R Rotorua 21 January 2015 – R 7
ID: JCA18156
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Racing Rotorua - 21 January 2015
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
RSeabrook
Race Date:
2015/01/21
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Ms Birch admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Birch is fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
Following the running of race 7, VC’S Turf Bar 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 614 (2). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Birch omitted the lead bag when saddling BLUE WAGON.
Ms Birch acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 614(2) provides: A person must not be neglectful or careless in saddling a horse.
Mr Oatham told the Committee that BLUE WAGON was an acceptor for race 7 and Ms Birch was the stable Foreperson for Trainers M Baker / A Forsman. He said Mr Jones, Stipendiary Steward, checked the gear at the plate inspection and identified that the lead bag had been omitted from BLUE WAGON. When the Stewards had made enquiries the horse went back to the saddling area. It was at that point Ms Birch had noticed that the lead bag had fallen onto the floor. Ms Birch then re saddled BLUE WAGON.
Ms Birch told the Committee that she had never made this mistake before and confirmed the lead bag had fallen onto the floor when she originally saddled up BLUE WAGON.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said an omission of this type has serious consequences and noted that BLUE WAGON won the race. He advised the Committee that the lead bag weighed 0.5kg and therefore would have been borderline from being disqualified from the race had the error not been picked up beforehand.
Mr Oatham expressed some sympathy towards Ms Birch in her position as the stable Foreperson. He said the standard fine for this breach is $500 which in his opinion is excessive and a steep penalty given today’s factors. He submitted on this occasion a fine in the $250 to $300 range would be appropriate. Mr Oatham added that a penalty did need to be imposed for a variety of reasons and acknowledged that Committees were expected to be consistent when imposing penalties.
Ms Birch submitted that she had never made this mistake before and it was out of character. Ms Birch added that she had been working for the M Baker / A Forsman stable for eighteen months and had saddled up horses on their behalf on numerous occasions.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors are Ms Birch’s admission of the breach and her clear record in relation to this Rule. The notable fact is Ms Birch was neglectful in omitting the lead bag when saddling BLUE WAGON. It was fortunate this error was identified by Mr Jones because BLUE WAGON went on to win the race. Had this error not been picked up we may have been dealing with a higher penalty as the consequences may have escalated. This is supported by the fact records show that when a similar incident occurred the horse was disqualified and the Trainer was fined $1,000.
The Committee checked the JCA Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point for this Rule is a $750 fine.
The Committee checked other penalties imposed under this Rule which showed a $500 fine was the penalty imposed in the other eight cases we viewed. The Committee had regard for the mitigating factors and Ms Birch's status. However the JCA listing of penalties show that under this Rule Mr Hawtin, a Trainer of 45 years’ experience was fined $500 in October 2013 and Mr Kelso a Trainer of 35 years was fined $500 in August 2014 for the same error.
To Ms Birch's credit she showed genuine remorse for omitting the lead bag and represented the stable in a professional manner during the hearing.
After taking into account all the above factors and in the interest of fairness and consistency this Committee considers an appropriate penalty is a $500 fine.
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: f4b58ee2dd5f58d3c12c2b7716e70937
informantnumber: A6877
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Omitting the lead bag
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/01/2015
hearing_title: R Rotorua 21 January 2015 - R 7
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 7, VC’S Turf Bar 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 614 (2). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Birch omitted the lead bag when saddling BLUE WAGON.
Ms Birch acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 614(2) provides: A person must not be neglectful or careless in saddling a horse.
Mr Oatham told the Committee that BLUE WAGON was an acceptor for race 7 and Ms Birch was the stable Foreperson for Trainers M Baker / A Forsman. He said Mr Jones, Stipendiary Steward, checked the gear at the plate inspection and identified that the lead bag had been omitted from BLUE WAGON. When the Stewards had made enquiries the horse went back to the saddling area. It was at that point Ms Birch had noticed that the lead bag had fallen onto the floor. Ms Birch then re saddled BLUE WAGON.
Ms Birch told the Committee that she had never made this mistake before and confirmed the lead bag had fallen onto the floor when she originally saddled up BLUE WAGON.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Birch admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said an omission of this type has serious consequences and noted that BLUE WAGON won the race. He advised the Committee that the lead bag weighed 0.5kg and therefore would have been borderline from being disqualified from the race had the error not been picked up beforehand.
Mr Oatham expressed some sympathy towards Ms Birch in her position as the stable Foreperson. He said the standard fine for this breach is $500 which in his opinion is excessive and a steep penalty given today’s factors. He submitted on this occasion a fine in the $250 to $300 range would be appropriate. Mr Oatham added that a penalty did need to be imposed for a variety of reasons and acknowledged that Committees were expected to be consistent when imposing penalties.
Ms Birch submitted that she had never made this mistake before and it was out of character. Ms Birch added that she had been working for the M Baker / A Forsman stable for eighteen months and had saddled up horses on their behalf on numerous occasions.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The mitigating factors are Ms Birch’s admission of the breach and her clear record in relation to this Rule. The notable fact is Ms Birch was neglectful in omitting the lead bag when saddling BLUE WAGON. It was fortunate this error was identified by Mr Jones because BLUE WAGON went on to win the race. Had this error not been picked up we may have been dealing with a higher penalty as the consequences may have escalated. This is supported by the fact records show that when a similar incident occurred the horse was disqualified and the Trainer was fined $1,000.
The Committee checked the JCA Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point for this Rule is a $750 fine.
The Committee checked other penalties imposed under this Rule which showed a $500 fine was the penalty imposed in the other eight cases we viewed. The Committee had regard for the mitigating factors and Ms Birch's status. However the JCA listing of penalties show that under this Rule Mr Hawtin, a Trainer of 45 years’ experience was fined $500 in October 2013 and Mr Kelso a Trainer of 35 years was fined $500 in August 2014 for the same error.
To Ms Birch's credit she showed genuine remorse for omitting the lead bag and represented the stable in a professional manner during the hearing.
After taking into account all the above factors and in the interest of fairness and consistency this Committee considers an appropriate penalty is a $500 fine.
penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Birch is fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 614(2)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms H Birch - Stable Foreperson M Baker / A Forsman
Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 28364c12a7c8742665c807df21148919
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: d8a1d838efab8624f553d15e4adde5b9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/01/2015
meet_title: Racing Rotorua - 21 January 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: racing-rotorua
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: RSeabrook
meet_pm2: none
name: Racing Rotorua