Waikato BOP H 28 December 2018 -R 1 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA15857
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 28 December 2018
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2018/12/28
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Kriechbaumer has admitted the breach the Committee found the charge to be proved.
Penalty:
We allow Mr Kriechbaumer's suspension to be deferred until after the completion of racing on 4 January2019.
We suspend Mr Kriechbaumer's licence to drive in races from after the completion of racing on 4 January 2019 until after the completion of racing on 31 July 2019.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Grass Track Racing@ Te Aroha 12th Jan Mbl Pace 2200m, Mr Mulcay submitted an Information. He alleged that Mr Kriechbaumer 'failed to take all reasonable and permissable measures to ensure his gelding was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place by failing to take the run that had become available in the passing lane early in the run home'.
Mr Kriechbaumer is an Amateur Driver, the race in question was for Amateur Drivers and Mr Kriechbaumer drove HIGHVIEW JUSTICE which he also owns and trains. Mr Kriechbaumer was present at the hearing. He confirmed to the Committee that he had taken advice from a Senior Driver, Mr Todd Macfarlane, who had viewed the race replays with him prior to a charge being preferred by the Stewards. Mr Kriechbaumer also confirmed that he understood the nature of the allegation, that it was a serious raceday charge to which he indicated he would admit, and that he was comfortable in having the matter dealt with on that Raceday.
Rule 868(2) provides that 'Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place'.
Using the available films Mr Mulcay identified the horse HIGHVIEW JUSTICE (Mr Kriechbaumer) as the field neared the home turn. At that point HIGHVIEW JUSTICE was 4 back on the pegs. The horse CAPITAL PLAN (Mr D Blakemore ) was ahead of him with RACKETEERS BOY in front of that horse. As the field entered the home straight and ran towards the passing lane CAPITAL PLAN angled out and RACKETEERS BOY and the horses around it maintained a straight line. At this point in the race the horse in a trailing position would be entitled to utilise the passing lane. This did not eventuate in this race and that meant that a wide gap presented itself in the passing lane, wide enough for at least two horses and sulkies, which was available to Mr Kriechbaumer. Mr Mulcay stated that at that point it was clear that Mr Kriechbaumer had failed, for whatever reason, to see or attempt to utilise the opportunity to steer HIGHVIEW JUSTICE into the run available in the passing lane. Instead Mr Mulcay pointed out that Mr Kriechbaumer shifted his horse out and attempted a run between RACKETEERS BOY and the horse outside it which was not large enough for a horse and sulky. As a result HIGHVIEW JUSTICE made slight contact with the horse ARMSTRONG (Mr S Phillips) which reacted by moving out a short margin.
Mr Mulcay stated that the Stewards considered that Mr Kriechbaumer's failure to take the run which was available to him was so unreasonable that a charge of this nature was preferred against him.
Mr Kriechbaumer said that he acknowledged that he had made an error of judgement. He added that when driving in a 4 back position in a race it was very rare that a run on the 'rails' presented itself. He said that he just did not see the horses in front of him drifting off the rails which resulted in the gap becoming available.
When questioned by the Committee about his failure to see the opportunity to utilise the large space near the rails Mr Kriechbaumer said that he had already shifted out and had made his decision to go wider.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides for a starting point of a suspension of a drivers licence for 20 drives or a fine of $1000 for a breach of this Rule. He said that the Stewards believed the breach was at the mid to upper level on the scale of seriousness. Mr Mulcay said that given the length of time the 'run' had been available to Mr Kriechbaumer his failure to utilise it was a bad mistake, and that he had failed to assess what was happening around him.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Kriechbaumer's driving record as a driver included 18 winning drives from a total of 133 raceday drives.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Kriechbaumer did not have any prior breaches of this Rule in the last 12 months, and he had admitted this breach and should be given some credit for these factors.
Mr Kriechbaumer asked that he be dealt with by way of a fine. He said that he didn't believe he should be 'hammered' severely since he was not a professional driver and was doing his best when he did not drive often in races. In answer to a question from the Committee he confirmed that at present HIGHVIEW JUSTICE was his only horse in work and that he did not drive for other trainers.
Mr Kriechbaumer asked that if he was to be suspended then he would like the opportunity to drive at the Cambridge meeting on 4 January 2019.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of $1000 fine or a 20 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule.
We took into account Mr Kriechbaumer's admission of the breach and his clear record regarding the Rule in the past 12 months.
However our assessment of this breach after viewing the films and considering the evidence presented is that it constituted a breach in the mid to upper range on the scale of seriousness and was at best a bad mistake by Mr Kriechbaumer.
Mr Kriechbaumer has been driving for a number of years (since 2009) and with 18 winning drives is a no 'novice' Amateur driver. We believed that punters who had wagered on this horse deserved a much better effort from Mr Kriechbaumer who effectively took the horse out of the finish by failing to realise that an opportunity had presented itself to attempt to improve its position. The public who invested on HIGHVIEW JUSTICE could feel agrieved at the manner which Mr Kriechbaumer drove in the race. It is of concern to the Committee that he made no attempt to angle his horse inwards when the gap became available some way, approximately 150m from the finishing post. The head-on film was compelling. HIGHVIEW JUSTICE finished in 6th place after being badly held up in the home straight and locking wheels with ARMSTRONG just prior to the finishing post.
The ongoing confidence in Harness Racing needs constant reinforcement including the display of competent driving using reasonable and permissable measures to ensure that participants are giving their horses every opportunity to win races; or do their best. Mr Kriechbaumer clearly failed to meet this threshhold on this occasion.
Committees are required to ensure that penalties imposed are meaningful. We determined after confirming other penalties imposed under this Rule that a suspension of Mr Kriechbaumers driving licence was inevitable.
We ascertained from the HRNZ website that in the current season,2018-2019, Mr Kriechbaumer has had 6 raceday drives. In the previous 2 seasons he has had 6 drives (2017-2018) and 5 drives (2016-2017). In the season 2015-2016 he had 20 raceday drives.
The starting point for a suspension under this Rule is a 20 drive suspension. Clearly this presented the Committee with a quandry given Mr Kriechbaumer's low numbers of drives in a season. He only drives outside the Waikato/BOP area very occasionally. The Auckland Harness meetings do not provide Amateur Driver races.
The Committee allowed a discount from the 20 drive starting point for his admission and clear recent record. Even then we are faced with a possible 15 drive suspension. Given the level of his drives as stated, this could mean a suspension involving years, which the Committee is unable to consider, because it is not empowered to do so, and for several other reasons. We therefore perused the racing Calendar for the next 7 months and ascertained that there could be up to 14/15 driving opportunities available to Mr Kriechbaumer in that period. While it is unlikely that he would drive that many times, again it reflects the difficulty facing the Committee in arriving at an appropriate level of penalty given the seriousness of the breach. Other penalties imposed by Committees on Amateur drivers are helpful to a degree however each has to be dealt with according to the particular circumstances, including the facts of the breach, the impact of the breach, and the individual drivers personal cirumstances.
Taking all of the above into consideration the Committee arrived at a decision to suspend Mr Kriechbaumer from driving in races for a 7 month period.
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: dd4af8725a344a84ddef405a4fe43300
informantnumber: A10577
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failing to take all reasonable/permissable measures
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/12/2018
hearing_title: Waikato BOP H 28 December 2018 -R 1 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Grass Track Racing@ Te Aroha 12th Jan Mbl Pace 2200m, Mr Mulcay submitted an Information. He alleged that Mr Kriechbaumer 'failed to take all reasonable and permissable measures to ensure his gelding was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place by failing to take the run that had become available in the passing lane early in the run home'.
Mr Kriechbaumer is an Amateur Driver, the race in question was for Amateur Drivers and Mr Kriechbaumer drove HIGHVIEW JUSTICE which he also owns and trains. Mr Kriechbaumer was present at the hearing. He confirmed to the Committee that he had taken advice from a Senior Driver, Mr Todd Macfarlane, who had viewed the race replays with him prior to a charge being preferred by the Stewards. Mr Kriechbaumer also confirmed that he understood the nature of the allegation, that it was a serious raceday charge to which he indicated he would admit, and that he was comfortable in having the matter dealt with on that Raceday.
Rule 868(2) provides that 'Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place'.
Using the available films Mr Mulcay identified the horse HIGHVIEW JUSTICE (Mr Kriechbaumer) as the field neared the home turn. At that point HIGHVIEW JUSTICE was 4 back on the pegs. The horse CAPITAL PLAN (Mr D Blakemore ) was ahead of him with RACKETEERS BOY in front of that horse. As the field entered the home straight and ran towards the passing lane CAPITAL PLAN angled out and RACKETEERS BOY and the horses around it maintained a straight line. At this point in the race the horse in a trailing position would be entitled to utilise the passing lane. This did not eventuate in this race and that meant that a wide gap presented itself in the passing lane, wide enough for at least two horses and sulkies, which was available to Mr Kriechbaumer. Mr Mulcay stated that at that point it was clear that Mr Kriechbaumer had failed, for whatever reason, to see or attempt to utilise the opportunity to steer HIGHVIEW JUSTICE into the run available in the passing lane. Instead Mr Mulcay pointed out that Mr Kriechbaumer shifted his horse out and attempted a run between RACKETEERS BOY and the horse outside it which was not large enough for a horse and sulky. As a result HIGHVIEW JUSTICE made slight contact with the horse ARMSTRONG (Mr S Phillips) which reacted by moving out a short margin.
Mr Mulcay stated that the Stewards considered that Mr Kriechbaumer's failure to take the run which was available to him was so unreasonable that a charge of this nature was preferred against him.
Mr Kriechbaumer said that he acknowledged that he had made an error of judgement. He added that when driving in a 4 back position in a race it was very rare that a run on the 'rails' presented itself. He said that he just did not see the horses in front of him drifting off the rails which resulted in the gap becoming available.
When questioned by the Committee about his failure to see the opportunity to utilise the large space near the rails Mr Kriechbaumer said that he had already shifted out and had made his decision to go wider.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Kriechbaumer has admitted the breach the Committee found the charge to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides for a starting point of a suspension of a drivers licence for 20 drives or a fine of $1000 for a breach of this Rule. He said that the Stewards believed the breach was at the mid to upper level on the scale of seriousness. Mr Mulcay said that given the length of time the 'run' had been available to Mr Kriechbaumer his failure to utilise it was a bad mistake, and that he had failed to assess what was happening around him.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Kriechbaumer's driving record as a driver included 18 winning drives from a total of 133 raceday drives.
Mr Mulcay added that Mr Kriechbaumer did not have any prior breaches of this Rule in the last 12 months, and he had admitted this breach and should be given some credit for these factors.
Mr Kriechbaumer asked that he be dealt with by way of a fine. He said that he didn't believe he should be 'hammered' severely since he was not a professional driver and was doing his best when he did not drive often in races. In answer to a question from the Committee he confirmed that at present HIGHVIEW JUSTICE was his only horse in work and that he did not drive for other trainers.
Mr Kriechbaumer asked that if he was to be suspended then he would like the opportunity to drive at the Cambridge meeting on 4 January 2019.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of $1000 fine or a 20 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule.
We took into account Mr Kriechbaumer's admission of the breach and his clear record regarding the Rule in the past 12 months.
However our assessment of this breach after viewing the films and considering the evidence presented is that it constituted a breach in the mid to upper range on the scale of seriousness and was at best a bad mistake by Mr Kriechbaumer.
Mr Kriechbaumer has been driving for a number of years (since 2009) and with 18 winning drives is a no 'novice' Amateur driver. We believed that punters who had wagered on this horse deserved a much better effort from Mr Kriechbaumer who effectively took the horse out of the finish by failing to realise that an opportunity had presented itself to attempt to improve its position. The public who invested on HIGHVIEW JUSTICE could feel agrieved at the manner which Mr Kriechbaumer drove in the race. It is of concern to the Committee that he made no attempt to angle his horse inwards when the gap became available some way, approximately 150m from the finishing post. The head-on film was compelling. HIGHVIEW JUSTICE finished in 6th place after being badly held up in the home straight and locking wheels with ARMSTRONG just prior to the finishing post.
The ongoing confidence in Harness Racing needs constant reinforcement including the display of competent driving using reasonable and permissable measures to ensure that participants are giving their horses every opportunity to win races; or do their best. Mr Kriechbaumer clearly failed to meet this threshhold on this occasion.
Committees are required to ensure that penalties imposed are meaningful. We determined after confirming other penalties imposed under this Rule that a suspension of Mr Kriechbaumers driving licence was inevitable.
We ascertained from the HRNZ website that in the current season,2018-2019, Mr Kriechbaumer has had 6 raceday drives. In the previous 2 seasons he has had 6 drives (2017-2018) and 5 drives (2016-2017). In the season 2015-2016 he had 20 raceday drives.
The starting point for a suspension under this Rule is a 20 drive suspension. Clearly this presented the Committee with a quandry given Mr Kriechbaumer's low numbers of drives in a season. He only drives outside the Waikato/BOP area very occasionally. The Auckland Harness meetings do not provide Amateur Driver races.
The Committee allowed a discount from the 20 drive starting point for his admission and clear recent record. Even then we are faced with a possible 15 drive suspension. Given the level of his drives as stated, this could mean a suspension involving years, which the Committee is unable to consider, because it is not empowered to do so, and for several other reasons. We therefore perused the racing Calendar for the next 7 months and ascertained that there could be up to 14/15 driving opportunities available to Mr Kriechbaumer in that period. While it is unlikely that he would drive that many times, again it reflects the difficulty facing the Committee in arriving at an appropriate level of penalty given the seriousness of the breach. Other penalties imposed by Committees on Amateur drivers are helpful to a degree however each has to be dealt with according to the particular circumstances, including the facts of the breach, the impact of the breach, and the individual drivers personal cirumstances.
Taking all of the above into consideration the Committee arrived at a decision to suspend Mr Kriechbaumer from driving in races for a 7 month period.
penalty:
We allow Mr Kriechbaumer's suspension to be deferred until after the completion of racing on 4 January2019.
We suspend Mr Kriechbaumer's licence to drive in races from after the completion of racing on 4 January 2019 until after the completion of racing on 31 July 2019.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 868(2)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Kriechbaumer - Amateur Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a027e61af373026869347a13834e3f26
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meetdate: 28/12/2018
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 28 December 2018
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