Otaki-Maori RC – 12 November 2009 – Race 10

hearingid: 17c90d691bff57447218abfa8c482989

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hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

startdate: 12/11/2009

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hearing_title: Otaki-Maori RC - 12 November 2009 - Race 10

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Following the running of race 10, the Rock 91.9FM 1600, Ms Vance was charged with careless riding under rule 638 (1) (d).  The information alleged that “M Vance, the rider of THE DEMOCRAT allowed her mount to shift out when not clear of WHISPERING GRACE, PULSATION, ZAPPED and CHATEAU causing tightening to those runners near the 150 metres”.

Following the running of race 10, the Rock 91.9FM 1600, Ms Vance was charged with careless riding under rule 638 (1) (d).  The information alleged that “M Vance, the rider of THE DEMOCRAT allowed her mount to shift out when not clear of WHISPERING GRACE, PULSATION, ZAPPED and CHATEAU causing tightening to those runners near the 150 metres”.

Rule 638 (1) (d) states “A rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be .....careless”

Ms Vance, who was assisted by Mr J Donovan representing the trainer of “THE DEMOCRAT”, indicated on the information she admitted this breach of the rules.  She also agreed she understood the charge and the rule it was laid under.  As the breach of the rule was admitted the charge was proven.

Stipendiary Steward Mr Goodwin showed the head on and side on videos of the incident.  Mr Goodwin said Ms Vance was racing in front of WHISPERING GRACE ridden by Chris Johnson. To Mr Johnson’s outside were PULSATION ridden by Hayden Tinsley, ZAPPED ridden by Danielle Johnson and CHATEAU ridden by Michael Walker.  Mr Goodwin pointed out that all riders had clear runs in front of them prior to Ms Vance commencing her outward movement.  He then highlighted Ms Vance moving out approximately 1.5 horse widths and continuing to ride with vigour and tightening Mr Johnson.  This then caused a chain reaction with the other named runners being tightened.  Mr Goodwin also said that in the tightening to Ms Johnson her horse had clipped heals.  He believed Ms Vance may not have realised Mr Johnson was behind her when she moved out; however, she had been careless in not maintaining a straight line.  He also emphasised that although the resulting “concertina affect” looked bad Ms Vance had only moved out 1.5 horse widths and thought the seriousness of the incident was not at the top end.

Mr Donovan showed the head on view of the film and thought Ms Vance’s outwards movement may have been caused, in part by the fact that she was following (some two lengths behind) the leader of the race at the time of the incident.  He said as that horse had drifted slightly outwards Ms Vance’s horse started to do the same.  Ms Vance said she didn’t realise she was tightening Mr Johnson as there was no calling from him but as soon as she became aware of the tightening she stopped riding with the whip and straightened her horse.

Penalty Submission

In relation to penalty Mr Goodwin said Ms Vance had been riding for approximately 18 months and had been charged twice under this rule in the last 12 months – on 23 May 2009 at Ellerslie and 12 September 2009 at Whangarei.  He confirmed Ms Vance had moved out no more than 1.5 widths but had realised too late that she was causing tightening to Mr Johnson.  The field was racing in tight quarters and Ms Vance’s actions had caused a chain reaction which could appear to some to make the incident worse than it was.  Nevertheless it was careless riding and he believed it warranted a suspension of 4 days.

Ms Vance said she had confirmed rides at Waipa on Sunday 15 November and would like any period of suspension that might be imposed to commence after that date.

Decision

In coming to a decision on penalty the Committee considered the incident as shown on the video and all the submissions put before it.  We have taken into account Ms Vance’s admittance of the breach and her reasonably good riding record.  We have noted that in moving in Ms Vance continued to ride with vigour and did not take immediate action to straighten her mount.  We accept she may not have realised Mr Johnson was behind her but he was entitled to be where he was and take the gap that was in front of him as were all the other runners that were also tightened in the incident.  We also accept that in tightening Mr Johnson the resultant further tightening to the other runners does make the impact of the initial incident look worse than perhaps it was although we do note that one of the other affected horses did clip heels.

Ms Vance is suspended from the conclusion of racing on Sunday 15 November 2009 until the conclusion of racing on Sunday 22 November 2009, that being 4 riding days.

P Williams           T Castles
CHAIR                  Committee Member
6676

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hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules: 638.1.d

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raceid: 88989c37f21b7b4470e16c7a83ab3033

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race_title: Race 10

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meetdate: 12/11/2009

meet_title: Otaki-Maori RC - 12 November 2009

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name: Otaki-Maori RC