other horses in the field. He stated that the respondent should have immediately relieved the pressure on Mr Williamson.

Mr Cox stated that when he looked inwards as the horses passed the winning post there was no one on the inside of Mr Williamson and that was why he thought he was able to ease Mr Williamson down. He accepted by the time he tried to shift Mr Williamson down on the track there was a horse to Mr Williamson’s inside. He also stated he believed he had come into contact with the back leg of Mr Williamson’s horse.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Allison stated that a breach of this rule was regarded as being less serious than careless driving. However, he emphasised that although the horses on this occasion had escaped serious damage, there was the potential for disaster in that the horses were racing near the front of the field and, had the drivers not been experienced, there could have been a fall.

He produced the respondent’s record. Mr Cox had had 325 drives this year and had 2 breaches of the careless driving rule, one in May 2013 and another in January of this year. He described this record as being reasonably good. He submitted a fine at the lower end was appropriate.

Mr Cox did not disagree with Mr Allison’s submission.

Reasons for Penalty:

We agree that the breach is correctly identified as being at the bottom end of the range. The locking of the sulky wheels was momentary and there was no disruption to the field. The starting point in the Penalty Guide is a fine of $300. Having regard to the admission of the breach, co-operation with the stipendiary stewards, and Mr Cox’s record, a $100 reduction is appropriate.

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: 9ab8af16b7eb826e3cf00eba7e0f69f9


informantnumber: A1738


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: driving in a manner likely to cause interference


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 06/05/2014


hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 9 May 2014 - R 3


charge:


facts:

Mr Allison alleged that Mr Cox (SARA HOLLEY) attempted to shift ground inwards after approximately 300 metres resulting in SARA HOLLEY locking wheels with LIGHTNING MACH (M Williamson).

Rule 869 provides:

(4) No horseman 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 Allison used the videos to demonstrate that Mr Williamson had established himself in a position to the inside of Mr Cox when Mr Cox shifted inwards trying to move Mr Williamson down on the track. There was a brief locking of wheels, which very slightly inconvenienced the two horses and one or two other horses in the field. He stated that the respondent should have immediately relieved the pressure on Mr Williamson.

Mr Cox stated that when he looked inwards as the horses passed the winning post there was no one on the inside of Mr Williamson and that was why he thought he was able to ease Mr Williamson down. He accepted by the time he tried to shift Mr Williamson down on the track there was a horse to Mr Williamson’s inside. He also stated he believed he had come into contact with the back leg of Mr Williamson’s horse.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Cox has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Allison stated that a breach of this rule was regarded as being less serious than careless driving. However, he emphasised that although the horses on this occasion had escaped serious damage, there was the potential for disaster in that the horses were racing near the front of the field and, had the drivers not been experienced, there could have been a fall.

He produced the respondent’s record. Mr Cox had had 325 drives this year and had 2 breaches of the careless driving rule, one in May 2013 and another in January of this year. He described this record as being reasonably good. He submitted a fine at the lower end was appropriate.

Mr Cox did not disagree with Mr Allison’s submission.


reasonsforpenalty:

We agree that the breach is correctly identified as being at the bottom end of the range. The locking of the sulky wheels was momentary and there was no disruption to the field. The starting point in the Penalty Guide is a fine of $300. Having regard to the admission of the breach, co-operation with the stipendiary stewards, and Mr Cox’s record, a $100 reduction is appropriate.


penalty:

Mr Cox is fined the sum of $200 and reminded of his professional obligations.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 869(4)


Informant: Mr C Allison, Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Cox, Open Horseman


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 85a14e92e2916b51014794ad4565644f


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R3


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


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race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 1b112ba631029617879b45feca1b34c1


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


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meet_emailed1: 0


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meetdate: 09/05/2014


meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 9 May 2014


meet_expappcomment:


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tracklocation: forbury-park-tc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: GHall


meet_pm1: DSteel


meet_pm2: none


name: Forbury Park TC