Archive Decision

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Marlborough HRC 21 January 2018 – R 8 – Chair, Mr D Anderson

ID: JCA15984

Applicant:
Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mrs A Lethaby - Open Driver

Other Person:
Mr N McIntyre - General Manager of Stewards

Information Number:
A09885

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Breach of Rule 869(4)(6)(b)(c) - push out rule

Rules:
869(4)(6)(b)(c)

Plea:
denied

Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 21 January 2018

Meet Chair:
DAnderson

Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams

Race Date:
2018/01/21

Race Number:
R 8

Decision:

The charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Mrs Lethaby was fined the sum of $200.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 8 the “SPEIGHTS DISCRETIONARY HANDICAP PACE” an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4)(6)(b)(c) by Open Driver Mrs A Lethaby. The Information stated that “Driver A Lethaby (BEAU VISA) forced (ASSET CONTROL) B Hope to race wider on the track prior to the 1000 metres (push out rule).”

Mrs Lethaby had signed the Information stating she did not admit the breach. When asked by the Committee she confirmed she had a clear understanding of the rule.

Rule 869(4)(6)(b)(c) reads as follows.

(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.

(6) “Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof: -

(b) A horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track;

(c) A horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.”

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Renault used the race video to identify Mrs Lethaby racing 2 wide towards the rear of the field with approximately 1150 metres to run. On her outside was AUGUSTA (J Curtin) who was moving forward 3 wide. Mr Renault pointed to Mrs Lethaby waiting for AUGUSTA to clear and then she proceeded to move out three wide to follow that horse. He said as this manoeuvre began Mr Hope was improving fast three wide with the intension of following AUGUSTA also, and was forced four wide, remaining there for a considerable time.

Mrs Lethaby gave evidence using the films of the incident, that prior to her shifting outwards, she had looked and there were no horses in sight behind Mr Curtin. She said her horse was a little slow to react to being pulled out, and this combined with Mr Hope rushing up so quickly contributed to the situation. She said in a split-second Mr Hope was outside her and it was too late to change her mind and move back down.

Reasons for Decision:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and reviewed the available films. We have empathy for Mrs Lethaby because when she began to shift her horse, it would have been difficult to anticipate Mr Hope appearing on her outside so rapidly. We also observed that BEAU VISTA was slow to react which impacted on Mrs Lethaby’s speed to manoeuvre. The end result of the incident remains, that Mr Hope was forced wider on the track prior to the 1000 metres and therefore the push out rule has been breached.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Renault said Mrs Lethaby has had 19 drives this season and 67 last season. He said Mrs Lethaby hasn’t been charged with any rule in the last 12 months. He referred to the JCA penalty starting point of five drives or a $250 fine for a breach of this rule and would leave the Committee to decide penalty.

Mrs Lethaby had no submissions to make on penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has taken the JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of this rule which is five drives or a $250 fine. There are no aggravating factors to consider.

The mitigating factor is Mrs Lethaby’s excellent record for which we afford her a $50 discount.

We therefore determined that a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty in this case.

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: aba4bb253be10648111ef3af26072427


informantnumber: A09885


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Breach of Rule 869(4)(6)(b)(c) - push out rule


plea: denied


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 24/01/2018


hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 21 January 2018 - R 8 - Chair, Mr D Anderson


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 8 the “SPEIGHTS DISCRETIONARY HANDICAP PACE” an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4)(6)(b)(c) by Open Driver Mrs A Lethaby. The Information stated that “Driver A Lethaby (BEAU VISA) forced (ASSET CONTROL) B Hope to race wider on the track prior to the 1000 metres (push out rule).”

Mrs Lethaby had signed the Information stating she did not admit the breach. When asked by the Committee she confirmed she had a clear understanding of the rule.

Rule 869(4)(6)(b)(c) reads as follows.

(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.

(6) “Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof: -

(b) A horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track;

(c) A horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.”


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Renault used the race video to identify Mrs Lethaby racing 2 wide towards the rear of the field with approximately 1150 metres to run. On her outside was AUGUSTA (J Curtin) who was moving forward 3 wide. Mr Renault pointed to Mrs Lethaby waiting for AUGUSTA to clear and then she proceeded to move out three wide to follow that horse. He said as this manoeuvre began Mr Hope was improving fast three wide with the intension of following AUGUSTA also, and was forced four wide, remaining there for a considerable time.

Mrs Lethaby gave evidence using the films of the incident, that prior to her shifting outwards, she had looked and there were no horses in sight behind Mr Curtin. She said her horse was a little slow to react to being pulled out, and this combined with Mr Hope rushing up so quickly contributed to the situation. She said in a split-second Mr Hope was outside her and it was too late to change her mind and move back down.


reasonsfordecision:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and reviewed the available films. We have empathy for Mrs Lethaby because when she began to shift her horse, it would have been difficult to anticipate Mr Hope appearing on her outside so rapidly. We also observed that BEAU VISTA was slow to react which impacted on Mrs Lethaby’s speed to manoeuvre. The end result of the incident remains, that Mr Hope was forced wider on the track prior to the 1000 metres and therefore the push out rule has been breached.


Decision:

The charge was found proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Renault said Mrs Lethaby has had 19 drives this season and 67 last season. He said Mrs Lethaby hasn’t been charged with any rule in the last 12 months. He referred to the JCA penalty starting point of five drives or a $250 fine for a breach of this rule and would leave the Committee to decide penalty.

Mrs Lethaby had no submissions to make on penalty.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has taken the JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a breach of this rule which is five drives or a $250 fine. There are no aggravating factors to consider.

The mitigating factor is Mrs Lethaby’s excellent record for which we afford her a $50 discount.

We therefore determined that a fine of $200 was an appropriate penalty in this case.


penalty:

Accordingly, Mrs Lethaby was fined the sum of $200.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869(4)(6)(b)(c)


Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mrs A Lethaby - Open Driver


Otherperson: Mr N McIntyre - General Manager of Stewards


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: ecf514ff3e54bbd37bd454e084539025


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 8


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: cb93b46b62837671160d9a874dd8a9c3


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 21/01/2018


meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 21 January 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: marlborough-hrc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: DAnderson


meet_pm1: PWilliams


meet_pm2: none


name: Marlborough HRC