Non-Raceday Inquiry – C Ormsby

hearingid: 1e869e7c324012077dc6658432f5c160

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startdate: 01/01/2001

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hearing_title: Non-Raceday Inquiry - C Ormsby

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Decision:

This is the decision of the Judicial Committee hearing a charge against Licensed Jockey Chad Ormsby at Te Rapa on the 18^th of December 2007.

Mr Ormsby has pleaded guilty to a breach of Rule 871 (1) (c) of the Rules of Racing.

DECISION OF JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

This is the decision of the Judicial Committee hearing a charge against Licensed Jockey Chad Ormsby at Te Rapa on the 18^th of December 2007.

Mr Ormsby has pleaded guilty to a breach of Rule 871 (1) (c) of the Rules of Racing. The charge is:

Shortly stated, it is said that Mr Ormsby on the 28^th November 2007 at Te Rapa improperly rode his horse WILDCAT after passing the winning post in Race 6, by deliberately riding it alongside the horse DISCOVERY BAY rather than easing it down and that he then directed the horse towards the rail to make contact with DISCOVERY BAY and that at the same time he directed his upper body towards the rider of that horse.

Mr Ormsby is accompanied at the hearing by Mr Russell Cameron, Licensed Trainer and Mr Ormsby’s current employer. It is well known in the industry that Mr Cameron is associated with Westbury racing interests. Mr Cameron and Mr Ormsby viewed the film before entering a formal plea to the charge and we shall say something further about the film in a moment.

Mr George, on behalf of NZTR, said that there were three aspects to the charge which were of particular concern. These were:-

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1. That instead of easing the horse down Mr Ormsby, after the winning post, urged the horse forward and it made up some four lengths to get up alongside DISCOVERY BAY. Indeed when one looks at the film the horse is going considerably faster after the winning post than before the winning post.
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2. Mr George says that Mr Ormsby directed the horse up alongside DISCOVERY BAY.
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3. It is said further to 2. above that Mr Ormsby directed his body towards the jockey of DISCOVERY BAY, the apprentice Miss Johannah Smellie.
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The Committee notes that the charge is framed in such a way that there is no direct allegation of contact between Mr Ormsby and the other jockey, rather it is said that he moved his body with the intention of making deliberate contact.

By way of background, Mr George explained that Miss Smellie is an apprentice jockey, having had only some 20 rides. Mr Ormsby is an experienced jockey.

At the 600 metre mark in this race Miss Smellie’s mount caused interference to WILDCAT. Miss Smellie was charged with interference and suspended.

Mr John Oatham, who is present today, was on duty at Te Aroha on the day in question. In response to questions from the Committee he explained that he spoke to both jockeys on that day and obtained their accounts of what had occurred. He said that Mr Ormsby acknowledged that he should not have acted as he did. It was Mr Oatham who explained about the earlier interference and this resulted in a 3 day suspension for the jockey Johannah Smellie.

The Committee viewed a film of the concluding stages of the race and the position of the horses after passing the winning post. The film was played a number of times.

Mr Ormsby was asked for his explanation of these events – he said he was frustrated and angry; he said that he had come very close to falling at the 600 metre mark; that he acknowledged that after the winning post and going over the gap he’d urged his horse forward. This is very evident from the film. Mr Ormsby said that he did not cross the horse DISCOVERY BAY or put the horse or rider in any danger. He said that he may have made slight contact, but he’s not certain as to that. He acknowledged, in answer to a question from the Committee, that he had sworn at the other jockey; he said that he had "handled it the wrong way". In answer to a question from the Committee he said that he’d apologised to Miss Smellie and also to her employer, the trainer Mr John Sargent.

Mr Cameron for his part, explained that WILDCAT was not an easy horse. He said that he could see from his viewing of the film that there was no danger involved.

Mr George was then asked to make submissions on the question of penalty and the Committee was shown Mr Ormsby’s previous record, dating back to October 2004. There are a significant number of suspensions for Careless Riding, but nothing of this kind. The Committee was told that in the past this sort of conduct has resulted in a charge of Misconduct, but the Chief Stipendiary Steward’s view was that in this case the appropriate charge was one of Improper Riding. The expression Improper is not defined in the Rules. It is for the Judicial Committee to decide on the evidence presented to it in any particular case whether what has happened amounts to impropriety, having regard to the accepted standards of conduct by licensed jockeys. Mr George said that Mr Ormsby had, in effect, taken the law into his own hands. He said that this was a safety issue and involved the welfare of all riders, not just those immediately around the two horses. Mr George went on to emphasise that he’d spoken to Mr Cameron, Mr Ormsby’s employer, and he was satisfied as a result of those discussions that Mr Ormsby took the matter seriously and understood that this sort of conduct was unacceptable. The Committee, for its part, is satisfied that Mr Ormsby does take this seriously and acknowledges his frankness both on the day in question and in what he said today and in answering the questions which were asked of him. Mr Ormsby has not tried to excuse himself for what took place. The Committee emphasises that he did not strike out at the other jockey and at worst what appears to have happened is that he has leant across in the other jockey’s direction. It’s not possible to know whether there was direct contact but we do acknowledge that Mr Ormsby said slight contact may have occurred.

Mr George went on to say that suspension was appropriate in the order of 3 – 5 weeks. He acknowledged Mr Ormsby had recently come back to the North Island after a period in the South Island and that he was working hard in putting his career back together. The Committee knows of its own general knowledge that Mr Ormsby has been a successful jockey and has had some outstanding results in his career.

When asked about other cases that might be comparable, mention was made of the case of Jason Waddell in April 2006. Mr Oatham was able to assist with some advice about that, having been present on the day in question; that the conduct on that occasion also occurred after the conclusion of the race which was a Group 1 event. The status of the race is of no particular significance because safety issues apply as much in less valuable races as they do in Group events. What is perhaps significant is on that occasion it would almost certainly have been the case that more experienced jockeys were involved and one of the Committee’s concerns on this occasion is that the jockey who was subjected to the improper riding was very inexperienced.

Mr Cameron, when asked to make submissions on the question of penalty, suggested that this ought to have been dealt with on the day in question and if it had been any suspension would now have been served and the consequences might in those circumstances have been less serious for Mr Ormsby. This, he said, was because of the valuable upcoming racing over the period around Christmas and New Year. The Committee asked Mr George for some advice as to how this had come about and he explained that because of the seriousness of the matter it was thought proper to take time to view the film and determine what was the appropriate charge to lay. This event occurred on the 28^th November and the information was laid on the 5^th December and today is the 18^th December. In the Committee’s view there has been no unreasonable delay and in any event persons who commit breaches of the rules which in all probability cannot be dealt with on raceday must accept that one of the consequences of that state of affairs is that their cases will be heard at some time in the future and if one of the consequences is that the suspension is later rather than sooner then that is a fact of life which goes with the system and which cannot be changed. Having said this, the Committee does recognise that persons who are suspended or disqualified at some times of the year are likely to suffer more than at other times of the year, depending upon the state of the racing program.

With reference to Mr Ormsby’s own circumstances the Committee was told that he may well have rides in the Railway Handicap and the Royal Stakes at Ellerslie, and that he is likely to be riding most of the Westbury stable horses over the Christmas New Year period. Further, the Committee was told he has a ride confirmed for tomorrow at Te Aroha.

In the Committee’s view, what Mr Ormsby did on this occasion was very deliberate and calculated. The danger was increased by the fact that the person he set out to intimidate, and that’s really what it amounted to, was an inexperienced jockey. If that person had been spooked or panicked a serious accident might have resulted. In the end it didn’t and it’s to Mr Ormsby’s credit that immediately after the race he acknowledged to Mr Oatham, the Stipendiary Steward on duty, that he had acted in a way that was not acceptable and I have already made mention of the apology which he has tendered.

Mr George is quite right when he says that jockeys cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands. It is for the stewards to police the conduct of other licensed jockeys and not for jockeys themselves to try and sort things out on a person to person basis, the more so when that involves possible danger to other people, other jockeys in the race, who had nothing at all to do with the incident and if your horse or

Miss Smellie’s horse had come down there could have been injuries or serious consequences for other people who had nothing whatever to do with the incident in question.

Both the Informant, NZTR, and Mr Ormsby and Mr Cameron who is with him today accept that a period of suspension is appropriate and the question really is how long that should be for. Having regard to all of the things that have been said about the position in the season and Mr Ormsby’s conduct on the day in question and subsequently, the Committee has determined that the suspension will be from the conclusion of racing tomorrow, the 19^th December until the conclusion of racing on the 11^th January 2008. That has been calculated with some care and it amounts to ten days suspension in respect of races run in the northern part of the North Island but somewhat more if races are taken into account outside that area. It means that you are free to ride at either Auckland or Awapuni on 12^th January when both the Manawatu Racing Club and the Auckland Racing Club stage meetings of significance. There were no submissions made on the question of costs, but it is an appropriate case for an award of costs. This Judicial Committee has been sitting here today on other business as well as this so the costs will be reduced on that account. You are ordered to pay $450 towards the costs of the JCA. No costs in respect of NZTR.

Murray McKechnie

Chairman

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hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules: 871.1.c

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