Morrinsville TC 17 November 2013 – R 3
ID: JCA17240
Meet Title:
Morrinsville TC - 17 November 2013
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2013/11/17
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
Penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a fine of $100 and a 1 day suspension commencing at the conclusion of racing 17 November 2013 and concluding at the end of racing on 22 November 2013 (the 1 day equates to 3 drives).
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of race number 3, the Luke Matchett Builders Mobile Pace 2700. Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that Mr Robb whilst driving LOFTY BROGDEN drew the outside of the frontline at number 7. He said that as the field were called up behind the mobile arm by the starter, Mr Robb kept LOFTY BROGDEN at least two lengths behind the body of the field. He said Mr Robb made no real attempt to encourage LOFTY BROGDEN to move up behind the mobile arm and was therefore clearly in breach of the relevant rule.
Rule 857 (7) (g) provides that:
“No horseman shall fail to come up into and / or maintain his position”.
Mr Muirhead noted that LOFTY BROGDEN won the race and the public may perceive that it gained an advantage by not maintaining its position behind the mobile arm.
Mr Robb said that he deliberately failed to move LOFTY BROGDEN up behind the mobile gate because he had driven it previously when on the unruly list and he was concerned that it would go off stride if pushed up in line with the other horses. He said there was nothing malicious or underhand in what he did, but he accepted that his actions were in breach of the relevant rule.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted the JCA guidelines establish a starting point for a breach of this rule at 5 drives or a $250 fine. He said this breach ought to be dealt with by way of a fine no less than $250 or a 2 day suspension because of the public perception issue. He further advised that Mr Robb has recently returned to full time driving and has a clear record.
Mr Robb submitted that this breach was a matter that should be dealt with by way of suspension rather than fine because of his particular personal circumstances. He explained to the Committee the nature of those circumstances. He reiterated his intention was to protect his drive from breaking as opposed to any other malicious intent.
Mr Robb further submitted he proposed to be available to drive at all forthcoming North Island meetings, but had no confirmed engagements. He said he typically has three driving engagements per meeting.
Reasons for Penalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches. We have noted there have been six similar breaches over the past 18 months. Three were in black type races. Penalties ranged from $150 to $250.
The Committee recognises the public may have perceived LOFTY BROGDEN did gain an advantage by failing to come up to and maintain its position behind the mobile at the start of the race, particularly given it won the race. In this regard we accept Mr Robb’s explanation that his intentions were to prevent his drive from going into a break. However, the Committee finds that the manoeuvre was a pre-planned, tactical and a blatant breach of this rule [857 (7) (g)] which we assess as an aggravating factor.
The Committee has noted Mr Robb’s good driving record and his 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: eed62a99ac3936e6c10a15012eb896db
informantnumber: A3959
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: The information alleged that “You failed to come up and maintain your position behind the mobile when driving LOFTY BROGDEN”.
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/11/2013
hearing_title: Morrinsville TC 17 November 2013 - R 3
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of race number 3, the Luke Matchett Builders Mobile Pace 2700. Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that Mr Robb whilst driving LOFTY BROGDEN drew the outside of the frontline at number 7. He said that as the field were called up behind the mobile arm by the starter, Mr Robb kept LOFTY BROGDEN at least two lengths behind the body of the field. He said Mr Robb made no real attempt to encourage LOFTY BROGDEN to move up behind the mobile arm and was therefore clearly in breach of the relevant rule.
Rule 857 (7) (g) provides that:
“No horseman shall fail to come up into and / or maintain his position”.
Mr Muirhead noted that LOFTY BROGDEN won the race and the public may perceive that it gained an advantage by not maintaining its position behind the mobile arm.
Mr Robb said that he deliberately failed to move LOFTY BROGDEN up behind the mobile gate because he had driven it previously when on the unruly list and he was concerned that it would go off stride if pushed up in line with the other horses. He said there was nothing malicious or underhand in what he did, but he accepted that his actions were in breach of the relevant rule.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted the JCA guidelines establish a starting point for a breach of this rule at 5 drives or a $250 fine. He said this breach ought to be dealt with by way of a fine no less than $250 or a 2 day suspension because of the public perception issue. He further advised that Mr Robb has recently returned to full time driving and has a clear record.
Mr Robb submitted that this breach was a matter that should be dealt with by way of suspension rather than fine because of his particular personal circumstances. He explained to the Committee the nature of those circumstances. He reiterated his intention was to protect his drive from breaking as opposed to any other malicious intent.
Mr Robb further submitted he proposed to be available to drive at all forthcoming North Island meetings, but had no confirmed engagements. He said he typically has three driving engagements per meeting.
reasonsforpenalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches. We have noted there have been six similar breaches over the past 18 months. Three were in black type races. Penalties ranged from $150 to $250.
The Committee recognises the public may have perceived LOFTY BROGDEN did gain an advantage by failing to come up to and maintain its position behind the mobile at the start of the race, particularly given it won the race. In this regard we accept Mr Robb’s explanation that his intentions were to prevent his drive from going into a break. However, the Committee finds that the manoeuvre was a pre-planned, tactical and a blatant breach of this rule [857 (7) (g)] which we assess as an aggravating factor.
The Committee has noted Mr Robb’s good driving record and his admission of the breach.
penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a fine of $100 and a 1 day suspension commencing at the conclusion of racing 17 November 2013 and concluding at the end of racing on 22 November 2013 (the 1 day equates to 3 drives).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 857 (7)(g)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead -Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Robb - Senior Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 8be265c04696aaf0985b73eab38df0e0
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: 5a39bd6e379ad5492ed63763fa832912
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 17/11/2013
meet_title: Morrinsville TC - 17 November 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: morrinsville-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: AGodsalve
meet_pm2: none
name: Morrinsville TC