Oamaru HRC 3 December 2016 – R 9 – Chair, Mr P Knowles
ID: JCA18054
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 3 December 2016
Meet Chair:
PKnowles
Meet Committee Member 1:
GHall
Race Date:
2016/12/03
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
After viewing the videos, hearing submissions from both parties and taking into account Mr Prendergast’s guilty plea the committee upheld the charge.
Penalty:
Mr Prendergast is fined $300.
Facts:
Following the running of race # 9 the BALLANTYNE’S SHOWCASE JEWELLERS PACE Stewards charged Mr M Prendergast with a breach of rule 869 (3) (b) alleging that he “…drove carelessly approaching the first bend when improving into a run which did not exist, resulting in his horse Millwood Charity striking as pylon and racing roughly.”
Rule 869 (3) (b) reads: No horseman in any race shall drive
(b) carelessly.
Mr Prendergast appeared at the hearing and admitted the breach.
Mr Quirk, with the assistance of the videos, identified Millwood Charity as drawing one on the front line from the standing start. Millwood Charity was slow away and as the field approached the first bend was observed to improve inside Motu Born To Sparkle (CD Thornley). Shortly after Millwood Charity struck a pylon and paced roughly for several strides before settling.
Mr Renault stated that when Mr Prendergast improved inside Motu Born To Sparkle, Mr Thornley was forced to shift outwards from his three back position and in doing so pushed Zimfandel (B Orange) wider on the track. This caused both Motu Born To Sparkle and Zimfandel to lose their positions.
Mr Prendergast stated his horse became fractious after there were several delays to the start. He said the mare had never drawn one before and didn’t steer well once the race got underway. He stated he was having difficulty keeping her back and was attempting to get onto Mr Thornley’s back but wasn’t able to. He stated that after the mare struck the pylon and paced roughly she settled down.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Prendergast was having his first drive for the season. He had 19 drives last season. He had a clear record over the past 12 months. He said the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. He said the only aggravating factor was that two horses lost their positions. In view of Mr Prendergast’s early admission of the breach, his good record and the incident was at the low end of the scale he sought a fine of $300.
Mr Prendergast stated he had three horses in work and hoped to be driving them at the races over the summer period. He said he would prefer a fine as opposed to a suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
In setting a penalty we adopt the starting point of $500. We dismiss the aggravating factor as neither Motu Born To Sparkle or Zimfandel were unduly affected by the change of positions early in the race. We give credit for Mr Prendergast’s guilty plea, his excellent record and that the incident was at the low end of the scale.
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: e79386095d223bc601708118c955e1d4
informantnumber: A6265
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 05/12/2016
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 3 December 2016 - R 9 - Chair, Mr P Knowles
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race # 9 the BALLANTYNE’S SHOWCASE JEWELLERS PACE Stewards charged Mr M Prendergast with a breach of rule 869 (3) (b) alleging that he “…drove carelessly approaching the first bend when improving into a run which did not exist, resulting in his horse Millwood Charity striking as pylon and racing roughly.”
Rule 869 (3) (b) reads: No horseman in any race shall drive
(b) carelessly.
Mr Prendergast appeared at the hearing and admitted the breach.
Mr Quirk, with the assistance of the videos, identified Millwood Charity as drawing one on the front line from the standing start. Millwood Charity was slow away and as the field approached the first bend was observed to improve inside Motu Born To Sparkle (CD Thornley). Shortly after Millwood Charity struck a pylon and paced roughly for several strides before settling.
Mr Renault stated that when Mr Prendergast improved inside Motu Born To Sparkle, Mr Thornley was forced to shift outwards from his three back position and in doing so pushed Zimfandel (B Orange) wider on the track. This caused both Motu Born To Sparkle and Zimfandel to lose their positions.
Mr Prendergast stated his horse became fractious after there were several delays to the start. He said the mare had never drawn one before and didn’t steer well once the race got underway. He stated he was having difficulty keeping her back and was attempting to get onto Mr Thornley’s back but wasn’t able to. He stated that after the mare struck the pylon and paced roughly she settled down.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
After viewing the videos, hearing submissions from both parties and taking into account Mr Prendergast’s guilty plea the committee upheld the charge.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Prendergast was having his first drive for the season. He had 19 drives last season. He had a clear record over the past 12 months. He said the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. He said the only aggravating factor was that two horses lost their positions. In view of Mr Prendergast’s early admission of the breach, his good record and the incident was at the low end of the scale he sought a fine of $300.
Mr Prendergast stated he had three horses in work and hoped to be driving them at the races over the summer period. He said he would prefer a fine as opposed to a suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
In setting a penalty we adopt the starting point of $500. We dismiss the aggravating factor as neither Motu Born To Sparkle or Zimfandel were unduly affected by the change of positions early in the race. We give credit for Mr Prendergast’s guilty plea, his excellent record and that the incident was at the low end of the scale.
penalty:
Mr Prendergast is fined $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869 (3) (b)
Informant: Mr SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Prendergast - Licensed Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: a5e7cb5fa1fb09897c2bfd62bb2f5fa8
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7baa39bb24d890193bc8ce6a64419675
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/12/2016
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 3 December 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PKnowles
meet_pm1: GHall
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC