Auckland TC 25 November 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA15966
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 25 November 2016
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2016/11/25
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Argue has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee therefore imposes a fine of $400 on Mr Argue. Mr Argue was informed that any further breaches in similar circumstances would inevitably lead to a suspension of his driving licence.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the PLAY AT WAITAKERE GOLF CLUB MOBILE PACE 2700, Mr Muirhead presented an Information alleging that Junior Driver, Mr R Argue drove 'Speak Up' carelessly causing interference to 'The Mailman', driven by Ms E Isherwood, with 1500m to run.
Mr Argue was assisted at the hearing by Mr R Lawson. Mr Argue confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides that ''No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified the horses, 'The Mailman' and 'Speak Up' as the field neared the 1500m mark. 'The Mailman' was leading with 'Speak Up' outside that horse, about 1/2 length behind. As the horses neared the end of the back straight Mr Argue allowed 'Speak Up' to shift inwards as he moved up alongside 'The Mailman', crowding that horse, which jumped over a marker peg and then went offstride. As a result 'The Mailman' drifted to the rear of the field and eventually finished in last place. Mr Muirhead added that he understood that there had been contact between the two horses, however he said he was unable to say with any certainty that it occurred before 'The Mailman' went offstride. Mr Muirhead stated that it was Mr Argue's job to keep the person inside him safe.
Mr Argue told the hearing that he had called out to Ms Isherwood at the start of the race that he wanted to lead. He said she did not respond. He added that he again called out to her before the incident near the 1500m, and that she had not responded. Mr Argue said that his horse had been hanging and that he was trying to deal with that just before the incident. He added that he believed that there had been contact between the two horses involved just before 'The Mailman' broke.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Argue's driving record, which showed no prior breaches of this particular Rule. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point of a 10 drive suspension or a $500 fine for a first breach of this Rule. Mr Muirhead said that it was to Mr Argue's credit that he had admitted the breach, and added that as he was a Junior Driver his penalty could be a fine of under the $500 starting point.
Mr Lawson, for Mr Argue, said that he believed the fact that 'Speak Up' had been hanging during the race was a mitigating factor, although he agreed that Mr Argue should be more careful. He added that Mr Argue was a young driver trying to make his way in the industry, and that he was learning from his mistakes. He said it was Mr Argue's first breach of this Rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took notice of the parties in their submissions on penalty. We accept that Mr Argue has admitted the breach. While he is a Junior Driver, the fact is that he has had 184 race drives, and driven 6 winners prior to tonights racing. He is clearly not a 'new' driver.
The driver of 'The Mailman' was entitled to be where she was in the running and was not required to hand-up her position to Mr Argue. As a result of his driving, 'The Mailman' had gone offstride and lost all chance it had in the race.The Committee noted that in August 2016 Mr Argue had been fined $250 in almost identical circumstances when charged under a different sub-Rule. We also note that in the previous 4 month period Mr Argue had been charged 4 times for breaching various Rules. The Committee believes his driving behaviour needs to improve drastically. The Committee did consider a suspension as a likely penalty in this matter; however we determined that a fine would be an appropriate penalty, and that fine should be of sufficient magnitude to instil in Mr Argue that he must learn from his mistakes.
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: a777f6dd04f05736ec9974b9f733379b
informantnumber: A7980
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving causing interference
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/11/2016
hearing_title: Auckland TC 25 November 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the PLAY AT WAITAKERE GOLF CLUB MOBILE PACE 2700, Mr Muirhead presented an Information alleging that Junior Driver, Mr R Argue drove 'Speak Up' carelessly causing interference to 'The Mailman', driven by Ms E Isherwood, with 1500m to run.
Mr Argue was assisted at the hearing by Mr R Lawson. Mr Argue confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides that ''No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.
Using the available video films Mr Muirhead identified the horses, 'The Mailman' and 'Speak Up' as the field neared the 1500m mark. 'The Mailman' was leading with 'Speak Up' outside that horse, about 1/2 length behind. As the horses neared the end of the back straight Mr Argue allowed 'Speak Up' to shift inwards as he moved up alongside 'The Mailman', crowding that horse, which jumped over a marker peg and then went offstride. As a result 'The Mailman' drifted to the rear of the field and eventually finished in last place. Mr Muirhead added that he understood that there had been contact between the two horses, however he said he was unable to say with any certainty that it occurred before 'The Mailman' went offstride. Mr Muirhead stated that it was Mr Argue's job to keep the person inside him safe.
Mr Argue told the hearing that he had called out to Ms Isherwood at the start of the race that he wanted to lead. He said she did not respond. He added that he again called out to her before the incident near the 1500m, and that she had not responded. Mr Argue said that his horse had been hanging and that he was trying to deal with that just before the incident. He added that he believed that there had been contact between the two horses involved just before 'The Mailman' broke.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Argue has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Argue's driving record, which showed no prior breaches of this particular Rule. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point of a 10 drive suspension or a $500 fine for a first breach of this Rule. Mr Muirhead said that it was to Mr Argue's credit that he had admitted the breach, and added that as he was a Junior Driver his penalty could be a fine of under the $500 starting point.
Mr Lawson, for Mr Argue, said that he believed the fact that 'Speak Up' had been hanging during the race was a mitigating factor, although he agreed that Mr Argue should be more careful. He added that Mr Argue was a young driver trying to make his way in the industry, and that he was learning from his mistakes. He said it was Mr Argue's first breach of this Rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took notice of the parties in their submissions on penalty. We accept that Mr Argue has admitted the breach. While he is a Junior Driver, the fact is that he has had 184 race drives, and driven 6 winners prior to tonights racing. He is clearly not a 'new' driver.
The driver of 'The Mailman' was entitled to be where she was in the running and was not required to hand-up her position to Mr Argue. As a result of his driving, 'The Mailman' had gone offstride and lost all chance it had in the race.The Committee noted that in August 2016 Mr Argue had been fined $250 in almost identical circumstances when charged under a different sub-Rule. We also note that in the previous 4 month period Mr Argue had been charged 4 times for breaching various Rules. The Committee believes his driving behaviour needs to improve drastically. The Committee did consider a suspension as a likely penalty in this matter; however we determined that a fine would be an appropriate penalty, and that fine should be of sufficient magnitude to instil in Mr Argue that he must learn from his mistakes.
penalty:
The Committee therefore imposes a fine of $400 on Mr Argue. Mr Argue was informed that any further breaches in similar circumstances would inevitably lead to a suspension of his driving licence.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Argue - Junior Driver
Otherperson: Mr R Lawson - Assisting Mr Argue
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6c83bf5cdfd56a64f70f35788196b454
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6d56b62d91523d8435b3351212e13be0
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 25/11/2016
meet_title: Auckland TC - 25 November 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC