Non Raceday Inquiry NZTR v MD & PA Moroney 26 January 2010 – Ruling of Judicial

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hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry NZTR v MD & PA Moroney 26 January 2010 - Ruling of Judicial

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NZTR v MICHAEL DENIS MORONEY and PAUL ANTHONY MORONEY

Hearing before Non-Raceday Judicial Committee

At Te Rapa Racecourse on Tuesday 26th January 2010

JUDICIAL COMMITTEE  Mr Murray McKechnie and Mr Richard Seabrook

   
PRESENT:   Mr John McKenzie, Chief Racecourse Inspector
                       Mr Bryan McKenzie, Racecourse Inspector
                       Mr Michael Moroney
                       Mr Paul Moroney
                       Mr Dwight Shackelford, Stable Forman, Ballymore Stables, Matamata
                       Mr Barry Lichter, Journalist

Ruling of Judicial Committee

26th JANUARY 2010

1. At the commencement of the hearing this morning Mr Michael Moroney and Mr Paul Moroney both entered pleas of guilty to a breach of Rule 804(2) of the Rules of Racing. Mr John McKenzie then presented submissions for NZTR. These included an extensive summary of facts accompanied by a number of exhibits including statements from staff at Ballymore Stables and photographs. Detailed submissions were presented as to the appropriate penalty. The exhibits included a letter written by Mr Bryan McKenzie, Racecourse Inspector on the 12th January 2010 addressed to Mr Michael and Paul Moroney. Also included was a response to that letter dated the 19th January 2010. The response was prepared under the name of Mr Michael Moroney and was emailed from the Australian stable to Mr Bryan McKenzie. Mr Michael Moroney acknowledged that he was the author of the letter of the 19th January. Further the committee was told that both the Moroney Bros had input into the answers which are set out in some detail in the letter.

NZTR v MICHAEL DENIS MORONEY and PAUL ANTHONY MORONEY

Hearing before Non-Raceday Judicial Committee

At Te Rapa Racecourse on Tuesday 26th January 2010

JUDICIAL COMMITTEE  Mr Murray McKechnie and Mr Richard Seabrook

   
PRESENT:   Mr John McKenzie, Chief Racecourse Inspector
                       Mr Bryan McKenzie, Racecourse Inspector
                       Mr Michael Moroney
                       Mr Paul Moroney
                       Mr Dwight Shackelford, Stable Forman, Ballymore Stables, Matamata
                       Mr Barry Lichter, Journalist

Ruling of Judicial Committee

26th JANUARY 2010

1. At the commencement of the hearing this morning Mr Michael Moroney and Mr Paul Moroney both entered pleas of guilty to a breach of Rule 804(2) of the Rules of Racing. Mr John McKenzie then presented submissions for NZTR. These included an extensive summary of facts accompanied by a number of exhibits including statements from staff at Ballymore Stables and photographs. Detailed submissions were presented as to the appropriate penalty. The exhibits included a letter written by Mr Bryan McKenzie, Racecourse Inspector on the 12th January 2010 addressed to Mr Michael and Paul Moroney. Also included was a response to that letter dated the 19th January 2010. The response was prepared under the name of Mr Michael Moroney and was emailed from the Australian stable to Mr Bryan McKenzie. Mr Michael Moroney acknowledged that he was the author of the letter of the 19th January. Further the committee was told that both the Moroney Bros had input into the answers which are set out in some detail in the letter.

2. At around 12.45p.m. today at the conclusion of the case for NZTR Mr Paul Moroney spoke for the Defendants. He put before the committee a statement from Mr Grant Long dated yesterday, 25th January taken at Trentham. Mr Long is a licensed stable hand employed by Ballymore Stables at Matamata and it is accepted on all sides that he was the person who administered the prohibited substance “Indomethacin” to the horse Mae Jinx. On the 11th January this year Mr Long had completed a two page statement in the presence of Mr Bryan McKenzie. That is a signed statement witnessed by Mr McKenzie and was produced to the committee. The statement made yesterday by Mr Long contradicts his earlier statement in at least four (4) significant respects. In addition he complains about the manner in which the statement was taken by Mr Bryan McKenzie saying amongst other things that there were alterations which he sought to have made which did not take place. His statement of yesterday does not explain why he came to sign the statement of 11th January when those alterations had not been made. More significantly perhaps his statement of yesterday does not say anything at all about how he came to administer the prohibited substance on the day in question.
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3. Mr Paul Moroney indicated that he had been in Australia recently attending yearling sales and had little time to prepare for today’s hearing. There was a good deal of debate and discussion about just when the material upon which NZTR relies was made available. In summary the position is this:
    (a) The statements made by Mr Long and the stable foreman Mr Shackelford on the 11th January were left at  Ballymore Stables at Matamata on that very same day.
    (b) The following day, 12th January, Mr Bryan McKenzie wrote the letter to the Moroney Bros earlier referred to. That makes clear the nature of the charge and asks (page 2) a series of questions. Some of those questions had reference to an earlier occasion in April of last year when the same parties were before a Judicial Committee on an exactly identical charge.
    (c) Reference has already been made to the detailed reply under Mr Michael Moroney’s hand dated 19th January 2010.
    (d) Mr John McKenzie saw Mr Michael Moroney at the Counties Races on the 20th January. He made available to him a copy of the summary of facts and the penalty submissions. In a subsequent discussion he confirmed to Mr Michael Moroney that he could discuss the position with his brother Paul and the committee understands that Mr McKenzie encouraged him to do so.
    (e) At around the same date Mr John McKenzie made available a copy of the summary of facts and submissions to the owner of the horse. The owner is Mr Alan Galbraith QC of Auckland. He is currently the Patron of the New Zealand Racehorse Owners Federation. He was formerly a member of the committee of the Auckland Racing Club and has a long involvement in breeding and racing horses. Mr Galbraith has furnished to the committee a letter in which he acknowledges – given the guilty plea – that the horse will be disqualified. The letter also speaks of his dealings with both Mr Michael Moroney and Mr Paul Moroney.
    (f) Mr Paul Moroney told the committee that he had only got back to New Zealand from Australia earlier this week. He said that he had little opportunity to discuss the position with his brother. He said that he did not, until today, realise – his words – the strength and conviction of the NZTR case. He said he was surprised by the “ferocity” (his word) with which the case for NZTR was advanced.

4. Mr Paul Moroney now seeks an adjournment of the hearing. NZTR opposes this. It is said that there has been sufficient time to prepare and that none of the submissions made for NZTR should have taken the Messrs Moroney by surprise. The committee has carefully considered all that has been said on this subject and took some time to consider those submissions.

5. It can be seen from the above that the material upon NZTR relies has been available to the partnership (we use that word advisedly) since the 20th of this month. Moreover the statements of Mr Long and Mr Shackelford were available earlier. It does seem that Mr Paul Moroney’s work as a Bloodstock Agent which has taken him to Australia has meant that the material was not made available to him or at least discussed with him in any real detail until the last few days. It is clear to us that this discussion should have happened earlier. It would seem that Mr Michael Moroney was reluctant to discuss the position with his brother. The submissions from NZTR make it clear that a distinction is sought in respect of the penalties that it is said are appropriate. A suspension of the Trainers Licence is sought in the case of Mr Paul Moroney but not in the case of Mr Michael Moroney. The reasons for this are set out in detail in the submissions which Mr John McKenzie put forward. The committee expresses no opinion as to the validity or otherwise of that submission except to say that given that this is the second offence of the same kind within twelve (12) months such a submission is unsurprising and might reasonably have been anticipated by the licence holder(s).

6. Suspension of a Trainers Licence is a serious situation. This is so for any trainer but perhaps even more so when a large stable with many horses in commission is being considered. That is the position here. Ballymore Stable operates in New Zealand and Australia. Most of the time Mr Michael Moroney is domiciled in Australia and under the rules there training partnerships are not recognised. In New Zealand the brothers train as a registered partnership and under the Rules of Racing they are jointly and severally liable. As earlier indicated it is the position of NZTR that notwithstanding such provision there can be a differentiation in the penalties that are imposed in order to reflect the relative culpability of the parties.

7. Mr Paul Moroney should have been better prepared for the hearing today. Clearly he was not as prepared as he would have liked to have been and perhaps he did not fully appreciate the strength of the case which NZTR would put forward against him. We are not particularly sympathetic to the situation which has arisen because it was avoidable. Nevertheless we must deal with the situation as we find it now and we do not want Mr Paul Moroney or indeed Mr Michael Moroney to be disadvantaged by the circumstances which have developed. It follows that we are prepared with some considerable reluctance to agree to an adjournment of this proceeding. That will however be on certain terms which are as follows:
    (a) There will be a Costs Award against the Defendants in respect of the adjournment application. The figure for the costs will be determined at the conclusion of the completed hearing. The figure is likely to be significant. It will be in addition to any Costs Award which comes as a result of the plea of guilty.
    (b) All of the parties will need to co-operate in order to fix a new date for this hearing to resume. This will depend upon a whole raft of considerations. One of those is the availability of the Judicial Committee itself. Another is of course is that Mr Michael Moroney is most of the time domiciled in Victoria. There are the upcoming Karaka sales at which Mr Paul Moroney, and perhaps Michael Moroney also, are likely to be in daily attendance. The hearing should resume as soon as possible but it may be necessary for the Registrar of the JCA to convene telephone discussions in order to fix a date. As observed earlier all of the parties will be required to exercise the upmost co-operation at those telephone conferences and in fixing a new date at the earliest opportunity.
    (c) When the hearing resumes the committee requires Mr Grant Long to be present. The committee has the power and exercises that power now to require a licensed person to be in attendance. The employer should take the primary responsibility for ensuring Mr Long’s attendance but least there be any uncertainty about it it would be appropriate for Mr Bryan McKenzie, the Racecourse Inspector based in the Waikato to ensure that a notice is served upon Mr Long once the date and time for the resumed hearing has been established.

8. The plea of guilty which has been entered remains on the record and cannot now be the subject of any further consideration. The resumed hearing will be all about the appropriate penalty that Mr Michael and Mr Paul Moroney must meet. Mr Paul Moroney should concentrate his material and submissions particularly on the question of whether or not a suspension is appropriate. The records of the JCA provide for access to earlier cases and it might be in the interests of Mr Paul Moroney and those who advise him to undertake some research in order to establish whether a suspension is appropriate in the circumstances of this case. The committee requires those submissions to be available to the committee before the date of the resumed hearing and they will also be made available to NZTR. It goes without saying that at the resumed hearing both parties will have the right to be heard and NZTR thus will have the right to reply to the submissions which are made on behalf of Mr Michael and Paul Moroney.

9. The resumed hearing will be here at Te Rapa Racecourse. There are now designated venues for the hearing of Non-Raceday Judicial Committee proceedings and appeals. The designated venue for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty is here at Te Rapa Racecourse.

10. A question has arisen as to the exchange of material before the resumed hearing. While the date is not known the committee indicates that it will require any written material or submissions of any kind prepared for Mr Michael and Paul Moroney to be made available direct to Mr John McKenzie the Chief Racecourse Inspector and to the Judicial Committee through the Registrar of the JCA seven (7) days in advance of the resumed hearing whenever that may be.

11. It is worth noting here that as set out in the timeline earlier the summary of facts and submissions for NZTR and the statements taken from Mr Shackelford and Mr Long were made available to the training partnership almost one week ago. There is no statutory obligation to take that course and the granting of this adjournment should not been seen as any criticism whatever of the way the case has been prepared and put forward by NZTR. In fact NZTR did more than was required of it in making the training partnership aware of the position which was going to be taken today.

ADDENDUM AND DIRECTIONS

12. Following the delivery of the decision set out above there was informal discussion amongst all parties as to an appropriate date to resume the hearing. The NZTR personnel and Mr Michael and Paul Moroney indicated that they would be available on Friday the 12th February. It was necessary for members of the Judicial Committee to check commitments in order to determine if that date was suitable to them. This has now been done and the 12th February can be (and is) confirmed as the date to resume the hearing.

13. The committee make the following directions:
    (a) The hearing is to resume at 11.00a.m. on Friday 12th February at Te Rapa Racecourse.
    (b) All material upon which Mr Paul and Michael Moroney will present to the resumed hearing shall be copied to the Registrar of the JCA and to the Mr John McKenzie not later than 5p.m. on Monday the 8th February. This direction involves a slight amendment to what was said in paragraph 12 above.
    (c)  Both Mr Michael and Paul Moroney are to be in attendance on the 12th February.
    (d) Mr Grant Long is to be in attendance on the 12th February.
    (e) If any issue arises before the 12th February either party may convene a telephone conference by making contact with the registrar of the JCA.

Dated this 27th day of January 2010

________________________________
Murray McKechnie
Chairman

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