Ashburton RC 29 October 2020 – R 3 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA17088
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Ashburton RC - 29 October 2020
Meet Chair:
SChing
Race Date:
2020/10/29
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
As Mr Leigh-Ogden had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Leigh-Ogden is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Maiden Race 1200m, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham, against Starter Mr K Leigh- Ogden alleging a breach of Rule 802(1) and Section 4.4 of the Starters Manual, in that he failed to position the starting gates in the correct position, being the 1200 metres.
Rule 802(1) reads as follows;
802 (1) 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;
Section 4.4 of the Starters manual reads as follows.
4.4 Positioning of Starting Gates- The Starter is responsible for the correct positioning of the gates in consultation with the Racecourse Manager. The Starter shall ensure that they receive advice on the relevant distance markers, the impact of rail movements and shall utilise the Starters Report as their sole reference for the distance of the race. The Barriers shall be positioned so that the inside horse is at least two horses from the inside fence and the outside horse is at least two horses from outside fence. The Starting Gates can be moved wider to improve angles or avoid track conditions as long as the Stipendiary Stewards are advised. The Starting Gates shall be positioned to allow space for uncontrolled horses to get past the gates.
Mr Leigh-Ogden had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Leigh-Ogden also confirmed he understood the Rules he was being charged with.
Mr Oatham gave evidence that loading had already commenced for Race 3 when it was queried whether the gates were in the correct position for a 1200m start. He said that half the field had been loaded when it was realised that the gates were not in the correct position. Mr Oatham said that the delay was further exasperated when a wheel on the gates became jammed. This, he said, resulted in the field having to stay behind the barriers for quite some time which led to one of the field, TRADITION, being kicked by another runner and late scratched at the start by the vet. TRADITION was injured, required veterinary treatment and will require a veterinary clearance before racing again, he added. This delay affected the Trackside programme with the race eventually starting 16 minutes behind schedule and the following 2 races rescheduled to fit in with other race meetings. Mr Oatham stated that his understanding of what occurred was that there are two slip rails at the 1200m start area. He said the club run a 1250m for when the running rail is out which is the first slip rail with the second slip rail for the 1200m start. Mr Oatham added there is a 1200m sign on the outside of the track which is the correct starting position for the 1200m race. He said that the gates were incorrectly set up at the first slip rail and with the rail in the true position it was estimated that the start would have been out by approximately 30m.
Mr Leigh-Ogden said his staff had been on the job a long time. He said today's tractor driver was new as his normal driver was away injured. Mr Leigh-Ogden stated that he did his normal routine prior to the race being checking the brands before going to the start. At the start he called out the barrier positions for the riders and did not check the start position as he put trust in his staff to have the gates positioned correctly. He said in future he would need to check that the gates were at the correct position as part of his pre start routine.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham stated that the Stewards were seeking a monetary penalty with this case. He said there were not really any precedents where the gates had been set up in the incorrect position. Mr Oatham submitted that a fine between $250 and $300 be considered as penalty in this case.
Mr Leigh-Ogden said that he had been starting officially on and off for 16 years with only one breach in that time when horses were loaded incorrectly. He added that he had ultimate responsibility for ensuring the start position was correct and stated that whatever penalty was imposed he would accept.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide does not provide a starting point for a breach of this rule. We therefore rely to a degree on historical breaches and penalties imposed on starters. Breaches by starters are usually dealt with by way of monetary penalties and after researching these penalties, they range from $200 to $450 for offences. After taking into consideration all factors including the aggravating factors of the inconvenience to many industry stakeholders and the connections of the injured horse, as well as the mitigating factors, being Mr Leigh-Ogden’s frank admission and his excellent record, this Committee determined that a fine of $300 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: caffd9e37a73e8ca1570043b53c7ab75
informantnumber: A11972
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Positioned gates incorrectly
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 30/10/2020
hearing_title: Ashburton RC 29 October 2020 - R 3 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Maiden Race 1200m, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham, against Starter Mr K Leigh- Ogden alleging a breach of Rule 802(1) and Section 4.4 of the Starters Manual, in that he failed to position the starting gates in the correct position, being the 1200 metres.
Rule 802(1) reads as follows;
802 (1) 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;
Section 4.4 of the Starters manual reads as follows.
4.4 Positioning of Starting Gates- The Starter is responsible for the correct positioning of the gates in consultation with the Racecourse Manager. The Starter shall ensure that they receive advice on the relevant distance markers, the impact of rail movements and shall utilise the Starters Report as their sole reference for the distance of the race. The Barriers shall be positioned so that the inside horse is at least two horses from the inside fence and the outside horse is at least two horses from outside fence. The Starting Gates can be moved wider to improve angles or avoid track conditions as long as the Stipendiary Stewards are advised. The Starting Gates shall be positioned to allow space for uncontrolled horses to get past the gates.
Mr Leigh-Ogden had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Leigh-Ogden also confirmed he understood the Rules he was being charged with.
Mr Oatham gave evidence that loading had already commenced for Race 3 when it was queried whether the gates were in the correct position for a 1200m start. He said that half the field had been loaded when it was realised that the gates were not in the correct position. Mr Oatham said that the delay was further exasperated when a wheel on the gates became jammed. This, he said, resulted in the field having to stay behind the barriers for quite some time which led to one of the field, TRADITION, being kicked by another runner and late scratched at the start by the vet. TRADITION was injured, required veterinary treatment and will require a veterinary clearance before racing again, he added. This delay affected the Trackside programme with the race eventually starting 16 minutes behind schedule and the following 2 races rescheduled to fit in with other race meetings. Mr Oatham stated that his understanding of what occurred was that there are two slip rails at the 1200m start area. He said the club run a 1250m for when the running rail is out which is the first slip rail with the second slip rail for the 1200m start. Mr Oatham added there is a 1200m sign on the outside of the track which is the correct starting position for the 1200m race. He said that the gates were incorrectly set up at the first slip rail and with the rail in the true position it was estimated that the start would have been out by approximately 30m.
Mr Leigh-Ogden said his staff had been on the job a long time. He said today's tractor driver was new as his normal driver was away injured. Mr Leigh-Ogden stated that he did his normal routine prior to the race being checking the brands before going to the start. At the start he called out the barrier positions for the riders and did not check the start position as he put trust in his staff to have the gates positioned correctly. He said in future he would need to check that the gates were at the correct position as part of his pre start routine.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Leigh-Ogden had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham stated that the Stewards were seeking a monetary penalty with this case. He said there were not really any precedents where the gates had been set up in the incorrect position. Mr Oatham submitted that a fine between $250 and $300 be considered as penalty in this case.
Mr Leigh-Ogden said that he had been starting officially on and off for 16 years with only one breach in that time when horses were loaded incorrectly. He added that he had ultimate responsibility for ensuring the start position was correct and stated that whatever penalty was imposed he would accept.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide does not provide a starting point for a breach of this rule. We therefore rely to a degree on historical breaches and penalties imposed on starters. Breaches by starters are usually dealt with by way of monetary penalties and after researching these penalties, they range from $200 to $450 for offences. After taking into consideration all factors including the aggravating factors of the inconvenience to many industry stakeholders and the connections of the injured horse, as well as the mitigating factors, being Mr Leigh-Ogden’s frank admission and his excellent record, this Committee determined that a fine of $300 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Leigh-Ogden is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 802(1) & Starters Manual 4.4
Informant: J Oatham-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: K Leigh-Ogden- Starter
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2dea7839fd37b50757f056af8312eb02
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4331e2760aa7a34333f0528431421fa0
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 29/10/2020
meet_title: Ashburton RC - 29 October 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton RC