Stratford RC 27 June 2013 – R 7
ID: JCA16864
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Stratford RC - 27 June 2013
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
ISmith
Race Date:
2013/06/27
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Penalty:
Ms Thornton is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday 3 July 2013 to the close of racing on Wednesday 24 July 2013. Within this 3 week period we count this as an 11 riding days penalty with the 15 July meeting at Te Aroha being excluded as all races on that day are for Jumping or Highweight riders.
Charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 636(1)(c).
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the "GJS NZ Ltd 1480", Information A3266 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 636(1)(c). The Information stated "That T Thornton the rider of "Hydrogen" failed to ride the gelding out to the end of the race which resulted in it losing third placing".
Rule 636(1)(c) states:- "A person being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must ride his horse out to the end of the Race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared."
Ms Thornton indicated on the Information that she did not admit the breach. She confirmed this at the start of the hearing and also that she understood the Rule under which she had been charged.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Neal commenced the hearing by saying that the film of the finish would show Ms Thornton had an uninterrupted run to the finish line and had relaxed her ride 2 strides short of the post and had ended up running 4th. He stated that had she not relaxed her ride he believed there was a very reasonable chance she would have finished 3rd.
Mr Robinson, using the side-on film, highlighted Ms Thornton riding her horse with vigour using the whip immediately before the incident took place. He said the film showed that 2 strides from the finish she relaxed her ride and the error of judgment had allowed "Faro Rubino" who was on her outside to get up and beat her for third position by a nose.
Mr Neal said there was a positive onus on all jockeys to ride their horse out to the finish and in this case Ms Thornton had made an error of judgment which had cost her third place. He said that in the last 2 strides Ms Thornton had not pushed out with her hands and her ride had gone from being aggressive to dormant. It was confirmed the official margin between 3rd and 4th was a nose.
Ms Thornton said "she understood where Mr Robinson was coming from" but her horse was getting tired as it got close to the line. She said she had been riding vigorously until 2 strides short of the post and had stopped riding with the whip as the horse was going up and down on the spot. She said she had not eased up on the horse had used her hands to continue to encourage her horse to the line and had not been aware of any horses on her outer. She reiterated that it was the horse's first start for 6 months and the 1480m of the Race had caused it to get tired just before the finish.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on view of the final 100-150m of the race several times. It is clear that in the final stages of the race Ms Thornton was riding her horse vigorously with the whip and in the shadows of the post was in third position. The film clearly shows that approximately 2 strides from the post there is a change in Ms Thornton's position on the horse with her back coming up, her head looking down and her hands not moving. The Committee believes this change of position meant she was not, as she said, riding her horse out using her hands to encourage it to the line. The Committee believes this sudden lack of vigour led to her horse beginning to ease down which resulted in "Faro Rubino", which was at least three horse widths to the outside of Ms Thornton, beating her by a nose for third place. Further, we believe the way "Hydrogen" was running to the line under the vigorous ride from Ms Thornton did not show it to be tiring and that had Ms Thornton continued to ride out under a strong hands and heels ride "Hydrogen" would have held third place.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Neal said Ms Thornton had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. He said previous breaches of this Rule had resulted in a penalty of a period of a suspension which varied based on the position that had been lost as a result of the horse not being ridden out to the finish. He said that previous breaches of the Rule where third placing had been lost had resulted in suspensions from 3 to 5 weeks and in this case he submitted a suspension of not less than 3 weeks was an appropriate penalty. He said Ms Thornton was a rider who had a good riding record and was always honest and open with the Stewards but on this occasion due to an error of judgment close to the line she had lost third place in the race.
Ms Thornton had no submissions to make on penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has considered the penalty submission from Mr Neal and notes that Ms Thornton made no submissions on penalty.
The aggravating factors are that Ms Thornton's actions have had a financial impact on the owner and trainer of "Hydrogen". Those punters who backed the horse in Trifectas and First Fours have also been impacted. There are no mitigating factors other than Ms Thornton's clear record in relation to this Rule in the previous 12 months.
The Committee is aware that the JCA's Penalty Guideline states the starting point for a breach of Rule 636(1)(c) is 3 calendar weeks with regard being had to the placing involved. The Committee has also reviewed breaches of the Rule over the past 12 months. The Committee is aware of a penalty of 9 riding days being imposed on Jockey L in February 2013 when beaten for 3rd place by a head. The Committee is also aware of a penalty of 5 weeks being imposed on Jockey P in May 2013 when beaten for 1st place by a nose.
The Committee has decided that on this occasion a period of suspension is an appropriate penalty.
The Committee also notes that Ms Thornton has confirmed she rides only in the North Island and that if she is to be suspended that the suspension be deferred until after racing on Wednesday 3 July. This request is approved in terms of Rule 1106(2).
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: ab5a18626949c4097d770bc91a2d5ad3
informantnumber: A3266
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/06/2013
hearing_title: Stratford RC 27 June 2013 - R 7
charge:
Alleged breach of Rule 636(1)(c).
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the "GJS NZ Ltd 1480", Information A3266 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 636(1)(c). The Information stated "That T Thornton the rider of "Hydrogen" failed to ride the gelding out to the end of the race which resulted in it losing third placing".
Rule 636(1)(c) states:- "A person being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must ride his horse out to the end of the Race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared."
Ms Thornton indicated on the Information that she did not admit the breach. She confirmed this at the start of the hearing and also that she understood the Rule under which she had been charged.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Neal commenced the hearing by saying that the film of the finish would show Ms Thornton had an uninterrupted run to the finish line and had relaxed her ride 2 strides short of the post and had ended up running 4th. He stated that had she not relaxed her ride he believed there was a very reasonable chance she would have finished 3rd.
Mr Robinson, using the side-on film, highlighted Ms Thornton riding her horse with vigour using the whip immediately before the incident took place. He said the film showed that 2 strides from the finish she relaxed her ride and the error of judgment had allowed "Faro Rubino" who was on her outside to get up and beat her for third position by a nose.
Mr Neal said there was a positive onus on all jockeys to ride their horse out to the finish and in this case Ms Thornton had made an error of judgment which had cost her third place. He said that in the last 2 strides Ms Thornton had not pushed out with her hands and her ride had gone from being aggressive to dormant. It was confirmed the official margin between 3rd and 4th was a nose.
Ms Thornton said "she understood where Mr Robinson was coming from" but her horse was getting tired as it got close to the line. She said she had been riding vigorously until 2 strides short of the post and had stopped riding with the whip as the horse was going up and down on the spot. She said she had not eased up on the horse had used her hands to continue to encourage her horse to the line and had not been aware of any horses on her outer. She reiterated that it was the horse's first start for 6 months and the 1480m of the Race had caused it to get tired just before the finish.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on view of the final 100-150m of the race several times. It is clear that in the final stages of the race Ms Thornton was riding her horse vigorously with the whip and in the shadows of the post was in third position. The film clearly shows that approximately 2 strides from the post there is a change in Ms Thornton's position on the horse with her back coming up, her head looking down and her hands not moving. The Committee believes this change of position meant she was not, as she said, riding her horse out using her hands to encourage it to the line. The Committee believes this sudden lack of vigour led to her horse beginning to ease down which resulted in "Faro Rubino", which was at least three horse widths to the outside of Ms Thornton, beating her by a nose for third place. Further, we believe the way "Hydrogen" was running to the line under the vigorous ride from Ms Thornton did not show it to be tiring and that had Ms Thornton continued to ride out under a strong hands and heels ride "Hydrogen" would have held third place.
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Neal said Ms Thornton had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. He said previous breaches of this Rule had resulted in a penalty of a period of a suspension which varied based on the position that had been lost as a result of the horse not being ridden out to the finish. He said that previous breaches of the Rule where third placing had been lost had resulted in suspensions from 3 to 5 weeks and in this case he submitted a suspension of not less than 3 weeks was an appropriate penalty. He said Ms Thornton was a rider who had a good riding record and was always honest and open with the Stewards but on this occasion due to an error of judgment close to the line she had lost third place in the race.
Ms Thornton had no submissions to make on penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has considered the penalty submission from Mr Neal and notes that Ms Thornton made no submissions on penalty.
The aggravating factors are that Ms Thornton's actions have had a financial impact on the owner and trainer of "Hydrogen". Those punters who backed the horse in Trifectas and First Fours have also been impacted. There are no mitigating factors other than Ms Thornton's clear record in relation to this Rule in the previous 12 months.
The Committee is aware that the JCA's Penalty Guideline states the starting point for a breach of Rule 636(1)(c) is 3 calendar weeks with regard being had to the placing involved. The Committee has also reviewed breaches of the Rule over the past 12 months. The Committee is aware of a penalty of 9 riding days being imposed on Jockey L in February 2013 when beaten for 3rd place by a head. The Committee is also aware of a penalty of 5 weeks being imposed on Jockey P in May 2013 when beaten for 1st place by a nose.
The Committee has decided that on this occasion a period of suspension is an appropriate penalty.
The Committee also notes that Ms Thornton has confirmed she rides only in the North Island and that if she is to be suspended that the suspension be deferred until after racing on Wednesday 3 July. This request is approved in terms of Rule 1106(2).
penalty:
Ms Thornton is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday 3 July 2013 to the close of racing on Wednesday 24 July 2013. Within this 3 week period we count this as an 11 riding days penalty with the 15 July meeting at Te Aroha being excluded as all races on that day are for Jumping or Highweight riders.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 636(1)(c)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms T Thornton - Licensed Jockey
Otherperson: Mr W Robinson - Stipendiary Steward, Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 30b6dd4339b41955c8d94c3ec9b947df
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4f6f3655f40ec46f7fb2d03a99e9075c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/06/2013
meet_title: Stratford RC - 27 June 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "kmprice": 370.75999999999999, "MemberID": "PWilliams", "Member": "", "KMs": "598", "OtherExpenses": "0", "Total": 370.75999999999999, "MemberRole": "Chair ", "Approved": []}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: stratford-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: ISmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Stratford RC