Wellington RC 15 March 2014 – R 7
ID: JCA16389
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 15 March 2014
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2014/03/15
Race Number:
R 7
Decision:
As Mr Sweeney admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Sweeney is suspended from the close of racing on Monday March 17th up to and including racing on Thursday March 27th. Race days in this period are:
19/3/14 Counties
21/3/14 Waipukurau
22/3/14 Tauranga
23/3/14 Waverley
26/3/14 Avondale
27/3/14 Wanganui
(South Island days were not included)
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Group 3 Hiremaster Cuddle Stakes 1400m, an Information was lodged by Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that M Sweeney the rider of NEENA ROCK allowed his mount to shift out into the line of DRAGON BEAUTY which was forced out into the line of ARIETTA which was checked. Also affected was LAUREN TATE.
Rule 638(1) (d), the careless riding rule, was read with Mr Sweeney confirming that he admitted the breach. Mr Tidmarsh outlined the incident using all the available videos.
In the home straight Mr Sweeney, while riding vigorously, drifted outwards into the line of DRAGON BEAUTY when not the required two lengths clear of that runner. As a result Mr Parkes was forced out wider which hampered ARIETTA who received a considerable check. LAUREN TATE was the widest of the four runners and she too suffered interference as a result of ARIETTA making contact. Mr Tidmarsh said Mr Sweeney did make an attempt to straighten his mount but it was too late. Mr Neal said Mr Johnson (ARIETTA) lost all chance in the race as a result of the interference.
Ms Sweeney accepted the facts as outlined by the Stewards.
Submissions for Penalty:
In the Stewards’ submissions Mr Neal said Mr Sweeney was a busy rider with an excellent record incurring only one suspension last year. He said on this occasion Mr Sweeney was “all but clear, but not quite” and had simply miscalculated. Mr Neal reminded the committee this was a Group 3 race and in his view a suspension in the vicinity of six days was appropriate.
Mr Sweeney explained to the committee that he thought he was clear of the runners to his outside as his horse was “going away” from the field. He misjudged the situation saying the wind had exaggerated the incident and while he did stop riding it was too late.
Mr Sweeney advised the committee that he had rides on Monday but could begin any suspension after that.
Reasons for Penalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee had regard to all of the submissions. Mr Sweeney was approximately 1 and ¾ lengths clear of DRAGON BEAUTY when he crossed in front of that runner. We accept that this was a misjudgement and Mr Sweeney genuinely thought he was two lengths clear however the side-on film proved otherwise. As a result Mr Parkes was forced outwards impeding the run of ARIETTA who was making a run into a gap between DRAGON BEAUTY and wider out LAUREN TATE. The front shoulder of ARIETTA touched the hindquarters of LAUREN TATE which turned that horse sideways. ARIETTA was badly checked, lost ground and did not feature in the finish. LAUREN TATE ran fourth while Mr Sweeney went on to win the race. We accept that Mr Sweeney did make an attempt to straighten his mount however it was action taken much too late. The committee considered the degree of Mr Sweeney’s carelessness to be in the mid to low range however the consequences were quite severe with three horses being affected to varying degrees.
Adopting a starting point of five days suspension we gave Mr Sweeney credit for his excellent record and his admission of the breach which would effectively reduce any penalty by one day. Aggravating factors however were the Group 3 status of the race and the interference suffered by three horses at a critical stage of the race. It is difficult to say where ARIETTA and LAUREN TATE may have finished if they had received clear runs to the line but the fact remains both were denied that opportunity. Taking into account all of the relevant factors it was the committee’s opinion that a six day suspension was appropriate.
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: ad7a92738359048ec2a8f0c48d6ae102
informantnumber: A4026
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Riding
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 10/03/2014
hearing_title: Wellington RC 15 March 2014 - R 7
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Group 3 Hiremaster Cuddle Stakes 1400m, an Information was lodged by Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that M Sweeney the rider of NEENA ROCK allowed his mount to shift out into the line of DRAGON BEAUTY which was forced out into the line of ARIETTA which was checked. Also affected was LAUREN TATE.
Rule 638(1) (d), the careless riding rule, was read with Mr Sweeney confirming that he admitted the breach. Mr Tidmarsh outlined the incident using all the available videos.
In the home straight Mr Sweeney, while riding vigorously, drifted outwards into the line of DRAGON BEAUTY when not the required two lengths clear of that runner. As a result Mr Parkes was forced out wider which hampered ARIETTA who received a considerable check. LAUREN TATE was the widest of the four runners and she too suffered interference as a result of ARIETTA making contact. Mr Tidmarsh said Mr Sweeney did make an attempt to straighten his mount but it was too late. Mr Neal said Mr Johnson (ARIETTA) lost all chance in the race as a result of the interference.
Ms Sweeney accepted the facts as outlined by the Stewards.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Sweeney admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
In the Stewards’ submissions Mr Neal said Mr Sweeney was a busy rider with an excellent record incurring only one suspension last year. He said on this occasion Mr Sweeney was “all but clear, but not quite” and had simply miscalculated. Mr Neal reminded the committee this was a Group 3 race and in his view a suspension in the vicinity of six days was appropriate.
Mr Sweeney explained to the committee that he thought he was clear of the runners to his outside as his horse was “going away” from the field. He misjudged the situation saying the wind had exaggerated the incident and while he did stop riding it was too late.
Mr Sweeney advised the committee that he had rides on Monday but could begin any suspension after that.
reasonsforpenalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee had regard to all of the submissions. Mr Sweeney was approximately 1 and ¾ lengths clear of DRAGON BEAUTY when he crossed in front of that runner. We accept that this was a misjudgement and Mr Sweeney genuinely thought he was two lengths clear however the side-on film proved otherwise. As a result Mr Parkes was forced outwards impeding the run of ARIETTA who was making a run into a gap between DRAGON BEAUTY and wider out LAUREN TATE. The front shoulder of ARIETTA touched the hindquarters of LAUREN TATE which turned that horse sideways. ARIETTA was badly checked, lost ground and did not feature in the finish. LAUREN TATE ran fourth while Mr Sweeney went on to win the race. We accept that Mr Sweeney did make an attempt to straighten his mount however it was action taken much too late. The committee considered the degree of Mr Sweeney’s carelessness to be in the mid to low range however the consequences were quite severe with three horses being affected to varying degrees.
Adopting a starting point of five days suspension we gave Mr Sweeney credit for his excellent record and his admission of the breach which would effectively reduce any penalty by one day. Aggravating factors however were the Group 3 status of the race and the interference suffered by three horses at a critical stage of the race. It is difficult to say where ARIETTA and LAUREN TATE may have finished if they had received clear runs to the line but the fact remains both were denied that opportunity. Taking into account all of the relevant factors it was the committee’s opinion that a six day suspension was appropriate.
penalty:
Mr Sweeney is suspended from the close of racing on Monday March 17th up to and including racing on Thursday March 27th. Race days in this period are:
19/3/14 Counties
21/3/14 Waipukurau
22/3/14 Tauranga
23/3/14 Waverley
26/3/14 Avondale
27/3/14 Wanganui
(South Island days were not included)
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Sweeney - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d092af7a04208bbf9c0a90f5b9e15248
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 5750bf1e841364791a77a54a8f54dd67
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/03/2014
meet_title: Wellington RC - 15 March 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC