Non Raceday Inquiry – RIU v GN Richardson 6 June 2012 – Decision dated 7 June 2012
ID: JCA15775
Decision:
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
UNDER THE RACING ACT 2003
HELD AT MATAMATA RACECOURSE
IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Racing
BETWEEN RACING INTEGRITY UNIT
Informant
AND MR GN RICHARDSON – Licensed Class A TRAINER
Defendant
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE: Mr A Dooley (Chairman), Mr A Godsalve (Committee Member)
Charge:
The informant, Mr R Carmichael, Racing Investigator, alleged that on the 24th day of April 2012 Mr Graham Neil Richardson was the trainer and person responsible for the nomination and presentation of the unnamed Fast 'N’ Famous – Ribadesella 2 yr old filly to compete in Heat 6 at the trials meeting conducted by the Paeroa Racing Club Racecourse when, upon inspection, was found to be the incorrect filly; being in breach of Clause 4 (a) of the Third Appendix (Regulations For Trials) and Rule 404 (2) of the Rules of Racing, and that Graham Neil Richardson is therefore liable to the penalty or penalties that may be imposed pursuant to Rule 803 (1) of the said Rules.
Mr Richardson acknowledged he had received a copy of the charge and the relevant rules. He told the committee that he understood them and admitted the breach of the said Rules. Mr Richardson accepted that the summary of facts presented were a correct account of the incident.
Evidence
The facts presented by Mr R Carmichael, Chief Racing Investigator, are not in dispute and are summarised as follows:
1. Mr Richardson is an experienced Class A Licensed Trainer.
2. On 24 April 2012 he was the person responsible for the nomination and presentation of a 2 yr old filly, purported to be by Fast “N” Famous out of Ribadesella, to compete in Heat 6 at a Trials Meeting conducted by the Paeroa Racing Club at Paeroa. A copy of the entry in the trials program is produced.
3. The Fast “N” Famous – Ribadesella filly was a plain bay, with the brands recorded as ME and 42 over 9. The form noting the full description of the filly is produced.
4. Upon inspection by the Stewards prior to racing it was found that the filly presented had the brand ME and 41 over 9.
5. As a consequence, the filly was scratched from the trial, with the entry fee being for-feited.
6. From the brands identified by the Stewards it was established that the filly presented at the Trials was in fact an unnamed Savabeel – Soliel Vite 2 yr old filly. The form noting the full description of this filly is produced.
7. Subsequent enquiries confirm that the Fast “N” Famous filly, and a Savabeel – Soliel Vite filly were both bred by Mr Paul Ryan of Matamata. Both fillies had been at Mr Ryan’s Waharoa property.
8. On about 1 March 2012 Mr Ryan had what he thought was the Fast “N” Famous filly de-livered to Mr Richardson’s stables for training. From that point Mr Richardson believed he had the correct filly and nominated it as such on the basis of the information he had received from Mr Ryan. The Judicial Committee will be aware that at the stage that these fillies were at, they had not been named and there was no certificate available to the trainer from which he could verify the identity.
9. A statement has been obtained from Mr Ryan. This is produced.
10. The Judicial Committee will note from the description forms that the two fillies were identical, except for the numerical brands (41 over 9 and 42 over 9).
11. Mr Richardson when interviewed said that he believed that he had been delivered the correct filly from Mr Ryan to train. He accepts though that he is responsible for ensuring that the correct horse is presented for trials and racing.
Mr Carmichael produced a statement from Mr Paul Ryan the owner and breeder of the subject horse.
In the statement Mr Ryan acknowledged that the responsibility for this matter rested primarily with him. He acknowledged that the error in identifying the horse began when he loaded the incorrect horse onto a transporter at his property. From that moment on the belief by himself and Mr Richardson was that the horse on the transporter was the filly by Fast 'N' Famous – Ribadesella, when in fact it was another horse that he had bred.
Mr Richardson told the committee that he had found the incident highly embarrassing and he admitted it was not a good look. He said it was a genuine mistake and that he and his foreman had identified the horses going to trials the night before still believing it was the correct horse. He acknowledged it was fortunate that there are checks in place at trial meetings which highlighted this error. He acknowledged that his reputation will be affected as a result of his genuine but bad mistake.
Decision:
As Mr Richardson admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Carmichael produced Mr Richardson record which showed he had a clear record under the said Rules. He said Mr Richardson has an exemplary record in racing and has been totally co operative throughout this investigation. He submitted the Judicial Control Authority Penalty Guide for a breach of Rule 404 is a fine, with a starting point of $800. He said this is of course a matter for the Judicial Committee, taking into account aggravating or mitigating circumstances of the particular case. Mr Carmichael submitted in this case the committee is entitled to draw a distinction between a trials meeting (where a horse may be unnamed) and an actual race meeting.
Mr Richardson when asked for his submissions on penalty stated he would like to receive a warning as this was his first offence.
Reasons for Penalty:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors are Mr Richardson ready admission of the breach and his clear record under the said Rules, his clear remorse, which was evident during the hearing. We are satisfied there was no intent or malice on Mr Richardson's part to deceive officials by presenting the wrong horse to an official trial meeting. The committee pointed out to Mr Richardson that had he independently verified the identification of the subject horse via NZTR website at the time the horse first entered his stables, this situation would have been avoided.
Mr Richardson acknowledged that as a leading trainer in NZ this did not present a good image to the public. The committee referred to the JCA penalty guide which showed a starting point of $800 fine. We also referred to the JCA penalty sheet which showed 3 recent penalties under this rule. They all resulted in a $500 fine, with the trainers having the same mitigating factors. Therefore we assess an appropriate penalty to be a $500 fine.
Penalty:
On the question of costs, the RIU and JCA sought no costs as this hearing was held prior to a race meeting.
Accordingly, we impose a fine of $500.
Appeal Decision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
Decision Date: 24/05/2012
Publish Date: 24/05/2012
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: cefe93bdf31f1bbe59f2043c97de2186
informantnumber: 67340
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 24/05/2012
hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry - RIU v GN Richardson 6 June 2012 - Decision dated 7 June 2012
charge:
facts:
appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
BEFORE THE JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
UNDER THE RACING ACT 2003
HELD AT MATAMATA RACECOURSE
IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Racing
BETWEEN RACING INTEGRITY UNIT
Informant
AND MR GN RICHARDSON – Licensed Class A TRAINER
Defendant
JUDICIAL COMMITTEE: Mr A Dooley (Chairman), Mr A Godsalve (Committee Member)
Charge:
The informant, Mr R Carmichael, Racing Investigator, alleged that on the 24th day of April 2012 Mr Graham Neil Richardson was the trainer and person responsible for the nomination and presentation of the unnamed Fast 'N’ Famous – Ribadesella 2 yr old filly to compete in Heat 6 at the trials meeting conducted by the Paeroa Racing Club Racecourse when, upon inspection, was found to be the incorrect filly; being in breach of Clause 4 (a) of the Third Appendix (Regulations For Trials) and Rule 404 (2) of the Rules of Racing, and that Graham Neil Richardson is therefore liable to the penalty or penalties that may be imposed pursuant to Rule 803 (1) of the said Rules.
Mr Richardson acknowledged he had received a copy of the charge and the relevant rules. He told the committee that he understood them and admitted the breach of the said Rules. Mr Richardson accepted that the summary of facts presented were a correct account of the incident.
Evidence
The facts presented by Mr R Carmichael, Chief Racing Investigator, are not in dispute and are summarised as follows:
1. Mr Richardson is an experienced Class A Licensed Trainer.
2. On 24 April 2012 he was the person responsible for the nomination and presentation of a 2 yr old filly, purported to be by Fast “N” Famous out of Ribadesella, to compete in Heat 6 at a Trials Meeting conducted by the Paeroa Racing Club at Paeroa. A copy of the entry in the trials program is produced.
3. The Fast “N” Famous – Ribadesella filly was a plain bay, with the brands recorded as ME and 42 over 9. The form noting the full description of the filly is produced.
4. Upon inspection by the Stewards prior to racing it was found that the filly presented had the brand ME and 41 over 9.
5. As a consequence, the filly was scratched from the trial, with the entry fee being for-feited.
6. From the brands identified by the Stewards it was established that the filly presented at the Trials was in fact an unnamed Savabeel – Soliel Vite 2 yr old filly. The form noting the full description of this filly is produced.
7. Subsequent enquiries confirm that the Fast “N” Famous filly, and a Savabeel – Soliel Vite filly were both bred by Mr Paul Ryan of Matamata. Both fillies had been at Mr Ryan’s Waharoa property.
8. On about 1 March 2012 Mr Ryan had what he thought was the Fast “N” Famous filly de-livered to Mr Richardson’s stables for training. From that point Mr Richardson believed he had the correct filly and nominated it as such on the basis of the information he had received from Mr Ryan. The Judicial Committee will be aware that at the stage that these fillies were at, they had not been named and there was no certificate available to the trainer from which he could verify the identity.
9. A statement has been obtained from Mr Ryan. This is produced.
10. The Judicial Committee will note from the description forms that the two fillies were identical, except for the numerical brands (41 over 9 and 42 over 9).
11. Mr Richardson when interviewed said that he believed that he had been delivered the correct filly from Mr Ryan to train. He accepts though that he is responsible for ensuring that the correct horse is presented for trials and racing.
Mr Carmichael produced a statement from Mr Paul Ryan the owner and breeder of the subject horse.
In the statement Mr Ryan acknowledged that the responsibility for this matter rested primarily with him. He acknowledged that the error in identifying the horse began when he loaded the incorrect horse onto a transporter at his property. From that moment on the belief by himself and Mr Richardson was that the horse on the transporter was the filly by Fast 'N' Famous – Ribadesella, when in fact it was another horse that he had bred.
Mr Richardson told the committee that he had found the incident highly embarrassing and he admitted it was not a good look. He said it was a genuine mistake and that he and his foreman had identified the horses going to trials the night before still believing it was the correct horse. He acknowledged it was fortunate that there are checks in place at trial meetings which highlighted this error. He acknowledged that his reputation will be affected as a result of his genuine but bad mistake.
Decision:
As Mr Richardson admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Carmichael produced Mr Richardson record which showed he had a clear record under the said Rules. He said Mr Richardson has an exemplary record in racing and has been totally co operative throughout this investigation. He submitted the Judicial Control Authority Penalty Guide for a breach of Rule 404 is a fine, with a starting point of $800. He said this is of course a matter for the Judicial Committee, taking into account aggravating or mitigating circumstances of the particular case. Mr Carmichael submitted in this case the committee is entitled to draw a distinction between a trials meeting (where a horse may be unnamed) and an actual race meeting.
Mr Richardson when asked for his submissions on penalty stated he would like to receive a warning as this was his first offence.
Reasons for Penalty:
The committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors are Mr Richardson ready admission of the breach and his clear record under the said Rules, his clear remorse, which was evident during the hearing. We are satisfied there was no intent or malice on Mr Richardson's part to deceive officials by presenting the wrong horse to an official trial meeting. The committee pointed out to Mr Richardson that had he independently verified the identification of the subject horse via NZTR website at the time the horse first entered his stables, this situation would have been avoided.
Mr Richardson acknowledged that as a leading trainer in NZ this did not present a good image to the public. The committee referred to the JCA penalty guide which showed a starting point of $800 fine. We also referred to the JCA penalty sheet which showed 3 recent penalties under this rule. They all resulted in a $500 fine, with the trainers having the same mitigating factors. Therefore we assess an appropriate penalty to be a $500 fine.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
On the question of costs, the RIU and JCA sought no costs as this hearing was held prior to a race meeting.
Accordingly, we impose a fine of $500.
hearing_type: Non-race day
Rules: 404(2)
Informant: Mr TR Carmichael - Chief Racing Investigator
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent: Mr GN Richardson - Licensed Class A Trainer
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