Auckland TC 27 July 2012 – R 9
ID: JCA15555
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 27 July 2012
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2012/07/27
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
We find the breach proved.
Penalty:
For reasons set out above we fine Mr Butcher $100 in relation to R 867 and $400 in relation to R 869 (3) (f). Total fines amount to $500. The Committee advises that further similar breaches will be treated seriously due to the safety factor.
Charge:
Improper driving.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Junior Horseman Mr Z Butcher, the driver of horse number 5, Jonny Wilkinson, alleging a breach of Rules 869(3) (f) and 867.
The Information alleged that:
“Junior Horseman Z Butcher drove Jonny Wilkinson in an improper manner when he did not keep his feet in the footsteps when he stood up on the sulky after the finish of the race”.
Rule 869(3) (f) provides that:
“No horseman in any race shall drive improperly”.
Rule 867 provides that:
“Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose”.
Mr Z Butcher endorsed the Information “I wish to be present”. Mr Butcher was supported at the hearing by Open Horseman Mr D Butcher.
Submissions for Decision:
Prior to the commencement of the hearing the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) queried the informant regarding the status of the two charges on the information. In particular the Committee sought clarification as to whether the charges were in the ‘alternative’ or substantive. The informant confirmed that they were both substantive. Rule 1103 (5) provides that any information may contain one or more, alleged breaches of the Rules against one or more persons or horses.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident to the Committee by way of video footage. He said that Jonny Wilkinson (Z Butcher) was on the outside and going to the lead as the field approached the winning post. Jonny Wilkinson won the race.
Mr Muirhead said that Mr Butcher breached rule 867 by removing his left foot from the footrest of the sulky shortly after passing the winning post. He said that Mr Butcher then stood upright on the sulky stays and continued in this position for some distance.
Mr Muirhead said that Mr Butcher's action were a significant safety issue in that he put not only himself, but others at risk. Mr Muirhead emphasised that although Mr Butcher is an accomplished Junior Horseman if he made a mistake or erred in any way when standing it could have caused an accident.
Mr Z Butcher advised the Committee that his actions did not cause any interference to any of the other horses and in his view he did not place anyone in danger. He said that he had driven the horse previously and the horse had a “nice nature”.
Reasons for Decision:
Mr Butcher admitted the breach.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that Rule 867 carried a maximum penalty of $100 fine. In respect of the improper driving charge he said that the starting point ought to be treated as mid-range in the vicinity of $500. He further submitted that Mr Butcher has a good record, and has driven in 684 races this reason.
Mr Butcher submitted that he was always in control of his horse; he did not put anyone in danger and didn’t think his actions were serious. He said that he simply got a bit excited after crossing the finish line due to the fact that it was the last meeting of the year and he had finished 2nd in the national premiership and had driven more winners than his father.
Reasons for Penalty:
In assessing penalty we have taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees. We were unable to find any precedent but noted that the JCA guidelines establish the starting point for improper driving at 20 drives or $1000 fine.
The Committee independently assessed the video footage of the incident. We noted that Mr Butcher stood upright for approximately 50 metres. We do not condone this behaviour and find that Mr Butcher took an avoidable risk. He could have put himself and others in danger and we believe that this is an aggravating factor.
The Committee also noted that improper driving has a wide meaning and covers a range of behaviour including (a) not in accordance with the rules; (b) abnormal; (c) incorrect; or (d) wrong [reference Victorian Harness Racing v Harnett (18 December 1989)]. Notwithstanding Mr Butcher’s admission of the breach we find that his actions were clearly not in accordance with the rules, abnormal and incorrect. In essence, despite his apparent excitement, we believe that he exercised very poor judgement on this occasion.
The Committee gives Mr Butcher credit for admitting the breach at the first available opportunity and his good driving record. We note that this is his first charge in 684 drives this season.
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: b2fc3cbb0194c08151ca1ba04f476a40
informantnumber: 2309
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/07/2012
hearing_title: Auckland TC 27 July 2012 - R 9
charge:
Improper driving.
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead against Junior Horseman Mr Z Butcher, the driver of horse number 5, Jonny Wilkinson, alleging a breach of Rules 869(3) (f) and 867.
The Information alleged that:
“Junior Horseman Z Butcher drove Jonny Wilkinson in an improper manner when he did not keep his feet in the footsteps when he stood up on the sulky after the finish of the race”.
Rule 869(3) (f) provides that:
“No horseman in any race shall drive improperly”.
Rule 867 provides that:
“Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose”.
Mr Z Butcher endorsed the Information “I wish to be present”. Mr Butcher was supported at the hearing by Open Horseman Mr D Butcher.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Prior to the commencement of the hearing the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) queried the informant regarding the status of the two charges on the information. In particular the Committee sought clarification as to whether the charges were in the ‘alternative’ or substantive. The informant confirmed that they were both substantive. Rule 1103 (5) provides that any information may contain one or more, alleged breaches of the Rules against one or more persons or horses.
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident to the Committee by way of video footage. He said that Jonny Wilkinson (Z Butcher) was on the outside and going to the lead as the field approached the winning post. Jonny Wilkinson won the race.
Mr Muirhead said that Mr Butcher breached rule 867 by removing his left foot from the footrest of the sulky shortly after passing the winning post. He said that Mr Butcher then stood upright on the sulky stays and continued in this position for some distance.
Mr Muirhead said that Mr Butcher's action were a significant safety issue in that he put not only himself, but others at risk. Mr Muirhead emphasised that although Mr Butcher is an accomplished Junior Horseman if he made a mistake or erred in any way when standing it could have caused an accident.
Mr Z Butcher advised the Committee that his actions did not cause any interference to any of the other horses and in his view he did not place anyone in danger. He said that he had driven the horse previously and the horse had a “nice nature”.
reasonsfordecision:
Mr Butcher admitted the breach.
Decision:
We find the breach proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that Rule 867 carried a maximum penalty of $100 fine. In respect of the improper driving charge he said that the starting point ought to be treated as mid-range in the vicinity of $500. He further submitted that Mr Butcher has a good record, and has driven in 684 races this reason.
Mr Butcher submitted that he was always in control of his horse; he did not put anyone in danger and didn’t think his actions were serious. He said that he simply got a bit excited after crossing the finish line due to the fact that it was the last meeting of the year and he had finished 2nd in the national premiership and had driven more winners than his father.
reasonsforpenalty:
In assessing penalty we have taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees. We were unable to find any precedent but noted that the JCA guidelines establish the starting point for improper driving at 20 drives or $1000 fine.
The Committee independently assessed the video footage of the incident. We noted that Mr Butcher stood upright for approximately 50 metres. We do not condone this behaviour and find that Mr Butcher took an avoidable risk. He could have put himself and others in danger and we believe that this is an aggravating factor.
The Committee also noted that improper driving has a wide meaning and covers a range of behaviour including (a) not in accordance with the rules; (b) abnormal; (c) incorrect; or (d) wrong [reference Victorian Harness Racing v Harnett (18 December 1989)]. Notwithstanding Mr Butcher’s admission of the breach we find that his actions were clearly not in accordance with the rules, abnormal and incorrect. In essence, despite his apparent excitement, we believe that he exercised very poor judgement on this occasion.
The Committee gives Mr Butcher credit for admitting the breach at the first available opportunity and his good driving record. We note that this is his first charge in 684 drives this season.
penalty:
For reasons set out above we fine Mr Butcher $100 in relation to R 867 and $400 in relation to R 869 (3) (f). Total fines amount to $500. The Committee advises that further similar breaches will be treated seriously due to the safety factor.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(f) and 867
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr Z Butcher - Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr D Butcher - Open Horseman supporting Mr Z Butcher
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3a09a24fcbfae506c4ed27b4f954996d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 826706bd4420a98a4c37b1abbc161e25
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/07/2012
meet_title: Auckland TC - 27 July 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "GJones", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "26", "Total": "16.12", "kmprice": 16.120000000000001, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC