NZ Metro TC 31 March 2017 – R 4 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA17789
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 31 March 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2017/03/31
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
Mr DeFilippi having changed his plea and admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr DeFilippi’s Open Horseman’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on Friday, 7th April 2016, up to and including Monday, 17th April 2016 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period are Rangiora HRC on 9th April, New Zealand Metropolitan TC on 15th April and Banks Peninsula TC on 17th April.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Storer Motors New Zealand Trotting Oaks (Group 2), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C J DeFilippi, alleging that, as the driver of NEEDLE in the race, Mr DeFilippi “drove carelessly near the 250 metres when striking the sulky wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT (M J Williamson) which flattened”.
Mr DeFilippi was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Ydgren said that this charge arose out of the incident in Race 4 that was the subject of the earlier protest hearing, following which NEEDLE was relegated to 4th and ZOEY’S GIFT promoted to 3rd. He again showed the videos of the incident with approximately 250 metres to run and alleged that Mr DeFilippi, driving NEEDLE, had shifted inwards into the passing lane and that, in doing so, the right front leg of his horse had made contact with the inside sulky wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT, driven by Mr Williamson. Mr Williamson looked down to his wheel which, Mr Ydgren submitted, is a clear indication that something had happened. Mr Ydgren alleged that, as a result of Mr DeFilippi shifting inwards, the tyre of ZOEY’S GIFT’s sulky wheel had been struck and had deflated.
Stewards were alleging that Mr DeFilippi had not given himself the required room when shifting inwards, had clipped the wheel and, thereby, caused interference to Mr Williamson’s runner.
Prior to Mr DeFilippi giving his evidence in defence of the charge, the Committee told the hearing that, following the earlier protest hearing, it had found that Mr DeFilippi, driving NEEDLE, had made contact with the wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT, driven by M J Williamson, thereby causing interference to that runner.
Mr DeFilippi submitted that, for the charge of careless driving to be proved, the evidence had to be “clear evidence”. He did not admit that he had struck the wheel. Mr Williamson looked down because his tyre went flat. That did not mean that he had struck Mr Williamson’s tyre, Mr DeFilippi said. None of the video replays showed him hitting the tyre, he submitted. No significance should be attached to Mr Williamson’s sulky wheel “wobbling”. Mr Williamson’s horse had clearly run in “a wee bit” when it got to the passing lane, as most horses will do at the end of a race when they are getting tired, Mr DeFilippi said. If he had hit a tyre hard enough to make the wheel wobble or flatten the tyre, his horse would have “gone rough” or broken, he submitted.
The head-on video replay of the alleged striking of the wheel was again shown to the hearing. Mr DeFilippi was reminded by Mr Ydgren of Mr Williamson’s evidence that his wheel had been struck at that point.
After a discussion, Mr DeFilippi enquired as to what a likely penalty would be if the charge were found proved and he was given by the opportunity to change his plea and admit the breach. At this point the hearing was adjourned.
Upon the resumption of the hearing, Mr DeFilippi informed the Committee that he wished to change his plea and admit the charge.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren told the Committee that Mr DeFilippi is a very experienced and successful driver. In the current season to date he has had 245 drives, last season 341, in the 2014/2015 season, 387 drives. He has a clear record and this amounted to an excellent record, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 3 days’ suspension for careless driving in a major race. “Major race” is defined as a race with stakes of $40,000 or more and the race involved was for a stake of $40,000. Mr Ydgren submitted that an uplift from that starting point was warranted on the basis that a relegation had been involved. However, Mr DeFilippi was entitled to credit for his excellent record and eventual admission of the breach. A term of suspension of 3 or 4 days would be appropriate, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mr DeFilippi requested a deferment of any suspension to enable him to take drives at the meeting of New Zealand Metropolitan TC on 7th April. Upcoming meetings were looked at. Mr DeFilippi confirmed that he would not be intending to drive at the Forbury Park meeting on 13th April.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the Penalty Guide starting point referred to by Mr Ydgren of a 3 days’ suspension. An aggravating factor was that Mr DeFilippi’s carelessness resulted in the relegation of his horse and we considered that this factor warranted an uplift in the starting point to 4 days. Against that, mitigating factors were Mr DeFilippi’s excellent driving record, his admission of the breach, albeit belated, and that he was guilty of only a slight error of judgement. The combination of those mitigating factors, in our view, entitled Mr DeFilippi to a discount of 1 day from the uplifted starting point.
Mr DeFilippi’s request for a deferment was granted as we accepted that he would have driving engagements at the premier meeting at Addington on 7th April.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: ed7b1a5cb279e973ed0dd5f8b65c3303
informantnumber: A8957
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 03/04/2017
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 31 March 2017 - R 4 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 4, Storer Motors New Zealand Trotting Oaks (Group 2), an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr C J DeFilippi, alleging that, as the driver of NEEDLE in the race, Mr DeFilippi “drove carelessly near the 250 metres when striking the sulky wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT (M J Williamson) which flattened”.
Mr DeFilippi was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he denied the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Ydgren said that this charge arose out of the incident in Race 4 that was the subject of the earlier protest hearing, following which NEEDLE was relegated to 4th and ZOEY’S GIFT promoted to 3rd. He again showed the videos of the incident with approximately 250 metres to run and alleged that Mr DeFilippi, driving NEEDLE, had shifted inwards into the passing lane and that, in doing so, the right front leg of his horse had made contact with the inside sulky wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT, driven by Mr Williamson. Mr Williamson looked down to his wheel which, Mr Ydgren submitted, is a clear indication that something had happened. Mr Ydgren alleged that, as a result of Mr DeFilippi shifting inwards, the tyre of ZOEY’S GIFT’s sulky wheel had been struck and had deflated.
Stewards were alleging that Mr DeFilippi had not given himself the required room when shifting inwards, had clipped the wheel and, thereby, caused interference to Mr Williamson’s runner.
Prior to Mr DeFilippi giving his evidence in defence of the charge, the Committee told the hearing that, following the earlier protest hearing, it had found that Mr DeFilippi, driving NEEDLE, had made contact with the wheel of ZOEY’S GIFT, driven by M J Williamson, thereby causing interference to that runner.
Mr DeFilippi submitted that, for the charge of careless driving to be proved, the evidence had to be “clear evidence”. He did not admit that he had struck the wheel. Mr Williamson looked down because his tyre went flat. That did not mean that he had struck Mr Williamson’s tyre, Mr DeFilippi said. None of the video replays showed him hitting the tyre, he submitted. No significance should be attached to Mr Williamson’s sulky wheel “wobbling”. Mr Williamson’s horse had clearly run in “a wee bit” when it got to the passing lane, as most horses will do at the end of a race when they are getting tired, Mr DeFilippi said. If he had hit a tyre hard enough to make the wheel wobble or flatten the tyre, his horse would have “gone rough” or broken, he submitted.
The head-on video replay of the alleged striking of the wheel was again shown to the hearing. Mr DeFilippi was reminded by Mr Ydgren of Mr Williamson’s evidence that his wheel had been struck at that point.
After a discussion, Mr DeFilippi enquired as to what a likely penalty would be if the charge were found proved and he was given by the opportunity to change his plea and admit the breach. At this point the hearing was adjourned.
Upon the resumption of the hearing, Mr DeFilippi informed the Committee that he wished to change his plea and admit the charge.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr DeFilippi having changed his plea and admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren told the Committee that Mr DeFilippi is a very experienced and successful driver. In the current season to date he has had 245 drives, last season 341, in the 2014/2015 season, 387 drives. He has a clear record and this amounted to an excellent record, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 3 days’ suspension for careless driving in a major race. “Major race” is defined as a race with stakes of $40,000 or more and the race involved was for a stake of $40,000. Mr Ydgren submitted that an uplift from that starting point was warranted on the basis that a relegation had been involved. However, Mr DeFilippi was entitled to credit for his excellent record and eventual admission of the breach. A term of suspension of 3 or 4 days would be appropriate, Mr Ydgren submitted.
Mr DeFilippi requested a deferment of any suspension to enable him to take drives at the meeting of New Zealand Metropolitan TC on 7th April. Upcoming meetings were looked at. Mr DeFilippi confirmed that he would not be intending to drive at the Forbury Park meeting on 13th April.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee had regard to the Penalty Guide starting point referred to by Mr Ydgren of a 3 days’ suspension. An aggravating factor was that Mr DeFilippi’s carelessness resulted in the relegation of his horse and we considered that this factor warranted an uplift in the starting point to 4 days. Against that, mitigating factors were Mr DeFilippi’s excellent driving record, his admission of the breach, albeit belated, and that he was guilty of only a slight error of judgement. The combination of those mitigating factors, in our view, entitled Mr DeFilippi to a discount of 1 day from the uplifted starting point.
Mr DeFilippi’s request for a deferment was granted as we accepted that he would have driving engagements at the premier meeting at Addington on 7th April.
penalty:
Mr DeFilippi’s Open Horseman’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on Friday, 7th April 2016, up to and including Monday, 17th April 2016 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period are Rangiora HRC on 9th April, New Zealand Metropolitan TC on 15th April and Banks Peninsula TC on 17th April.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: N M Ydgren Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: C J DeFilippi, Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: dbf124ba465bae744ffc34b938812193
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7e681e28a79bcebacfc836821ddb8a9a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/03/2017
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 31 March 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC