Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

HR Waikato 10 July 2016 – R 3 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve

ID: JCA17884

Applicant:
Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr M Salaivao - Graduation Horseman

Other Person:
Mr J Stormont - Senior Horseman assisting Mr Salaivao

Information Number:
A3733

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Driving

Rules:
Rule 869(3)b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 10 July 2016

Meet Chair:
AGodsalve

Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley

Race Date:
2016/07/10

Race Number:
R3

Decision:

As the breach was admitted we found the charge to be proved.

Penalty:

We therefore imposed a fine of $350 on Mr Salaivao, and in doing so advised him that if he should breach this Rule again in the near future a suspension of his driving license was inevitable.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 3, the TIM VINCE SUPPORTS CAMBRIDGE MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Mr Muirhead alleging that Graduation Horseman, Mr M Salaivao drove BENJI MAGUIRE carelessly, contacting the sulky wheel of CHEVRONS EASY, driven Mr Mr J Abernethy, causing his own horse to gallop losing its chance with 150 metres to run.

Senior Horseman, Mr J Stormont was initially present at the hearing and told the Committee that he had assisted Mr Salaivao at the preliminary investigation into the incident and was happy for Mr Salaivao to complete the hearing alone.

Mr Salaivao told the Committee that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.

Rule 869(3)(b) states that 'No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.

Using the available films Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident, initially identifying the horses involved. He pointed out that as the field entered the home straight BENJI MAGUIRE was trailing 3 back on the marker poles. CHEVRONS EASY was in front of him. Shortly before the 150 metre mark Mr Salaivao directed BENJI MAGUIRE outwards as if he was going to pass CHEVRONS EASY, and then changed direction to back into his original position. CHEVRONS EASY was beginning to weaken, and Mr Muirhead demonstrated that Mr Salaivao pulled the deafeners from his horse and in doing so appeared to lose some control of it. As a result BENJI MAGUIRE made contact twice with CHEVRON EASY's sulky wheel , and in doing so went off stride and galloped badly. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Salaivao had been trying to 'do too many things' and lost control of his horse, which lost its chance in the race.

Mr Salaivao had no comment to make apart from agreeing with Mr Muirheads submissions.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Muirhead referred to Mr Salaivao's driving record which showed he had had 4 drives in the current season. He added that Mr Salaivao was injured in a raceday incident some time ago and was unable to drive in races for some considerable time. He added that he had driven in 10 races in the preceding season. Mr Muirhead said it was to Mr Salaivaos' favour that he had admitted the breach at the first instance, however he added that the Stewards had some concerns about his driving ability. He referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which he said showed a starting point of a $400 fine or a 8 drive suspension. Mr Muirhead added that the Stewards believed that a fine was an appropriate penalty and submitted that a fine in the vicinty of $400 would be applicable.

Mr Salaivao stated that he would prefer a fine instead of a suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee took account of the submissions by the parties. We confirmed that the correct starting point according to the JCA Penalty Guide for a breach of the 'careless driving' Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. We accepted that Mr Salaivao had admitted the breach, and that his horse was the only one affected by his actions. We noted that he has had limited driving experience and that he has most probably not progressed with his raceday driving due to injury.

However his actions caused his horse to gallop badly and it was fortunate that no other horse was impeded as a result. We assess the level of carelessness was at least mid - range.

Under the circumstances we believed that a fine of $350 was an appropriate penalty.

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: f9e022a2afa78206937888a7e817d842


informantnumber: A3733


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 10/07/2016


hearing_title: HR Waikato 10 July 2016 - R 3 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 3, the TIM VINCE SUPPORTS CAMBRIDGE MOBILE PACE, an Information was lodged by Mr Muirhead alleging that Graduation Horseman, Mr M Salaivao drove BENJI MAGUIRE carelessly, contacting the sulky wheel of CHEVRONS EASY, driven Mr Mr J Abernethy, causing his own horse to gallop losing its chance with 150 metres to run.

Senior Horseman, Mr J Stormont was initially present at the hearing and told the Committee that he had assisted Mr Salaivao at the preliminary investigation into the incident and was happy for Mr Salaivao to complete the hearing alone.

Mr Salaivao told the Committee that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.

Rule 869(3)(b) states that 'No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.

Using the available films Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident, initially identifying the horses involved. He pointed out that as the field entered the home straight BENJI MAGUIRE was trailing 3 back on the marker poles. CHEVRONS EASY was in front of him. Shortly before the 150 metre mark Mr Salaivao directed BENJI MAGUIRE outwards as if he was going to pass CHEVRONS EASY, and then changed direction to back into his original position. CHEVRONS EASY was beginning to weaken, and Mr Muirhead demonstrated that Mr Salaivao pulled the deafeners from his horse and in doing so appeared to lose some control of it. As a result BENJI MAGUIRE made contact twice with CHEVRON EASY's sulky wheel , and in doing so went off stride and galloped badly. Mr Muirhead said that Mr Salaivao had been trying to 'do too many things' and lost control of his horse, which lost its chance in the race.

Mr Salaivao had no comment to make apart from agreeing with Mr Muirheads submissions.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As the breach was admitted we found the charge to be proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Muirhead referred to Mr Salaivao's driving record which showed he had had 4 drives in the current season. He added that Mr Salaivao was injured in a raceday incident some time ago and was unable to drive in races for some considerable time. He added that he had driven in 10 races in the preceding season. Mr Muirhead said it was to Mr Salaivaos' favour that he had admitted the breach at the first instance, however he added that the Stewards had some concerns about his driving ability. He referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which he said showed a starting point of a $400 fine or a 8 drive suspension. Mr Muirhead added that the Stewards believed that a fine was an appropriate penalty and submitted that a fine in the vicinty of $400 would be applicable.

Mr Salaivao stated that he would prefer a fine instead of a suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee took account of the submissions by the parties. We confirmed that the correct starting point according to the JCA Penalty Guide for a breach of the 'careless driving' Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. We accepted that Mr Salaivao had admitted the breach, and that his horse was the only one affected by his actions. We noted that he has had limited driving experience and that he has most probably not progressed with his raceday driving due to injury.

However his actions caused his horse to gallop badly and it was fortunate that no other horse was impeded as a result. We assess the level of carelessness was at least mid - range.

Under the circumstances we believed that a fine of $350 was an appropriate penalty.


penalty:

We therefore imposed a fine of $350 on Mr Salaivao, and in doing so advised him that if he should breach this Rule again in the near future a suspension of his driving license was inevitable.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 869(3)b)


Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Salaivao - Graduation Horseman


Otherperson: Mr J Stormont - Senior Horseman assisting Mr Salaivao


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 33248f12b1a536bddc07731db1924da8


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: 873ca5be91e82a8b3ad23c143dca12c8


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 10/07/2016


meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 10 July 2016


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: AGodsalve


meet_pm1: ADooley


meet_pm2: none


name: Harness Racing Waikato