Waimate TC 5 December 2010 – R 1 (heard at Methven on 12 December 2010)
ID: JCA18670
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Waimate TC - 5 December 2010
Meet Chair:
Ghall
Meet Committee Member 1:
JEagles
Race Date:
2010/12/05
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr S. P. Renault, Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: Mr P. J. Holmes, Open Horseman
Information No: 69374
Meeting: Waimate Trotting Club
Date: 5 December 2010
Venue: Waimate Racecourse
Race No. 1: Ritchie Trembath Memorial Trot
Rule No: 869(4) and Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations, Clause 7
Judicial Committee: J. M. Phelan, Chairman - J. Millar, Committee Member
Plea: Not Admitted
Facts:
This matter was heard at the Methven Trotting Club’s race meeting at Methven on 12 December 2010.
Following the running of Race 1, the Ritchie Trembath Memorial Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault against Open Horseman Mr P. J. Holmes alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) and the Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations, Clause 7, in that he drove in a manner likely to cause interference.
The charge reads as follows.
“I the abovenamed informant allege that the abovenamed Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(4) in that P. J. Holmes (Two Wishes) drove in a manner causing interference to Game As Ned Kelly (M. Evans) and Hu Keas (J. Curtin) over the final stages.”
Rule 869(4) reads as follows,
“(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.”
Clause 7 of the Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations reads as follows.
“(7) Except where a horseman is making a move pursuant to Rule 869(7) and subject to the preceding provisions of the Regulation where applicable, every horse shall upon entering the home straight prior to the finish maintain as straight a course as possible to the finish line.”
Facts:
Mr Holmes had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted, and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Holmes agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate this incident. He said that after this race there had been a protest against “Two Wishes” (8) which had finished in 4th place. It was alleged that close to the finish of this race “Two Wishes” had run out and interfered with “Game As Ned Kelly” (4) and “Hu Keas” (1). The protest was upheld and “Two Wishes” was relegated from 4th to 6th place.
Mr Renault said that this charge related to the way that Mr Holmes drove his horse in the straight. He used video coverage to show that “Two Wishes” had been close to the lead and four wide when entering the straight. “Two Wishes” was seen to slowly drift wider on the track, and “Game As Ned Kelly” and “Hu Keas” were improving and trying to pass “Two Wishes” on its outside. Because of the movement outwards by “Two Wishes” the two improving horses were forced to go much wider on the track than they should have been required to.
Mr Renault also showed where Mr Holmes continued to use his whip in the straight, and took no corrective actions to straighten his horse. The interference was caused when “Two Wishes” ducked out sharply near the finish, but the damage had been done by this time.
Mr Holmes said that other horses had also run out in the straight. He also said that he did not believe he had done anything wrong in the way he drove his horse. He agreed that there had been interference to the other two horses late in the race when his horse ducked out.
We then adjourned to consider our decision.
Decision:
After carefully reviewing the evidence and the video coverage we were satisfied that “Two Wishes” had been four wide when entering the straight and that there were no horses in front of it which required Mr Holmes to change direction. By allowing his horse to move wider on the track Mr Holmes had dictated the line of the two horses which were trying to pass him and this is a breach of the Rule and Regulation. We were satisfied that the charge had been proved.
On returning to the Enquiry Room we advised that a full written decision would be given later, and we gave the following oral decision.
“Having heard the evidence, and having seen the video coverage, we are satisfied that on entering the home straight, “Two Wishes” was four wide and close to the lead. Shortly after “Two Wishes “ was allowed to move wider on the track which resulted in two improving horses having to move wider on the track than they should have had to. Later, “Two Wishes”, when being driven with the whip, ducked wider on the track. The damage was done when “Two Wishes” first moved wider. We find the charge proved.”
Submissions on Penalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Renault advised that Mr Holmes had no previous relevant convictions, and that the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point for a breach of this Rule (where a relegation results) as a $600-00 fine and/or a suspension for 3 weeks. It was also established that Mr Holmes trains only a few horses, and had only had 3 drives this season.
Mr Holmes said that he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
We adjourned to consider the matter of an appropriate penalty.
Reasons:
In considering an appropriate penalty we took the view that the recommended starting point for a penalty in this case was excessive. We were satisfied that a suspension for 3 driving days should be imposed in this case.
Penalty:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties that Mr Holmes’ Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the completion of racing today, the 12 December 2010, until after the completion of racing on 23 December 2010. This period of suspension includes relevant race days of 16 December 2010 at NZMTC, 19 December 2010 at Rangiora, and 23 December 2010 at NZMTC.
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: 13eb26c230be5c3cd13f2653fd355495
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 05/12/2010
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Waimate TC 5 December 2010 - R 1 (heard at Methven on 12 December 2010)
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr S. P. Renault, Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: Mr P. J. Holmes, Open Horseman
Information No: 69374
Meeting: Waimate Trotting Club
Date: 5 December 2010
Venue: Waimate Racecourse
Race No. 1: Ritchie Trembath Memorial Trot
Rule No: 869(4) and Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations, Clause 7
Judicial Committee: J. M. Phelan, Chairman - J. Millar, Committee Member
Plea: Not Admitted
Facts:
This matter was heard at the Methven Trotting Club’s race meeting at Methven on 12 December 2010.
Following the running of Race 1, the Ritchie Trembath Memorial Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault against Open Horseman Mr P. J. Holmes alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) and the Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations, Clause 7, in that he drove in a manner likely to cause interference.
The charge reads as follows.
“I the abovenamed informant allege that the abovenamed Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(4) in that P. J. Holmes (Two Wishes) drove in a manner causing interference to Game As Ned Kelly (M. Evans) and Hu Keas (J. Curtin) over the final stages.”
Rule 869(4) reads as follows,
“(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.”
Clause 7 of the Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations reads as follows.
“(7) Except where a horseman is making a move pursuant to Rule 869(7) and subject to the preceding provisions of the Regulation where applicable, every horse shall upon entering the home straight prior to the finish maintain as straight a course as possible to the finish line.”
Facts:
Mr Holmes had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was not admitted, and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Holmes agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate this incident. He said that after this race there had been a protest against “Two Wishes” (8) which had finished in 4th place. It was alleged that close to the finish of this race “Two Wishes” had run out and interfered with “Game As Ned Kelly” (4) and “Hu Keas” (1). The protest was upheld and “Two Wishes” was relegated from 4th to 6th place.
Mr Renault said that this charge related to the way that Mr Holmes drove his horse in the straight. He used video coverage to show that “Two Wishes” had been close to the lead and four wide when entering the straight. “Two Wishes” was seen to slowly drift wider on the track, and “Game As Ned Kelly” and “Hu Keas” were improving and trying to pass “Two Wishes” on its outside. Because of the movement outwards by “Two Wishes” the two improving horses were forced to go much wider on the track than they should have been required to.
Mr Renault also showed where Mr Holmes continued to use his whip in the straight, and took no corrective actions to straighten his horse. The interference was caused when “Two Wishes” ducked out sharply near the finish, but the damage had been done by this time.
Mr Holmes said that other horses had also run out in the straight. He also said that he did not believe he had done anything wrong in the way he drove his horse. He agreed that there had been interference to the other two horses late in the race when his horse ducked out.
We then adjourned to consider our decision.
Decision:
After carefully reviewing the evidence and the video coverage we were satisfied that “Two Wishes” had been four wide when entering the straight and that there were no horses in front of it which required Mr Holmes to change direction. By allowing his horse to move wider on the track Mr Holmes had dictated the line of the two horses which were trying to pass him and this is a breach of the Rule and Regulation. We were satisfied that the charge had been proved.
On returning to the Enquiry Room we advised that a full written decision would be given later, and we gave the following oral decision.
“Having heard the evidence, and having seen the video coverage, we are satisfied that on entering the home straight, “Two Wishes” was four wide and close to the lead. Shortly after “Two Wishes “ was allowed to move wider on the track which resulted in two improving horses having to move wider on the track than they should have had to. Later, “Two Wishes”, when being driven with the whip, ducked wider on the track. The damage was done when “Two Wishes” first moved wider. We find the charge proved.”
Submissions on Penalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Renault advised that Mr Holmes had no previous relevant convictions, and that the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point for a breach of this Rule (where a relegation results) as a $600-00 fine and/or a suspension for 3 weeks. It was also established that Mr Holmes trains only a few horses, and had only had 3 drives this season.
Mr Holmes said that he would prefer a suspension to a fine.
We adjourned to consider the matter of an appropriate penalty.
Reasons:
In considering an appropriate penalty we took the view that the recommended starting point for a penalty in this case was excessive. We were satisfied that a suspension for 3 driving days should be imposed in this case.
Penalty:
On resuming the hearing we advised the parties that Mr Holmes’ Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the completion of racing today, the 12 December 2010, until after the completion of racing on 23 December 2010. This period of suspension includes relevant race days of 16 December 2010 at NZMTC, 19 December 2010 at Rangiora, and 23 December 2010 at NZMTC.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869(4) and Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations, Clause 7
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: f8b261c69d2d4d4659afba4671ad3348
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race_title: R 1
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meetdate: 05/12/2010
meet_title: Waimate TC - 5 December 2010
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name: Waimate TC