Ashburton TC 31 May 2015 – R 6
ID: JCA16703
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 31 May 2015
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2015/05/31
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
As Mr Geddes admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr Geddes was fined the sum of $350.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the FDW Enterprises Fillies and Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr J Geddes, alleging that Mr Geddes, as the driver of BUZKIL in the race, drove carelessly by allowing his horse to shift inwards when not in a position to do so resulting in a check to LIGHTNING MACH.
Mr Geddes informed the Committee that he understood the rule he was charged with and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 (3) (b provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly;
Mr Ydgren gave evidence and replayed video films to show that Mr Geddes, driving BUZKIL, who had drawn two at the start and racing into the first bend, shifted his position down the track and in doing so was not clear of LIGHTNING MACH, driven by Mr D Dunn, causing that horse to check and break. Mr Ydgren stated that Mr Dunn was established on the inside of Mr Geddes with his horse's head level with the sulky wheel of Mr Geddes' horse when he shifted down. Mr Ydgren explained that CRIMSON GLORY, driven by Mr T McMillan, was racing immediately ahead of Mr Geddes and outside the leader, when Mr McMillan attempted to ease back to take up a position behind the leader. He said that Mr Geddes attempted to beat Mr McMillan to the gap behind the leader and in doing so was not clear of Mr Dunn when shifting in. Mr Ydgren said that Mr Geddes was positioned at one stage inside the sulky wheel of Mr McMillan and with his wheel on the outside of Mr Dunn with a result that there were three horses racing where there should have been two. He also said that Mr McMillan’s horse was hanging and shifting in slightly at the same time as he was attempting to ease back which has put more pressure on Mr Geddes which aggravated the situation.
Mr Geddes pointed out on the video film that his horse's fore legs were inside the sulky wheel of Mr McMillan’s horse's legs for at least 20m before Mr McMillan began to ease back and shift down forcing him onto Mr Dunn's horse. He believed Mr Dunn was easing back to allow him into the gap when Mr McMillan forced the issue by forcing him down onto Mr Dunn. He said he called to Mr McMillan who then attempted to give Mr Geddes some room. He also said he was committed to the gap before Mr McMillan attempted to ease back and he was waiting until there was room to move down but he was forced down by Mr McMillan onto Mr Dunn.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren told the Committee that Mr Geddes so far this season had driven on 33 occasions with 44 last season, 46 the season previous and that he was a consistent driver in the Canterbury region. He said Mr Geddes had an excellent penalty record with no breaches recorded in the past 12 months and probably for a considerable time before that. Mr Ydgren said that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of 10 drives or a $500 fine for a breach of this rule. Mr Ydgren stated that the consequential effects on Mr Dunn was that he had lost two positions as a result of the interference and that the offending could be described as mid level. Taking into account his admission of the breach and his good record, Mr Ydgen submitted that a fine of between $350 and $400 or a 4 day suspension be considered as penalty in this case.
After discussion regarding penalty Mr Geddes informed the Committee that he would prefer a fine as penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr Geddes’ excellent penalty record and his admission of the breach as mitigating factors. The only aggravating factor was the consequential effects of his carelessness to which we agreed with Mr Ydgren, as being mid-range. After deciding that a fine was an appropriate penalty and taking the JCA Penalty Guide recommended starting point of a $500 fine, we were able to give Mr Geddes a discount of $100 for his excellent penalty record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. In consideration of the level of offending at mid-range and the consequential effects to Mr Dunn’s horse we determined that an uplift of $50 was required. We therefore determined that a fine of $350 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: d68e1a3345e542a3bf87cd93e2d851cc
informantnumber: A1480
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/06/2015
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 31 May 2015 - R 6
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the FDW Enterprises Fillies and Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr J Geddes, alleging that Mr Geddes, as the driver of BUZKIL in the race, drove carelessly by allowing his horse to shift inwards when not in a position to do so resulting in a check to LIGHTNING MACH.
Mr Geddes informed the Committee that he understood the rule he was charged with and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 (3) (b provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly;
Mr Ydgren gave evidence and replayed video films to show that Mr Geddes, driving BUZKIL, who had drawn two at the start and racing into the first bend, shifted his position down the track and in doing so was not clear of LIGHTNING MACH, driven by Mr D Dunn, causing that horse to check and break. Mr Ydgren stated that Mr Dunn was established on the inside of Mr Geddes with his horse's head level with the sulky wheel of Mr Geddes' horse when he shifted down. Mr Ydgren explained that CRIMSON GLORY, driven by Mr T McMillan, was racing immediately ahead of Mr Geddes and outside the leader, when Mr McMillan attempted to ease back to take up a position behind the leader. He said that Mr Geddes attempted to beat Mr McMillan to the gap behind the leader and in doing so was not clear of Mr Dunn when shifting in. Mr Ydgren said that Mr Geddes was positioned at one stage inside the sulky wheel of Mr McMillan and with his wheel on the outside of Mr Dunn with a result that there were three horses racing where there should have been two. He also said that Mr McMillan’s horse was hanging and shifting in slightly at the same time as he was attempting to ease back which has put more pressure on Mr Geddes which aggravated the situation.
Mr Geddes pointed out on the video film that his horse's fore legs were inside the sulky wheel of Mr McMillan’s horse's legs for at least 20m before Mr McMillan began to ease back and shift down forcing him onto Mr Dunn's horse. He believed Mr Dunn was easing back to allow him into the gap when Mr McMillan forced the issue by forcing him down onto Mr Dunn. He said he called to Mr McMillan who then attempted to give Mr Geddes some room. He also said he was committed to the gap before Mr McMillan attempted to ease back and he was waiting until there was room to move down but he was forced down by Mr McMillan onto Mr Dunn.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Geddes admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren told the Committee that Mr Geddes so far this season had driven on 33 occasions with 44 last season, 46 the season previous and that he was a consistent driver in the Canterbury region. He said Mr Geddes had an excellent penalty record with no breaches recorded in the past 12 months and probably for a considerable time before that. Mr Ydgren said that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of 10 drives or a $500 fine for a breach of this rule. Mr Ydgren stated that the consequential effects on Mr Dunn was that he had lost two positions as a result of the interference and that the offending could be described as mid level. Taking into account his admission of the breach and his good record, Mr Ydgen submitted that a fine of between $350 and $400 or a 4 day suspension be considered as penalty in this case.
After discussion regarding penalty Mr Geddes informed the Committee that he would prefer a fine as penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr Geddes’ excellent penalty record and his admission of the breach as mitigating factors. The only aggravating factor was the consequential effects of his carelessness to which we agreed with Mr Ydgren, as being mid-range. After deciding that a fine was an appropriate penalty and taking the JCA Penalty Guide recommended starting point of a $500 fine, we were able to give Mr Geddes a discount of $100 for his excellent penalty record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. In consideration of the level of offending at mid-range and the consequential effects to Mr Dunn’s horse we determined that an uplift of $50 was required. We therefore determined that a fine of $350 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
penalty:
Mr Geddes was fined the sum of $350.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Geddes - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 5c8a5e964cdf4fa676b397f32a403baa
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0a360aeeea94bf74b0d5c260b7a8b4cf
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/05/2015
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 31 May 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton TC