Gore HRC 27 December 2014 – R 9 (heard at Oamaku on 2 January 2014)
ID: JCA18953
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Gore HRC - 27 December 2014
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
NSkelt
Race Date:
2014/12/27
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr C Allison – Stipendiary Steward
Respondent: Mr N Williams – Driver of PAULA’S ON FIRE
Information No: A1404
Meeting: Gore Harness Racing Club
Date: 27 December 2014 (heard at Omakau 2 January 2015)
Venue: Gore
Rule No: 869(3) – careless driving
Race: 9
Judicial Committee: G Hall, Chairman – N Skelt, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
Also present: Mr S Renault, Stipendiary Steward and Ms K Barclay, driver of BET ON JESS
Charge
Mr Allison, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that with approximately 150 metres to run Mr Williamson (PAULA’S ON FIRE) shifted ground outwards forcing BET ON JESS (Ms Barclay) onto RIFLEMAN (Mr Swain), which was checked.
Submissions for Decision
Mr Renault, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated on the videos that near the 200 metres mark Mr Williamson who was last and racing on the pylons, angled outwards. He pointed out that Ms Barclay who was racing to the outside of Mr Williamson shifted outwards and came into contact with the horse on her outside, which was driven by Mr Swain, and that horse in turn came into contact with the horse on its outside driven by Mr Barclay. Mr Swain’s horse was squeezed and galloped.
Mr Allison alleged that Ms Barclay had shifted out in order to avoid Mr Williamson’s wheel. He emphasised that Mr Williamson was using the whip at the same time he was moving out. He said while drivers may shift out gradually and carefully, on this occasion the move was too sharp.
Mr Williamson said his horse was running on well at the 200 metres. He wanted to keep the horse concentrating and to keep its momentum going. He said he had run up onto the back of Mr Barron who was starting to struggle and shift wider on the track. He thought Mr Barron moved about half a cart width. At the time he had thought Mr Barron’s horse was staying on better than it was. He agreed with Mr Allison that Mr Barron had not come back quickly but he emphasised he was stopping. He said he looked to see if there was room to shift out and he believed there was. He accepted his movement was sharp and that there was a concertina effect. However, he believed this was due to Ms Barclay’s horse over-reacting to his moving outwards. He believed that her horse had anticipated that he was going to shift out further. In his view there was room for all the horses affected to shift wider on the track.
Mr Williamson called Ms Barclay to give evidence. She said BET ON JESS was a tricky horse to drive and she thought the interference to the horses to her outside was the fault of her horse. She said it had over-reacted and there was no need for the horse to have kept moving outwards after Mr Williamson had come out. She believed there was room and emphasised there was no contact with Mr Williamson. She agreed with Mr Allison that she had to shift wider on the track due to Mr Williamson moving outwards but not as wide as her horse had gone.
Reason for Decision
Mr Williamson has angled outwards for a run and in so doing has forced Ms Barclay wider on the track and, in turn, Mr Swain who was racing to her outside was squeezed between Ms Barclay and Mr Barclay who was to Mr Swain’s outside. Mr Swain’s horse galloped and lost considerable ground.
Ms Barclay has said BET ON JESS was a tricky horse to drive, had been hanging during the race, and had over-reacted to Mr Williamson’s outwards movement. We accept BET ON JESS may have over-reacted to the horse on its inner driven by the respondent shifting wider on the track. But the nub of the matter is that had Ms Barclay not shifted wider she would have come into contact with Mr Williamson.
We do not believe the fact that Mr Barron who was in front of Mr Williamson shifted out very slightly or was coming back a little quicker than Mr Williamson expected has contributed to the incident other than the fact it may have led Mr Williamson to move wider on the track more swiftly than he would otherwise have done. There is certainty no evidence of Mr Barron coming back into Mr Williamson’s face and forcing him to take evasive action. The only evasive action required was by Ms Barclay and that was to avoid contact with Mr Williamson. There was thus a concertina movement created by Mr Williamson moving wider on the track looking for a run. We observe at the relevant time Mr Williamson was urging the horse with the whip.
Decision
We are satisfied that the outwards movement from Mr Williamson was simply too sharp, as Mr Williamson has himself conceded, and was not made gradually and with safety. The consequences of which were interference to BET ON JESS and RIFLEMAN. The charge of careless driving is proved.
Submissions on Penalty
Mr Allison produced Mr Williamson’s record, which was clear for the past 2 seasons. He submitted the breach was low end in that there was no protest resulting in a change of placings and that the move by Mr Williamson was too sharp and it would have been within the rules had it been slower.
Reasons for Penalty
We believe Mr Allison’s description of the breach is very apt. The move was just too quick. The horses inconvenienced were racing towards the rear of the field and were unlikely to have finished in a dividend bearing position. Mr Williamson’s record is excellent. He has had close to 700 drives this and last season with no breaches of any rule.
Penalty
Having regard to the starting point of $400 in the Penalty Guide and taking into account the gravity of the breach and the respondent’s record, we impose a fine of $200.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 1dca0f99ec0fcda2c8ae2c96f27e0bcd
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hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 27/12/2014
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decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Gore HRC 27 December 2014 - R 9 (heard at Oamaku on 2 January 2014)
charge:
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submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Mr C Allison – Stipendiary Steward
Respondent: Mr N Williams – Driver of PAULA’S ON FIRE
Information No: A1404
Meeting: Gore Harness Racing Club
Date: 27 December 2014 (heard at Omakau 2 January 2015)
Venue: Gore
Rule No: 869(3) – careless driving
Race: 9
Judicial Committee: G Hall, Chairman – N Skelt, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
Also present: Mr S Renault, Stipendiary Steward and Ms K Barclay, driver of BET ON JESS
Charge
Mr Allison, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that with approximately 150 metres to run Mr Williamson (PAULA’S ON FIRE) shifted ground outwards forcing BET ON JESS (Ms Barclay) onto RIFLEMAN (Mr Swain), which was checked.
Submissions for Decision
Mr Renault, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated on the videos that near the 200 metres mark Mr Williamson who was last and racing on the pylons, angled outwards. He pointed out that Ms Barclay who was racing to the outside of Mr Williamson shifted outwards and came into contact with the horse on her outside, which was driven by Mr Swain, and that horse in turn came into contact with the horse on its outside driven by Mr Barclay. Mr Swain’s horse was squeezed and galloped.
Mr Allison alleged that Ms Barclay had shifted out in order to avoid Mr Williamson’s wheel. He emphasised that Mr Williamson was using the whip at the same time he was moving out. He said while drivers may shift out gradually and carefully, on this occasion the move was too sharp.
Mr Williamson said his horse was running on well at the 200 metres. He wanted to keep the horse concentrating and to keep its momentum going. He said he had run up onto the back of Mr Barron who was starting to struggle and shift wider on the track. He thought Mr Barron moved about half a cart width. At the time he had thought Mr Barron’s horse was staying on better than it was. He agreed with Mr Allison that Mr Barron had not come back quickly but he emphasised he was stopping. He said he looked to see if there was room to shift out and he believed there was. He accepted his movement was sharp and that there was a concertina effect. However, he believed this was due to Ms Barclay’s horse over-reacting to his moving outwards. He believed that her horse had anticipated that he was going to shift out further. In his view there was room for all the horses affected to shift wider on the track.
Mr Williamson called Ms Barclay to give evidence. She said BET ON JESS was a tricky horse to drive and she thought the interference to the horses to her outside was the fault of her horse. She said it had over-reacted and there was no need for the horse to have kept moving outwards after Mr Williamson had come out. She believed there was room and emphasised there was no contact with Mr Williamson. She agreed with Mr Allison that she had to shift wider on the track due to Mr Williamson moving outwards but not as wide as her horse had gone.
Reason for Decision
Mr Williamson has angled outwards for a run and in so doing has forced Ms Barclay wider on the track and, in turn, Mr Swain who was racing to her outside was squeezed between Ms Barclay and Mr Barclay who was to Mr Swain’s outside. Mr Swain’s horse galloped and lost considerable ground.
Ms Barclay has said BET ON JESS was a tricky horse to drive, had been hanging during the race, and had over-reacted to Mr Williamson’s outwards movement. We accept BET ON JESS may have over-reacted to the horse on its inner driven by the respondent shifting wider on the track. But the nub of the matter is that had Ms Barclay not shifted wider she would have come into contact with Mr Williamson.
We do not believe the fact that Mr Barron who was in front of Mr Williamson shifted out very slightly or was coming back a little quicker than Mr Williamson expected has contributed to the incident other than the fact it may have led Mr Williamson to move wider on the track more swiftly than he would otherwise have done. There is certainty no evidence of Mr Barron coming back into Mr Williamson’s face and forcing him to take evasive action. The only evasive action required was by Ms Barclay and that was to avoid contact with Mr Williamson. There was thus a concertina movement created by Mr Williamson moving wider on the track looking for a run. We observe at the relevant time Mr Williamson was urging the horse with the whip.
Decision
We are satisfied that the outwards movement from Mr Williamson was simply too sharp, as Mr Williamson has himself conceded, and was not made gradually and with safety. The consequences of which were interference to BET ON JESS and RIFLEMAN. The charge of careless driving is proved.
Submissions on Penalty
Mr Allison produced Mr Williamson’s record, which was clear for the past 2 seasons. He submitted the breach was low end in that there was no protest resulting in a change of placings and that the move by Mr Williamson was too sharp and it would have been within the rules had it been slower.
Reasons for Penalty
We believe Mr Allison’s description of the breach is very apt. The move was just too quick. The horses inconvenienced were racing towards the rear of the field and were unlikely to have finished in a dividend bearing position. Mr Williamson’s record is excellent. He has had close to 700 drives this and last season with no breaches of any rule.
Penalty
Having regard to the starting point of $400 in the Penalty Guide and taking into account the gravity of the breach and the respondent’s record, we impose a fine of $200.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869(3)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
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