Rangiora HRC – 16 August 2009 –
ID: JCA18361
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Decision:
Following the running of Race 1, Rangiora Welcomes Mark McNamara Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Public Trainer, Mr W E Higgs, alleging a breach of Rule 865 (4) and the Approved Gear Regulations in that “as the driver of BRUNO he failed to notify HRNZ that this horse would race with a removeable hood”.
--
Following the running of Race 1, Rangiora Welcomes Mark McNamara Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Public Trainer, Mr W E Higgs, alleging a breach of Rule 865 (4) and the Approved Gear Regulations in that “as the driver of BRUNO he failed to notify HRNZ that this horse would race with a removeable hood”.
--Mr Higgs was present at the hearing of the information and did not admit the breach
--Rule 865 provides as follows:
(4) The trainer and/or person in control of a horse shall present such horse in the assembly area with the same or identical gear, or with such different gear as has been notified as required by the foregoing provisions of this Rule.
Mr Renault said that it was observed that when BRUNO entered the birdcage prior to Race 1, it was wearing a removeable hood and not the removeable earplugs that it ought to have been wearing according to Harness Racing New Zealand’s records. Mr Renault said that they had no record of having received any gear notification forms from Mr Higgs for the meeting.
--Mr Higgs said that there was clearly a problem between his faxing information to Harness Racing New Zealand and them actually receiving it. He sought an adjournment to enable him to investigate why the faxed forms were not being received on time. Mr Higgs said that he did not keep copies of documents that he sent by fax or the fax confirmation reports produced by his fax machine. He maintained that he had sent a gear form for BRUNO for today’s meeting.
--Mr Renault acknowledged that HRNZ’s records did not show faxes as having been received from Mr Higgs’ facsimile number even when those faxes have been received by them. It was therefore assumed that the horse would race in the gear it raced in its last start – that is to say, removeable earplugs.
--It was agreed that an adjournment would be pointless as the circumstances are similar to that in respect of the charge relating to BRUNO at the Addington meeting on 6 August last which charge was dismissed by this Committee.
--The charge against Mr Higgs was dismissed for the same reasons as the previous charge referred to. However, Mr Higgs was put on notice that, in future, he must ensure by whatever means that forms sent by him to Harness Racing New Zealand by fax are actually received by them. He should not only retain the proof of sending provided by his own fax machine but also telephone HRNZ after sending to confirm that they have received the faxed form or forms. He was reminded by Mrs K R Williams, Stipendiary Steward, that gear information is able to be researched via the HRNZ website. This is an additional safeguard that is recommended to Mr Higgs. It was made clear to Mr Higgs that, in future, the onus would be on him to show that a faxed form had been sent by him and actually received by Harness Racing New Zealand. Taking the suggested simple precautions should ensure that similar problems do not arise again.
--R G McKenzie
CHAIR
68053
Decision Date: 16/08/2009
Publish Date: 16/08/2009
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: 0e68d9be1e0a471b1a234f9487af3b47
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 16/08/2009
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC - 16 August 2009 -
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Following the running of Race 1, Rangiora Welcomes Mark McNamara Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Public Trainer, Mr W E Higgs, alleging a breach of Rule 865 (4) and the Approved Gear Regulations in that “as the driver of BRUNO he failed to notify HRNZ that this horse would race with a removeable hood”.
--
Following the running of Race 1, Rangiora Welcomes Mark McNamara Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Public Trainer, Mr W E Higgs, alleging a breach of Rule 865 (4) and the Approved Gear Regulations in that “as the driver of BRUNO he failed to notify HRNZ that this horse would race with a removeable hood”.
--Mr Higgs was present at the hearing of the information and did not admit the breach
--Rule 865 provides as follows:
(4) The trainer and/or person in control of a horse shall present such horse in the assembly area with the same or identical gear, or with such different gear as has been notified as required by the foregoing provisions of this Rule.
Mr Renault said that it was observed that when BRUNO entered the birdcage prior to Race 1, it was wearing a removeable hood and not the removeable earplugs that it ought to have been wearing according to Harness Racing New Zealand’s records. Mr Renault said that they had no record of having received any gear notification forms from Mr Higgs for the meeting.
--Mr Higgs said that there was clearly a problem between his faxing information to Harness Racing New Zealand and them actually receiving it. He sought an adjournment to enable him to investigate why the faxed forms were not being received on time. Mr Higgs said that he did not keep copies of documents that he sent by fax or the fax confirmation reports produced by his fax machine. He maintained that he had sent a gear form for BRUNO for today’s meeting.
--Mr Renault acknowledged that HRNZ’s records did not show faxes as having been received from Mr Higgs’ facsimile number even when those faxes have been received by them. It was therefore assumed that the horse would race in the gear it raced in its last start – that is to say, removeable earplugs.
--It was agreed that an adjournment would be pointless as the circumstances are similar to that in respect of the charge relating to BRUNO at the Addington meeting on 6 August last which charge was dismissed by this Committee.
--The charge against Mr Higgs was dismissed for the same reasons as the previous charge referred to. However, Mr Higgs was put on notice that, in future, he must ensure by whatever means that forms sent by him to Harness Racing New Zealand by fax are actually received by them. He should not only retain the proof of sending provided by his own fax machine but also telephone HRNZ after sending to confirm that they have received the faxed form or forms. He was reminded by Mrs K R Williams, Stipendiary Steward, that gear information is able to be researched via the HRNZ website. This is an additional safeguard that is recommended to Mr Higgs. It was made clear to Mr Higgs that, in future, the onus would be on him to show that a faxed form had been sent by him and actually received by Harness Racing New Zealand. Taking the suggested simple precautions should ensure that similar problems do not arise again.
--R G McKenzie
CHAIR
68053
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 865.4
Informant:
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