Manawatu HRC 12 December 2013 – R 2 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA16251
Meet Title:
Manawatu HRC - 12 December 2013
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2013/12/12
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
In terms of Rule 862(3) the Committee has decided to exercise its discretion and disqualify “Megs First”. The protest is therefore upheld. The confirmed amended placings are:-
1st Celeris (9)
2nd No Go Slow Briton (2)
3rd Seymour (11)
4th Earl Mountbatten (7)
5th Miss Adventure (8)
Authorisation is given for the payment of all amended dividends and stakes.
Facts:
Following the running of race 2 the “Stewart Island Smoked Salmon Handicap Trot” Information A2331 instigating a protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging a breach of Rule 862(2) by “Megs First” driven by Mr K Chittenden. The information stated that “2nd placed MEGS FIRST started from an incorrect barrier position”.
The judge’s placings were:-
1st Celeris (9)
2nd Megs First (1)
3rd No Go Slow Briton (2)
4th Seymour (11)
5th Earl Mountbatten (7)
Rule 862(2) states:- “No horseman shall permit a horse to start and no horse shall start other than from its correct barrier position or in advance of its correct barrier position (either at a standing or mobile or moving start) unless directed by the Starter in accordance with Rule 860(8)”.
Rule 862(3) states:- “For the avoidance of doubt….disqualification under sub–rule (2) shall be discretionary”.
Rule 860(8) states:- “The starter may place any horse which is misbehaving and which in his opinion is likely by such misbehavior to prevent a fair start, in any position he may think proper, but not so as to alter the handicap of such horse".
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead said that prior to the start of Race 2 “Megs First” has fallen on the track round at the start and as a consequence the race was delayed approximately 5 minutes while the horse was vetted and all its gear checked. Once the horse was cleared to race he said he received information from the Starter that he, the Starter had directed, in terms of Rule 860(8), that “Megs First” be sent to extreme outside of the “Unruly” mark meaning that it was to start from 3 on the “Unruly”. Mr Muirhead also said this information was relayed to the on-course commentator who passed it on to the on course patrons and also to the off course viewers via Trackside.
Mr Muirhead, using the head-on and side-on films, showed the start of the race and highlighted Mr Chittenden starting in a position approximately 4 horse widths out from the running rail on the second line. Mr Muirhead said that by starting from that position “Megs First” had started from an incorrect position and was in breach of Rule 862(2). He also said that in starting from where it did the horse had gained an advantage and had ended up running 2nd.
Mr Benton said that once “Megs First” was cleared to race he received a request from Mr Chittenden for his horse to start from the “Unruly” mark. He relayed that request to Mr Muirhead, the request was approved and Mr Chittenden was told he was to start from the extreme outside on the “Unruly” mark. Mr Benton also said that as the horses were being lined up for the standing start he told Mr Chittenden he was in the wrong position.
Mr Chittenden said as the horses were being called up he could not get across to the outside of the “Unruly” mark because there were horses in the way as well as the two vehicles used by the starter’s assistants. He said he turned his horse around to try again but then the horse took control of him and moved up into a position approximately 4 horse widths of the fence. He said he heard the starter call out that he was in the wrong position and asked for help to get the horse correctly positioned but then the starter let the horses go and the race started.
Mr Collins had no comments to make.
Reasons for Decision:
There is some slight confusion as to who approved Mr Chittenden’s request to start from the outside of the “Unruly” mark. Mr Benton did not need to seek Mr Muirhead’s permission to move the horse to the outside of the “Unruly” mark and Mr Muirhead believed he was just acknowledging what the starter had done. In any event the initial request came from Mr Chittenden and he confirmed he understood he was to start from the outside of the “Unruly” mark.
The Committee accepts that Mr Chittenden did not have full control over “Megs First” immediately prior to start because the horse was proving difficult to position correctly, as it was some 20m behind the rest of the field could be seen “charging” towards the horses in front of it. The horse then stopped moving forward and at the time the race started it was stationary and on the back of a horse in front of it. After being slow away for a couple of strides it settled into its gait and trotted well for the rest of the race and finished 2nd.
The Committee does not accept that the starter’s assistant’s vehicles were initially preventing Mr Chittenden from moving to the outside of the track. The Committee also notes that Mr Chittenden knew he was in the wrong position immediately prior to the start of the race but he did not make another attempt to position the horse correctly himself (when it was standing still), instead calling out for help to get the horse to the outside of the “Unruly” mark. Notwithstanding hearing that request the starter decided to let the race commence.
In summary, the head-on film shows that after requesting to start from outside on the “Unruly” mark “Megs First” started from a position some 4 horse widths from the running rail on the second line. As such the horse was in clear breach of Rule 862 (2) and the responsibility for that breach rests solely with Mr Chittenden. After viewing the film the Committee does not believe that, in starting from this position, any other horses were disadvantaged by “Megs First”, however, we do believe “Megs First” did itself gain an advantage in starting from this position and ended up finishing the race in 2nd place.
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: cfd1149cfe13df44e26875f4d3dfd8e2
informantnumber: A2331
horsename: Megs First
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 30/11/2013
hearing_title: Manawatu HRC 12 December 2013 - R 2 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 2 the “Stewart Island Smoked Salmon Handicap Trot” Information A2331 instigating a protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead alleging a breach of Rule 862(2) by “Megs First” driven by Mr K Chittenden. The information stated that “2nd placed MEGS FIRST started from an incorrect barrier position”.
The judge’s placings were:-
1st Celeris (9)
2nd Megs First (1)
3rd No Go Slow Briton (2)
4th Seymour (11)
5th Earl Mountbatten (7)
Rule 862(2) states:- “No horseman shall permit a horse to start and no horse shall start other than from its correct barrier position or in advance of its correct barrier position (either at a standing or mobile or moving start) unless directed by the Starter in accordance with Rule 860(8)”.
Rule 862(3) states:- “For the avoidance of doubt….disqualification under sub–rule (2) shall be discretionary”.
Rule 860(8) states:- “The starter may place any horse which is misbehaving and which in his opinion is likely by such misbehavior to prevent a fair start, in any position he may think proper, but not so as to alter the handicap of such horse".
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead said that prior to the start of Race 2 “Megs First” has fallen on the track round at the start and as a consequence the race was delayed approximately 5 minutes while the horse was vetted and all its gear checked. Once the horse was cleared to race he said he received information from the Starter that he, the Starter had directed, in terms of Rule 860(8), that “Megs First” be sent to extreme outside of the “Unruly” mark meaning that it was to start from 3 on the “Unruly”. Mr Muirhead also said this information was relayed to the on-course commentator who passed it on to the on course patrons and also to the off course viewers via Trackside.
Mr Muirhead, using the head-on and side-on films, showed the start of the race and highlighted Mr Chittenden starting in a position approximately 4 horse widths out from the running rail on the second line. Mr Muirhead said that by starting from that position “Megs First” had started from an incorrect position and was in breach of Rule 862(2). He also said that in starting from where it did the horse had gained an advantage and had ended up running 2nd.
Mr Benton said that once “Megs First” was cleared to race he received a request from Mr Chittenden for his horse to start from the “Unruly” mark. He relayed that request to Mr Muirhead, the request was approved and Mr Chittenden was told he was to start from the extreme outside on the “Unruly” mark. Mr Benton also said that as the horses were being lined up for the standing start he told Mr Chittenden he was in the wrong position.
Mr Chittenden said as the horses were being called up he could not get across to the outside of the “Unruly” mark because there were horses in the way as well as the two vehicles used by the starter’s assistants. He said he turned his horse around to try again but then the horse took control of him and moved up into a position approximately 4 horse widths of the fence. He said he heard the starter call out that he was in the wrong position and asked for help to get the horse correctly positioned but then the starter let the horses go and the race started.
Mr Collins had no comments to make.
reasonsfordecision:
There is some slight confusion as to who approved Mr Chittenden’s request to start from the outside of the “Unruly” mark. Mr Benton did not need to seek Mr Muirhead’s permission to move the horse to the outside of the “Unruly” mark and Mr Muirhead believed he was just acknowledging what the starter had done. In any event the initial request came from Mr Chittenden and he confirmed he understood he was to start from the outside of the “Unruly” mark.
The Committee accepts that Mr Chittenden did not have full control over “Megs First” immediately prior to start because the horse was proving difficult to position correctly, as it was some 20m behind the rest of the field could be seen “charging” towards the horses in front of it. The horse then stopped moving forward and at the time the race started it was stationary and on the back of a horse in front of it. After being slow away for a couple of strides it settled into its gait and trotted well for the rest of the race and finished 2nd.
The Committee does not accept that the starter’s assistant’s vehicles were initially preventing Mr Chittenden from moving to the outside of the track. The Committee also notes that Mr Chittenden knew he was in the wrong position immediately prior to the start of the race but he did not make another attempt to position the horse correctly himself (when it was standing still), instead calling out for help to get the horse to the outside of the “Unruly” mark. Notwithstanding hearing that request the starter decided to let the race commence.
In summary, the head-on film shows that after requesting to start from outside on the “Unruly” mark “Megs First” started from a position some 4 horse widths from the running rail on the second line. As such the horse was in clear breach of Rule 862 (2) and the responsibility for that breach rests solely with Mr Chittenden. After viewing the film the Committee does not believe that, in starting from this position, any other horses were disadvantaged by “Megs First”, however, we do believe “Megs First” did itself gain an advantage in starting from this position and ended up finishing the race in 2nd place.
Decision:
In terms of Rule 862(3) the Committee has decided to exercise its discretion and disqualify “Megs First”. The protest is therefore upheld. The confirmed amended placings are:-
1st Celeris (9)
2nd No Go Slow Briton (2)
3rd Seymour (11)
4th Earl Mountbatten (7)
5th Miss Adventure (8)
Authorisation is given for the payment of all amended dividends and stakes.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules:
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward, Mr G Benton - Starter
Respondent: Mr K Chittenden - Open Horseman and driver of "Megs First", Mr R Collins - Part owner of "Megs First"
StipendSteward:
raceid: bed5f8edbf52ec3808ef12b7d5284c84
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c51e2419db5b9a6dffa4e08eb0506bae
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/12/2013
meet_title: Manawatu HRC - 12 December 2013
meet_expappcomment:
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meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: manawatu-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Manawatu HRC