Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 26 December 2014 – R 10

ID: JCA17834

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Ms R Smyth - Apprentice Rider of GIRL OF MY DREAMS

Other Person:
Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A6871

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 26 December 2014

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones

Race Date:
2014/12/26

Race Number:
R10

Decision:

As Ms Smyth admitted the breach we find the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, Ms Smyth had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 28 December and conclude after racing on 5 January 2015 (6 North Island days).

Facts:

Following the running of race 10, Auckland Co–Op Taxis 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d).  The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that near the 1100 metres Ms Smyth allowed her mount GIRL OF MY DREAMS to shift in when not sufficiently clear of SANCERRE (L Innes) which was checked.

Prior to the commencement of this hearing the Stewards advised the Committee that Ms Smyth’s employer Mr Tiley had viewed the video films and advised her to admit the breach. Mr Tiley was unable to be present at the hearing because he had to attend to his stable horses. The hearing commenced 45 minutes after the last race.

Miss Smyth acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach. Ms Smyth confirmed that she did not require any assistance at the hearing.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles identified on the video films that SANCERRE was slow away at the start and he said her rider Mr Innes then hunted up quickly. He demonstrated that when Ms Smyth angled her mount in near the 1100 metres she was at no point more than 1 length clear of SANCERRE. This resulted in Mr Innes having to take a hold when he was checked out of it.

Ms Smyth told the Committee she was not aware that SANCERRE was racing directly behind her. She added that SANCERE had improved fast on her inside and said that a horse was easing back in front of her at the time which didn’t help the situation.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Smyth record which showed 6 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months.

1 March 2014 – 4 days

29 March 2014 – 6 days

5 April 2014 – 6 days

16 August 2014 – 5 days

22 October 2014 – 6 days

14 November 2014 – 6 days

Mr Oatham described Ms Smyth’s record as relatively poor and assessed the level of carelessness as low end. He said the Committee should not place too much weight on Ms Smyth’s record for this breach. He submitted 5 to 6 days as an appropriate penalty.

Ms Smyth advised that she had upcoming engagements at Ellerslie on 28 December, and any proposed suspension could commence after that.

In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Smyth advised that she had no engagements on 1 January.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors were Ms Smyth’s admission of the breach and we assess the level of carelessness as low. However, this has to be balanced against Ms Smyth’s very poor record which was a significant aggravating factor with this being her 7th breach of careless riding this year. The JCA listing of penalties shows this to be the worst record of all the riders in New Zealand. Therefore the Committee recommended to Ms Smyth that she pursue some remedial training.

After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 6 day suspension.

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: f3b26f15c6a4fef3a289b0ea7e0378b0


informantnumber: A6871


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 13/12/2014


hearing_title: Auckland RC 26 December 2014 - R 10


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 10, Auckland Co–Op Taxis 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d).  The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that near the 1100 metres Ms Smyth allowed her mount GIRL OF MY DREAMS to shift in when not sufficiently clear of SANCERRE (L Innes) which was checked.

Prior to the commencement of this hearing the Stewards advised the Committee that Ms Smyth’s employer Mr Tiley had viewed the video films and advised her to admit the breach. Mr Tiley was unable to be present at the hearing because he had to attend to his stable horses. The hearing commenced 45 minutes after the last race.

Miss Smyth acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach. Ms Smyth confirmed that she did not require any assistance at the hearing.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles identified on the video films that SANCERRE was slow away at the start and he said her rider Mr Innes then hunted up quickly. He demonstrated that when Ms Smyth angled her mount in near the 1100 metres she was at no point more than 1 length clear of SANCERRE. This resulted in Mr Innes having to take a hold when he was checked out of it.

Ms Smyth told the Committee she was not aware that SANCERRE was racing directly behind her. She added that SANCERE had improved fast on her inside and said that a horse was easing back in front of her at the time which didn’t help the situation.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Ms Smyth admitted the breach we find the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Smyth record which showed 6 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months.

1 March 2014 – 4 days

29 March 2014 – 6 days

5 April 2014 – 6 days

16 August 2014 – 5 days

22 October 2014 – 6 days

14 November 2014 – 6 days

Mr Oatham described Ms Smyth’s record as relatively poor and assessed the level of carelessness as low end. He said the Committee should not place too much weight on Ms Smyth’s record for this breach. He submitted 5 to 6 days as an appropriate penalty.

Ms Smyth advised that she had upcoming engagements at Ellerslie on 28 December, and any proposed suspension could commence after that.

In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Smyth advised that she had no engagements on 1 January.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors were Ms Smyth’s admission of the breach and we assess the level of carelessness as low. However, this has to be balanced against Ms Smyth’s very poor record which was a significant aggravating factor with this being her 7th breach of careless riding this year. The JCA listing of penalties shows this to be the worst record of all the riders in New Zealand. Therefore the Committee recommended to Ms Smyth that she pursue some remedial training.

After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 6 day suspension.


penalty:

Accordingly, Ms Smyth had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 28 December and conclude after racing on 5 January 2015 (6 North Island days).


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Ms R Smyth - Apprentice Rider of GIRL OF MY DREAMS


Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 6c6f18ea89e3a0fb52e8cd96a6581b46


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: a3789c8049af24548440c482c18244ee


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 26/12/2014


meet_title: Auckland RC - 26 December 2014


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: GJones


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC