Manawatu RC 10 December 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA16913
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Manawatu RC - 10 December 2016
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
TBird
Race Date:
2016/12/10
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
As Mr Phillips admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Balancing up all factors we fined Mr Phillips the sum of $350.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Speights Ale House Handicap 1500m, an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging that Starter, G Phillips failed to connect the power source prior to effecting a start.
Rule 802(1) provides; A person commits a breach of these Rules who:
(a) acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any provision of these Rules or any Regulations made thereunder, or any policy, notice, direction, instruction, guideline, restriction, requirement or condition given, made or imposed under these Rules;
Mr Phillips confirmed to the Committee that he admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin explained the incident using the head-on video. He said Mr Phillips had the field loaded in the starting gates ready to go. He called out “watch your gate” and pushed the start button but, due to there being no power to the gates, they failed to open. Several runners lunged at the front of the barrier with one (SHE KNOWS) receiving a small cut to the nostril as a result. Mr Tinsley, the rider of SHE KNOWS, said it had been a minor brush to the front of the gate and he was satisfied it was fit to run. The vet checked the horse and cleared it to start.
Mr Phillips said he usually turns the power on just prior to the last horse being loaded but today he turned it off again while they were trying to get a barrier blanket on one of the horses. He said he was distracted by the events at the start and simply forgot to turn the power back on again before pushing the start button. His mistake was in turning the power off while loading the last horse; he should have just left it on.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Goodwin said this was not the first time that Mr Phillips had failed to ensure there was power to the gates prior to the start. He produced the Stewards’ race-day report from 9th April this year which states:
Stewards questioned starter G Phillips regarding the malfunction following the completion of the race and established power had not been connected between the starting mechanism and the gates. G Phillips advised that a communication breakdown between himself and a member of his starting crew had occurred, however he was advised that in future it is the starter’s responsibility to ensure that power is connected prior to the start being effected.
Mr Goodwin’s submission was for a monetary penalty of not less than $300. He told the committee that there had been a charge brought under the same rule against a Northern Starter earlier this year. In that instance the Starter failed to comply with a request from the Stewards and as a result incurred a fine of $500. Mr Goodwin said it was difficult to make a comparison with that case because Mr Phillips had not failed to comply with the stewards; instead he had erred in not checking there was power connected prior to effecting the start.
Reasons for Penalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee took into account all of the submissions. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees does not provide a starting point for breaches of Rule 802(1)(a). The closest case was that submitted by Mr Goodwin involving the starter at Rotorua. On that occasion he went against a directive from the Stewards and was fined $500. We do not find this breach to be as serious as that one as Mr Phillips actions were not deliberate. It was our opinion that Mr Phillips has been careless in not ensuring the red light was on before he attempted to start the race and an aggravating factor was that he has made this mistake before. Mr Phillips is a highly experienced official but needs to ensure that the utmost care is taken for each and every race start.
We note Mr Phillips excellent record over many years employed as a Starter and his ready admission of the breach.
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: b180e3eed2c747939a429189fde2cf68
informantnumber: A7690
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to connect power source prior to effecting a start
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/12/2016
hearing_title: Manawatu RC 10 December 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Speights Ale House Handicap 1500m, an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging that Starter, G Phillips failed to connect the power source prior to effecting a start.
Rule 802(1) provides; A person commits a breach of these Rules who:
(a) acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any provision of these Rules or any Regulations made thereunder, or any policy, notice, direction, instruction, guideline, restriction, requirement or condition given, made or imposed under these Rules;
Mr Phillips confirmed to the Committee that he admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin explained the incident using the head-on video. He said Mr Phillips had the field loaded in the starting gates ready to go. He called out “watch your gate” and pushed the start button but, due to there being no power to the gates, they failed to open. Several runners lunged at the front of the barrier with one (SHE KNOWS) receiving a small cut to the nostril as a result. Mr Tinsley, the rider of SHE KNOWS, said it had been a minor brush to the front of the gate and he was satisfied it was fit to run. The vet checked the horse and cleared it to start.
Mr Phillips said he usually turns the power on just prior to the last horse being loaded but today he turned it off again while they were trying to get a barrier blanket on one of the horses. He said he was distracted by the events at the start and simply forgot to turn the power back on again before pushing the start button. His mistake was in turning the power off while loading the last horse; he should have just left it on.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Phillips admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Goodwin said this was not the first time that Mr Phillips had failed to ensure there was power to the gates prior to the start. He produced the Stewards’ race-day report from 9th April this year which states:
Stewards questioned starter G Phillips regarding the malfunction following the completion of the race and established power had not been connected between the starting mechanism and the gates. G Phillips advised that a communication breakdown between himself and a member of his starting crew had occurred, however he was advised that in future it is the starter’s responsibility to ensure that power is connected prior to the start being effected.
Mr Goodwin’s submission was for a monetary penalty of not less than $300. He told the committee that there had been a charge brought under the same rule against a Northern Starter earlier this year. In that instance the Starter failed to comply with a request from the Stewards and as a result incurred a fine of $500. Mr Goodwin said it was difficult to make a comparison with that case because Mr Phillips had not failed to comply with the stewards; instead he had erred in not checking there was power connected prior to effecting the start.
reasonsforpenalty:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee took into account all of the submissions. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees does not provide a starting point for breaches of Rule 802(1)(a). The closest case was that submitted by Mr Goodwin involving the starter at Rotorua. On that occasion he went against a directive from the Stewards and was fined $500. We do not find this breach to be as serious as that one as Mr Phillips actions were not deliberate. It was our opinion that Mr Phillips has been careless in not ensuring the red light was on before he attempted to start the race and an aggravating factor was that he has made this mistake before. Mr Phillips is a highly experienced official but needs to ensure that the utmost care is taken for each and every race start.
We note Mr Phillips excellent record over many years employed as a Starter and his ready admission of the breach.
penalty:
Balancing up all factors we fined Mr Phillips the sum of $350.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 802(1)(a)
Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Phillips - Official Starter
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0e8d8b5404a0fb8bf9842d6ada0d14cc
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f90728fb10cf51f558f867f00c48980e
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 10/12/2016
meet_title: Manawatu RC - 10 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: manawatu-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: TBird
meet_pm2: none
name: Manawatu RC