Auckland RC 13 March 2021 – R 7 – Chair, Mr G Jones
ID: JCA16405
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 13 March 2021
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2021/03/13
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Mr Riddell admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Riddell’s licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 6 days commencing after racing on 13 March 2021 and concluding after racing on 24 March 2021. In addition, we impose a $750 fine.
The meeting at Gore on 14 March 2021 was not included as rider declarations closed on 12 March 2021.
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of Race 7, the Group 1 Bonecrusher Stakes ($200,000). Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr Oatham filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging J Riddell (ROYAL PERFORMER) permitted his mount to shift out near the 400 metres making heavy contact with MELODY BELLE which became unbalanced.
Mr Riddell acknowledged he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Using the available race films Stipendiary Steward, Mr Jones demonstrated the incident and identified the two horses and riders concerned in the incident; namely ROYAL PERFORMER (J Riddell) and MELODY BELLE (T Harris) who were racing at the rear of the field rounding the home turn.
Mr Jones told the Committee that near the 400-metre mark Mr Riddell directed ROYAL PERFORMER outwards making heavy contact with MELODY BELLE, shifting her out about two horse widths. He said that ROYAL PERFORMER was never clear and was racing slightly behind MELODY BELLE when the interference occurred. He added that when ROYAL PERFORMER shifted ground there was never a run available.
In response, Mr Riddell stated that his horse was travelling well prior to making contact with MELODY BELLE. He said it was competitive riding and he didn’t realise that the bump to MELODY BELLE was so severe.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Riddell's riding record which indicated no previous breaches under the careless riding Rule in the last 12 months. During that period Mr Riddell has had 354 race day rides. On that basis he described his record as being excellent.
Mr Oatham said Stewards assessed the level of carelessness to be in mid-range. He added that an aggravating factor was that the breach occurred in a Group 1 Race with a stake of $200,000.
Mr Riddell did not seek a deferment to any proposed suspension. He submitted that the interference to MELODY BELLE did not affect the outcome of the race as MELODY BELLE went on and won. He believed that the breach was low level and the result of competitive riding. He asked the Committee to take into account his good record.
Reasons for Penalty:
After considering the submissions and reviewing the Race film, the Committee determined Mr Riddell’s carelessness to be in the mid-range and adopted a 5-day (suspension) and $500 (fine) as the starting point. This is in conformity with the revised NZTR Penalty Guide for mid-range carelessness.
The available films clearly established that ROYAL PERFORMER was racing at the rear of the field entering the home straight. Mr Riddell angled his mount across the heels of the horses in front of him and in doing so he made heavy contact with MELODY BELLE who was forced wider on the track. We do not accept that the breach was the result of competitive riding. In our view he simply endeavoured to force a run that was not available.
Mr Riddell’s riding record was assessed as excellent. It is of note that Mr Riddell rides regularly in the Northern and Central Districts and it is 18 months since his last breach. Prior to that his careless riding record was poor and to his credit he has since active taken steps to improve. On that basis, together with his admission of the breach we afforded him a 2-day reduction from the starting point.
An aggravating factor is that this breach occurred in a Group 1 race with Stakemoney of $200,000. Rule 902(2) of the NZTR Rules of Racing empowers a Committee in imposing a penalty to have due regard to such matters as it considers appropriate including: (a) the Status of the Race; (b) the Stake payable in respect of the Race; and (c) the consequences of the breach.
In that regard due to the race status and stakes we applied a 3-day (suspension) and $250 (fine) uplift. The consequences were not a determinative factor as MELODY BELLE went on and won the race.
After weighing up the factors we determined a 6 day suspension and $750 fine to be appropriate in the circumstances.
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: b035b42fc7a796ff8ad0af5e131f89c2
informantnumber: A14353
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless riding
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 14/03/2021
hearing_title: Auckland RC 13 March 2021 – R 7 – Chair, Mr G Jones
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of Race 7, the Group 1 Bonecrusher Stakes ($200,000). Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr Oatham filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging J Riddell (ROYAL PERFORMER) permitted his mount to shift out near the 400 metres making heavy contact with MELODY BELLE which became unbalanced.
Mr Riddell acknowledged he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Using the available race films Stipendiary Steward, Mr Jones demonstrated the incident and identified the two horses and riders concerned in the incident; namely ROYAL PERFORMER (J Riddell) and MELODY BELLE (T Harris) who were racing at the rear of the field rounding the home turn.
Mr Jones told the Committee that near the 400-metre mark Mr Riddell directed ROYAL PERFORMER outwards making heavy contact with MELODY BELLE, shifting her out about two horse widths. He said that ROYAL PERFORMER was never clear and was racing slightly behind MELODY BELLE when the interference occurred. He added that when ROYAL PERFORMER shifted ground there was never a run available.
In response, Mr Riddell stated that his horse was travelling well prior to making contact with MELODY BELLE. He said it was competitive riding and he didn’t realise that the bump to MELODY BELLE was so severe.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Riddell admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Riddell's riding record which indicated no previous breaches under the careless riding Rule in the last 12 months. During that period Mr Riddell has had 354 race day rides. On that basis he described his record as being excellent.
Mr Oatham said Stewards assessed the level of carelessness to be in mid-range. He added that an aggravating factor was that the breach occurred in a Group 1 Race with a stake of $200,000.
Mr Riddell did not seek a deferment to any proposed suspension. He submitted that the interference to MELODY BELLE did not affect the outcome of the race as MELODY BELLE went on and won. He believed that the breach was low level and the result of competitive riding. He asked the Committee to take into account his good record.
reasonsforpenalty:
After considering the submissions and reviewing the Race film, the Committee determined Mr Riddell’s carelessness to be in the mid-range and adopted a 5-day (suspension) and $500 (fine) as the starting point. This is in conformity with the revised NZTR Penalty Guide for mid-range carelessness.
The available films clearly established that ROYAL PERFORMER was racing at the rear of the field entering the home straight. Mr Riddell angled his mount across the heels of the horses in front of him and in doing so he made heavy contact with MELODY BELLE who was forced wider on the track. We do not accept that the breach was the result of competitive riding. In our view he simply endeavoured to force a run that was not available.
Mr Riddell’s riding record was assessed as excellent. It is of note that Mr Riddell rides regularly in the Northern and Central Districts and it is 18 months since his last breach. Prior to that his careless riding record was poor and to his credit he has since active taken steps to improve. On that basis, together with his admission of the breach we afforded him a 2-day reduction from the starting point.
An aggravating factor is that this breach occurred in a Group 1 race with Stakemoney of $200,000. Rule 902(2) of the NZTR Rules of Racing empowers a Committee in imposing a penalty to have due regard to such matters as it considers appropriate including: (a) the Status of the Race; (b) the Stake payable in respect of the Race; and (c) the consequences of the breach.
In that regard due to the race status and stakes we applied a 3-day (suspension) and $250 (fine) uplift. The consequences were not a determinative factor as MELODY BELLE went on and won the race.
After weighing up the factors we determined a 6 day suspension and $750 fine to be appropriate in the circumstances.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Riddell’s licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 6 days commencing after racing on 13 March 2021 and concluding after racing on 24 March 2021. In addition, we impose a $750 fine.
The meeting at Gore on 14 March 2021 was not included as rider declarations closed on 12 March 2021.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Riddell - Rider of ROYAL PERFORMER
Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 99a16dea9be780ae3d1ce44c8fa84ae2
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: cffbd6064c88511f939842253028f7f7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/03/2021
meet_title: Auckland RC - 13 March 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ASmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland RC