Nelson HRC 07 January 2011 – R 9
ID: JCA16794
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 7 January 2011
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
JPhelan
Race Date:
2011/01/07
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
Mr Thomas indicated the breach of the rule was admitted and also that he understood the charge and the rule it was laid under. He also confirmed he did not wish the assistance of a senior horseman during the hearing. As the breach of the rule was admitted the charge was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1).
Penalty:
Mr Thomas is fined $275.
Charge:
Following the running of race 9, information 69379 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N Escott under rule 869(4). The information stated that “after approximately 150m J Thomas (Four O Five) when improving his position inwards caused numerous checks to Jasper Maguire (G Smith). This manover (sic) carried on for approximately 150m with Jasper Maguire striking numerous pylons”. The information also stated “P N Jones after viewing the replays advised J C Thomas to plead guilty to the charge".
Rule 869 (4) states:- “No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress”.
Facts:
Mr Escott asked Mr McIntyre to show the films of the incident.
Mr McIntyre pointed out Mr Thomas, who had started from position 4 on the front line, hunting his horse up after the start and over the course of 150m moving across to a 2 wide position immediately behind the leader “Jupiter Grove”. At this point Mr Thomas then continued to move inwards causing “Jasper Maguire” (G Smith) who, from his number 1 position on the second line had moved up to be inside Mr Thomas, to race over the pylons for approximately 150m before eventually breaking. Mr McIntyre said Mr Thomas had tightened Mr Smith over a period of 150m and the only person able to ease the pressure on Mr Smith was Mr Thomas.
Mr Thomas said he agreed with the comments of Mr McIntyre and had no additional comments to make.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Escott said Mr Thomas was a junior driver who had had 65 lifetime drives for no wins in his career to date with 37 of those drives having been in the current season. He described the incident as “a poor exhibition of driving which carried on for too long”. He categorized the incident in the mid range of seriousness but said it could have had dire consequences had Mr Smith’s horse fallen. He believed a fine of $300-$350 or a suspension of 3 days was an appropriate penalty but also said that Mr Jones had asked on behalf of Mr Thomas for a fine as this would allow him to continue driving as the only way his driving would improve was for him to be regularly driving rather than sitting in the stands.
Mr Thomas said he was employed as a stable hand with limited financial resources and, as his record showed, got limited driving opportunities. He said he would prefer a fine to a suspension so that he could drive at his local 2 day meeting at Blenheim next weekend.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has considered the head and side on views of the incident and the evidence of all parties. We are satisfied Mr Thomas did move in from a 2 wide position over a period of approximately 150m and forced “Jasper Maguire” over a number of pylons which eventually led to that horse breaking. We also believe the seriousness of the breach of the rule is in the mid range.
In mitigation we have taken into account the relative inexperience of Mr Thomas, his admittance of the breach, the fact that that this is his first charge under this rule and also that he has limited financial resources. We have also considered penalties that have been recently imposed for breaches of this rule. We also agree with the comments made by Mr Jones that Mr Thomas will become a better driver by regularly driving at meetings rather than sitting in the stands and have decided that a fine is an appropriate penalty in this instance.
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: a13ba4294ae77bad83c4fecd48a81356
informantnumber: 69379
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/12/2010
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 07 January 2011 - R 9
charge:
Following the running of race 9, information 69379 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N Escott under rule 869(4). The information stated that “after approximately 150m J Thomas (Four O Five) when improving his position inwards caused numerous checks to Jasper Maguire (G Smith). This manover (sic) carried on for approximately 150m with Jasper Maguire striking numerous pylons”. The information also stated “P N Jones after viewing the replays advised J C Thomas to plead guilty to the charge".
Rule 869 (4) states:- “No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress”.
facts:
Mr Escott asked Mr McIntyre to show the films of the incident.
Mr McIntyre pointed out Mr Thomas, who had started from position 4 on the front line, hunting his horse up after the start and over the course of 150m moving across to a 2 wide position immediately behind the leader “Jupiter Grove”. At this point Mr Thomas then continued to move inwards causing “Jasper Maguire” (G Smith) who, from his number 1 position on the second line had moved up to be inside Mr Thomas, to race over the pylons for approximately 150m before eventually breaking. Mr McIntyre said Mr Thomas had tightened Mr Smith over a period of 150m and the only person able to ease the pressure on Mr Smith was Mr Thomas.
Mr Thomas said he agreed with the comments of Mr McIntyre and had no additional comments to make.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Thomas indicated the breach of the rule was admitted and also that he understood the charge and the rule it was laid under. He also confirmed he did not wish the assistance of a senior horseman during the hearing. As the breach of the rule was admitted the charge was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Escott said Mr Thomas was a junior driver who had had 65 lifetime drives for no wins in his career to date with 37 of those drives having been in the current season. He described the incident as “a poor exhibition of driving which carried on for too long”. He categorized the incident in the mid range of seriousness but said it could have had dire consequences had Mr Smith’s horse fallen. He believed a fine of $300-$350 or a suspension of 3 days was an appropriate penalty but also said that Mr Jones had asked on behalf of Mr Thomas for a fine as this would allow him to continue driving as the only way his driving would improve was for him to be regularly driving rather than sitting in the stands.
Mr Thomas said he was employed as a stable hand with limited financial resources and, as his record showed, got limited driving opportunities. He said he would prefer a fine to a suspension so that he could drive at his local 2 day meeting at Blenheim next weekend.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has considered the head and side on views of the incident and the evidence of all parties. We are satisfied Mr Thomas did move in from a 2 wide position over a period of approximately 150m and forced “Jasper Maguire” over a number of pylons which eventually led to that horse breaking. We also believe the seriousness of the breach of the rule is in the mid range.
In mitigation we have taken into account the relative inexperience of Mr Thomas, his admittance of the breach, the fact that that this is his first charge under this rule and also that he has limited financial resources. We have also considered penalties that have been recently imposed for breaches of this rule. We also agree with the comments made by Mr Jones that Mr Thomas will become a better driver by regularly driving at meetings rather than sitting in the stands and have decided that a fine is an appropriate penalty in this instance.
penalty:
Mr Thomas is fined $275.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869 (4)
Informant: Mr N Escott, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Thomas, Licensed Junior Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: dc03dc9e1a57c80116cecde17badbf4d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
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meetid: 6965fdf7a7d9172689caf5e9b6595b4f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
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meetdate: 07/01/2011
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 7 January 2011
meet_expappcomment:
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meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: JPhelan
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC