Canterbury R 16 November 2019 – R 9 (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA16801
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 16 November 2019
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2019/11/16
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
The Committee’s ruling confirmed the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion that the horse, PAMIR, owned and trained by Mr Luxton, should be a late scratching in Race 9.
Facts:
Prior to the running of Race 9, Christchurch Casino 156th New Zealand Cup, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, requesting a ruling “as to whether PAMIR (trained by Mr Luxton) is permitted to start after being given a substance in the stable area on race day”.
Mr Luxton was present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 209 provides as follows:
(1) Stipendiary Stewards and investigators may scratch from a Race, or declare ineligible to start in a Race until a specific condition is met, any horse on any reasonable grounds including but not limited to:
(c) that the horse has or may have had administered to it a Prohibited Substance.
(2) A dispute as to the exercise or proposed exercise of a Stipendiary Steward’s or Investigator’s power pursuant to sub-Rule (1) hereof may be referred to the final determination of the Judicial Committee for final determination.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Oatham said that it had been brought to the attention of the Stewards by Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, that Mr Luxton had been observed in the stable area placing a substance into the mouth of the horse, PAMIR, by means of a syringe. Mr Luxton had told Stewards that the syringe contained only water.
Mr Oatham referred the Committee to rule 804 (4) which makes it an offence for a person to have in his possession on raceday a syringe capable of being used to administer a prohibited substance to a horse and, rule 804 (5), which prohibits any person administering by injection to a horse entered in a race on that day of racing any substance whatsoever. Mr Oatham said that, on the basis of the information received, it was the view of Stewards that PAMIR should not be permitted to start in the race. Mr Luxton has the right to dispute that under rule 209 (2), Mr Oatham said.
Mrs Williams said that she was walking past Mr Luxton’s stall at 3.20pm and observed him to have a syringe in his hand in the mouth of the horse. Mrs Williams told him that he was not permitted to do that, after which Mr Luxton pushed the contents of the syringe into the horse’s mouth. He told Mrs Williams that it contained only water. She confiscated the syringe and delivered it to the Stewards for further action.
Mr Luxton disputed that the equipment used on the horse was not a syringe. He confirmed that it contained only water. The horse had sweated a bit and would not drink and that is why he used the syringe, he said. He accepted that the horse may have to be scratched.
Reasons for Decision:
The Stewards have sought to late scratch the horse, PAMIR, owned and trained by Mr Luxton, and Mr Luxton has disputed the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion to do so. The dispute has been referred to the Committee for determination.
We heard evidence from Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, that she had observed, in the stabling area, Mr Luxton administer a substance into the mouth of the horse, PAMIR, by means of a plastic syringe, which was produced to us at the hearing. Mr Luxton admitted that he had done so but asserted that the syringe contained only water. Further, he submitted that the instrument was not a “syringe”. The Committee is more that satisfied that the instrument was a syringe.
The rule actually refers to administration “by injection”. The Committee is aware of the decision of the Appeals Tribunal in the case of Clementson (2007) in which it was held that administration by means of a syringe is caught by the rule. Furthermore, we are satisfied that rule 804 (5) casts its net wide to include “any substance whatsoever”.
Accordingly, the Committee finds that the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion to scratch PAMIR was on reasonable grounds that the horse had or may have had administered to it a prohibited substance, pursuant to Rule 209 (1) (c).
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: a2675fe5057ff116952380b8a635c3de
informantnumber: A11550
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 20/11/2019
hearing_title: Canterbury R 16 November 2019 - R 9 (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Prior to the running of Race 9, Christchurch Casino 156th New Zealand Cup, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, requesting a ruling “as to whether PAMIR (trained by Mr Luxton) is permitted to start after being given a substance in the stable area on race day”.
Mr Luxton was present at the hearing of the information.
Rule 209 provides as follows:
(1) Stipendiary Stewards and investigators may scratch from a Race, or declare ineligible to start in a Race until a specific condition is met, any horse on any reasonable grounds including but not limited to:
(c) that the horse has or may have had administered to it a Prohibited Substance.
(2) A dispute as to the exercise or proposed exercise of a Stipendiary Steward’s or Investigator’s power pursuant to sub-Rule (1) hereof may be referred to the final determination of the Judicial Committee for final determination.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Oatham said that it had been brought to the attention of the Stewards by Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, that Mr Luxton had been observed in the stable area placing a substance into the mouth of the horse, PAMIR, by means of a syringe. Mr Luxton had told Stewards that the syringe contained only water.
Mr Oatham referred the Committee to rule 804 (4) which makes it an offence for a person to have in his possession on raceday a syringe capable of being used to administer a prohibited substance to a horse and, rule 804 (5), which prohibits any person administering by injection to a horse entered in a race on that day of racing any substance whatsoever. Mr Oatham said that, on the basis of the information received, it was the view of Stewards that PAMIR should not be permitted to start in the race. Mr Luxton has the right to dispute that under rule 209 (2), Mr Oatham said.
Mrs Williams said that she was walking past Mr Luxton’s stall at 3.20pm and observed him to have a syringe in his hand in the mouth of the horse. Mrs Williams told him that he was not permitted to do that, after which Mr Luxton pushed the contents of the syringe into the horse’s mouth. He told Mrs Williams that it contained only water. She confiscated the syringe and delivered it to the Stewards for further action.
Mr Luxton disputed that the equipment used on the horse was not a syringe. He confirmed that it contained only water. The horse had sweated a bit and would not drink and that is why he used the syringe, he said. He accepted that the horse may have to be scratched.
reasonsfordecision:
The Stewards have sought to late scratch the horse, PAMIR, owned and trained by Mr Luxton, and Mr Luxton has disputed the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion to do so. The dispute has been referred to the Committee for determination.
We heard evidence from Racing Investigator, Mrs K R Williams, that she had observed, in the stabling area, Mr Luxton administer a substance into the mouth of the horse, PAMIR, by means of a plastic syringe, which was produced to us at the hearing. Mr Luxton admitted that he had done so but asserted that the syringe contained only water. Further, he submitted that the instrument was not a “syringe”. The Committee is more that satisfied that the instrument was a syringe.
The rule actually refers to administration “by injection”. The Committee is aware of the decision of the Appeals Tribunal in the case of Clementson (2007) in which it was held that administration by means of a syringe is caught by the rule. Furthermore, we are satisfied that rule 804 (5) casts its net wide to include “any substance whatsoever”.
Accordingly, the Committee finds that the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion to scratch PAMIR was on reasonable grounds that the horse had or may have had administered to it a prohibited substance, pursuant to Rule 209 (1) (c).
Decision:
The Committee’s ruling confirmed the exercise of the Stewards’ discretion that the horse, PAMIR, owned and trained by Mr Luxton, should be a late scratching in Race 9.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 209(1)(c)& 209(2)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr J M Luxton, Holder of Permit to Train (Class B), Mrs K R Williams, Racing Investigator
Respondent:
StipendSteward: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
raceid: 1a2e9b0bdd32656e7e0ba1069cbd0065
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 257911ab928407b36d8027c4f95c7799
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/11/2019
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 16 November 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing