Archive Decision

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Canterbury JC 15 November 2014 – R 10

ID: JCA17615

Applicant:
Mr R Neal - Co Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr M Du Plessis - Licensed Jockey

Information Number:
A3328

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Breaks riding engagement

Rules:
Rule 330(3) A Rider shall not:, (b) wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 15 November 2014

Meet Chair:
KHales

Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie

Race Date:
2014/11/15

Race Number:
R10

Decision:

As Mr Du Plessis has admitted the charge it is thereby deemed to be proved.

Penalty:

Mr Du Plessis is fined $250.

Facts:

Mr Du Plessis was engaged to ride "Keynote" in Race 10 the "Speights Premier". However, during the course of the day, Mr Du Plessis asked the Stipendiary Stewards if he could be released from this riding engagement. He said that he had been contracted to ride in Singapore on Sunday 16th November 2014, and that he had a flight to catch with a check in time of 6pm. As Race 10 was scheduled to start at 5:40 pm, and with the anticipated heavy race day traffic problems, Mr Du Plessis was concerned that he would miss his flight.

Mr Neal said that Mr Darryl Bradley was available to take the ride, and that co-trainer, Mr J Parsons agreed to Mr Bradley taking the ride.

Mr Du Plessis endorsed the information admitting the breach, and Mr Neal confirmed to the hearing that Mr Du Plessis did not wish to be present at the hearing.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Neal advised the hearing that Mr Du Plessis is a very busy rider who has an excellent record in relation to all matters. Notwithstanding that, Mr Du Plessis placed himself in an invidious position by accepting the riding engagement with such a short time frame between the race and his check in time at the airport. However, Mr Neal accepted that even though the betting public anticipated that Mr Du Plessis would be riding the horse, it was not highly favoured and a senior rider was replacing him. Mr Du Plessis was also not in contention for the "Jockeys' Challenge". He submitted that a fine should be imposed but did not have a submission with regard to the quantum of the fine.

Reasons for Penalty:

Mr Du Plessis is a busy rider , nationally and internationally. He has an excellent record. On this occasion he made a misjudgement as clearly he did not give consideration to the amount of time it would take for him to get to the airport for his scheduled check in time.

A fine is the appropriate penalty. The Judicial Control Authority's Penalty Guide notes a fine of $300 for such a breach.

Against that we must consider aggravating and mitigating factors.

There are no particular aggravating factors which warrant an uplift on the starting point. In terms of mitigating factors no great inconvenience was caused. Mr Du Plessis conveyed his conundrum to the Stipendiary Stewards early in the day. A senior rider was quickly found to replace him. The trainers did not make an issue of the situation. There was no impact on the "Jockey's Challenge". As a consequence, we afford Mr Du Plessis a discount on our starting point of $50.

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: f8967219ecf9658790ef580ce8a9631f


informantnumber: A3328


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Breaks riding engagement


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 12/11/2014


hearing_title: Canterbury JC 15 November 2014 - R 10


charge:


facts:

Mr Du Plessis was engaged to ride "Keynote" in Race 10 the "Speights Premier". However, during the course of the day, Mr Du Plessis asked the Stipendiary Stewards if he could be released from this riding engagement. He said that he had been contracted to ride in Singapore on Sunday 16th November 2014, and that he had a flight to catch with a check in time of 6pm. As Race 10 was scheduled to start at 5:40 pm, and with the anticipated heavy race day traffic problems, Mr Du Plessis was concerned that he would miss his flight.

Mr Neal said that Mr Darryl Bradley was available to take the ride, and that co-trainer, Mr J Parsons agreed to Mr Bradley taking the ride.

Mr Du Plessis endorsed the information admitting the breach, and Mr Neal confirmed to the hearing that Mr Du Plessis did not wish to be present at the hearing.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Du Plessis has admitted the charge it is thereby deemed to be proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Neal advised the hearing that Mr Du Plessis is a very busy rider who has an excellent record in relation to all matters. Notwithstanding that, Mr Du Plessis placed himself in an invidious position by accepting the riding engagement with such a short time frame between the race and his check in time at the airport. However, Mr Neal accepted that even though the betting public anticipated that Mr Du Plessis would be riding the horse, it was not highly favoured and a senior rider was replacing him. Mr Du Plessis was also not in contention for the "Jockeys' Challenge". He submitted that a fine should be imposed but did not have a submission with regard to the quantum of the fine.


reasonsforpenalty:

Mr Du Plessis is a busy rider , nationally and internationally. He has an excellent record. On this occasion he made a misjudgement as clearly he did not give consideration to the amount of time it would take for him to get to the airport for his scheduled check in time.

A fine is the appropriate penalty. The Judicial Control Authority's Penalty Guide notes a fine of $300 for such a breach.

Against that we must consider aggravating and mitigating factors.

There are no particular aggravating factors which warrant an uplift on the starting point. In terms of mitigating factors no great inconvenience was caused. Mr Du Plessis conveyed his conundrum to the Stipendiary Stewards early in the day. A senior rider was quickly found to replace him. The trainers did not make an issue of the situation. There was no impact on the "Jockey's Challenge". As a consequence, we afford Mr Du Plessis a discount on our starting point of $50.


penalty:

Mr Du Plessis is fined $250.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 330(3) A Rider shall not:, (b) wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement


Informant: Mr R Neal - Co Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Du Plessis - Licensed Jockey


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: c75cfd41099dd42406f9f83fb5e54b0c


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R10


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 4959eee36d00e55f3ab4a35d3caee367


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 15/11/2014


meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 15 November 2014


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: canterbury-racing


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: KHales


meet_pm1: RMcKenzie


meet_pm2: none


name: Canterbury Racing