Banks Peninsula TC 19 February 2016 – R 4 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA16623
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 19 February 2016
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp
Race Date:
2016/02/19
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
Mr Cusdin having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Cusdin’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 20 February 2016 up to and including 3 March 2016 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by the term of suspension are Addington on 25 February, Cheviot on 28 February and Forbury Park on 3 March.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Armitage Williams Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr B H Cusdin, alleging that Mr Cusdin, as the driver of FOUR STARZZZ SPECIAL in the race, “drove carelessly when allowing his horse to strike the wheel of DREAMCOAT (J C Morrison) with 1100 metres to run causing the tyre of DREAMCOAT to puncture”.
Mr Cusdin was present at the hearing of the information, and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Renault had Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, show video replays of the incident with approximately 1100 metres to run. He pointed out Mr Cusdin, driving FOUR STARZZZ SPECIAL, racing in 2nd last position on the markers as the field approached the bend out of the home straight. Directly in front of him was DREAMCOAT, driven by Mr Morrison. There was a “clear gap” between the two runners, Mr Renault said, but Mr Cusdin’s horse then got up onto the back of Mr Morrison. He got awkwardly placed close to the sulky and struck the wheel. Mr Morrison could be seen to look down as contact was made. Prior to the incident, Mr Cusdin was having no difficulty with his horse but he did reach down, put the reins in one hand and pull the hopple shorteners. He had allowed his horse to get too close to Mr Morrison and strike the sulky wheel, causing the tyre to the puncture, Mr Renault said.
Mr Cusdin said that the horse was quite inexperienced and, at a previous meeting, it had done something similar. He had tried his best not to allow the horse to do it on this occasion, but it had run out a little and become awkward to handle. When he worked the horse into the clear, shortly after, it settled, Mr Cusdin said.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Cusdin has a clear record in the last 12 months. He has just resumed driving – this was his 7th drive for the season. The breach was at the lower end, Mr Renault submitted. He referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine and submitted that an appropriate penalty was a fine of around $300.
Mr Cusdin said that he would prefer a suspension to a fine. Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Cusdin was averaging 1-2 drives per meeting and, on that basis, a suspension of 3 days would be appropriate. Mr Cusdin was driving at Wyndham on 20 February and would seek a deferment until after that meeting. Mr Cusdin confirmed this. He was not driving at Methven on 21 February.
Reasons for Penalty:
In considering penalty, the Committee had regard to the penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension. This would equate to 5 meetings in terms of Mr Renault’s submissions. However, Mr Cusdin was entitled to a discount for several mitigating factors – his admission of the breach, his good record and the low-end nature of the breach. We assessed the appropriate discount at 4 drives, or 2 meetings.
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: cdbf03ef8f67d7cfdd6502d7afceeb16
informantnumber: A1150
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/02/2016
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 19 February 2016 - R 4 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Armitage Williams Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr B H Cusdin, alleging that Mr Cusdin, as the driver of FOUR STARZZZ SPECIAL in the race, “drove carelessly when allowing his horse to strike the wheel of DREAMCOAT (J C Morrison) with 1100 metres to run causing the tyre of DREAMCOAT to puncture”.
Mr Cusdin was present at the hearing of the information, and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Renault had Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, show video replays of the incident with approximately 1100 metres to run. He pointed out Mr Cusdin, driving FOUR STARZZZ SPECIAL, racing in 2nd last position on the markers as the field approached the bend out of the home straight. Directly in front of him was DREAMCOAT, driven by Mr Morrison. There was a “clear gap” between the two runners, Mr Renault said, but Mr Cusdin’s horse then got up onto the back of Mr Morrison. He got awkwardly placed close to the sulky and struck the wheel. Mr Morrison could be seen to look down as contact was made. Prior to the incident, Mr Cusdin was having no difficulty with his horse but he did reach down, put the reins in one hand and pull the hopple shorteners. He had allowed his horse to get too close to Mr Morrison and strike the sulky wheel, causing the tyre to the puncture, Mr Renault said.
Mr Cusdin said that the horse was quite inexperienced and, at a previous meeting, it had done something similar. He had tried his best not to allow the horse to do it on this occasion, but it had run out a little and become awkward to handle. When he worked the horse into the clear, shortly after, it settled, Mr Cusdin said.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Cusdin having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr Cusdin has a clear record in the last 12 months. He has just resumed driving – this was his 7th drive for the season. The breach was at the lower end, Mr Renault submitted. He referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine and submitted that an appropriate penalty was a fine of around $300.
Mr Cusdin said that he would prefer a suspension to a fine. Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Cusdin was averaging 1-2 drives per meeting and, on that basis, a suspension of 3 days would be appropriate. Mr Cusdin was driving at Wyndham on 20 February and would seek a deferment until after that meeting. Mr Cusdin confirmed this. He was not driving at Methven on 21 February.
reasonsforpenalty:
In considering penalty, the Committee had regard to the penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension. This would equate to 5 meetings in terms of Mr Renault’s submissions. However, Mr Cusdin was entitled to a discount for several mitigating factors – his admission of the breach, his good record and the low-end nature of the breach. We assessed the appropriate discount at 4 drives, or 2 meetings.
penalty:
Mr Cusdin’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 20 February 2016 up to and including 3 March 2016 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by the term of suspension are Addington on 25 February, Cheviot on 28 February and Forbury Park on 3 March.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: S P Renault, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: B H Cusdin, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr R A Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 454ea5ca51103db6be4f67f4df1cca63
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: d999f79b9ae32ad746937810c0ba680d
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/02/2016
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 19 February 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: GClapp
meet_pm2: none
name: Banks Peninsula TC