Ashburton RC – 13 March 2009 – Race 7
ID: JCA21526
Code:
Thoroughbred
Hearing Type (Code):
thoroughbred-racing
Meet Title:
Ashburton RC - 13 March 2009
Race Date:
2009/03/13
Race Number:
Race 7
Decision:
Rule 858 (4) : Mr Davidson alleged that Mrs Pitman committed a breach of Rule 858(4) in that she omitted to add the lead bag to ZEDDANE after the rider had weighed-out with a lead bag.
--
Rule 858 (4) : Mr Davidson alleged that Mrs Pitman committed a breach of Rule 858(4) in that she omitted to add the lead bag to ZEDDANE after the rider had weighed-out with a lead bag.
--Mr Davidson stated that Mr McLaughlin was officiating in the plating area and had noticed that prior to race 7 ZEDDANE had entered the area without the lead bag with which the horse had weighed out. ZEDDANE had to be resaddled and was late in the birdcage as a consequence.
--Mrs Pitman did not admit the charge and stated that she believed the omission would have been detected by Ms Mundy when she mounted the horse in the birdcage. Ms Tetzlaff was called by Mrs Pitman to give evidence and she confirmed Mrs Pitman’s earlier statement that ZEDDANE was an extremely difficult horse to saddle. He was an entire and he would bite and kick. Usually two persons were required to saddle the horse and Ms Tetzlaff would be the only person in the stall. On this occasion the lead bag had slipped into the feed bin and Ms Tetzlaff overlooked it when saddling ZEDDANE.
--Rule 858(4), which is most inelegantly expressed, provides:
--Every Owner, Trainer or other person for the time being in charge of a horse who does or permits any wrongful act or omission with respect to weight or weighing or who, after the horse’s rider has weighed out and before the horse races, removes or adds any article of wearing apparel or riding or other gear with which the rider did or did not weigh out as the case may be, commits a breach of these Rules.
--Mrs Pitman has acknowledged she was the person in charge of ZEDDANE on the day. She accepts that the lead bag had been left off the horse in the circumstances previously described, but believed because the horse had not ventured on the course proper or even entered the birdcage that there was no basis to the charge.
--We are aware that Mrs Pitman believes the omission would have been discovered when the horse was mounted in the birdcage. However, we cannot be certain as to this, and we do not believe that this provides any defence to the charge. We understand the elements of the charge to be that the defendant was the person in charge of the horse, and that she permitted an omission with respect to the weight of the horse. We find each element to be proved (Mrs Pitman was the person in charge of ZEDDANE and she permitted the lead bag to be omitted) but accept there are strong mitigating factors.
--Mr Davidson has said the sentencing range for this breach to be a fine of between $250 to $750 and asked for a fine of $500 on this occasion, as he believed the incident to be mid range. Mrs Pitman has asked for a warning.
--We accept the omission had no effect on the outcome of the race, but it would have had far more severe consequences had ZEDDANE competed without the impost of the lead bag. Fortunately this did not occur, but this was due to the diligence of Mr McLaughlin and not that of the defendant or the stable employees.
--Ms Tetzlaff should have been aware that the lead bag was to go on and should have ensured that it was affixed. Mrs Pitman should have double-checked it was there. We also take into account the difficult temperament of the horse, which was verified by Mr McLaughlin demonstrating to the Committee the hole in the sleeve of his suit, the consequence of his being bitten when assisting in the re-saddling of ZEDDANE. Mrs Pitman has no previous breaches of this Rule. We believe a penalty is appropriate rather than just a warning. The breach is at the very lower end of the scale. We fine Mrs Pitman the sum of $250.
--
Geoff Hall Chairman
Bevan Coombes Member
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: ca7f7dbf502b5a0b7e582ac540aed742
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
startdate: 13/03/2009
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Ashburton RC - 13 March 2009 - Race 7
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Rule 858 (4) : Mr Davidson alleged that Mrs Pitman committed a breach of Rule 858(4) in that she omitted to add the lead bag to ZEDDANE after the rider had weighed-out with a lead bag.
--
Rule 858 (4) : Mr Davidson alleged that Mrs Pitman committed a breach of Rule 858(4) in that she omitted to add the lead bag to ZEDDANE after the rider had weighed-out with a lead bag.
--Mr Davidson stated that Mr McLaughlin was officiating in the plating area and had noticed that prior to race 7 ZEDDANE had entered the area without the lead bag with which the horse had weighed out. ZEDDANE had to be resaddled and was late in the birdcage as a consequence.
--Mrs Pitman did not admit the charge and stated that she believed the omission would have been detected by Ms Mundy when she mounted the horse in the birdcage. Ms Tetzlaff was called by Mrs Pitman to give evidence and she confirmed Mrs Pitman’s earlier statement that ZEDDANE was an extremely difficult horse to saddle. He was an entire and he would bite and kick. Usually two persons were required to saddle the horse and Ms Tetzlaff would be the only person in the stall. On this occasion the lead bag had slipped into the feed bin and Ms Tetzlaff overlooked it when saddling ZEDDANE.
--Rule 858(4), which is most inelegantly expressed, provides:
--Every Owner, Trainer or other person for the time being in charge of a horse who does or permits any wrongful act or omission with respect to weight or weighing or who, after the horse’s rider has weighed out and before the horse races, removes or adds any article of wearing apparel or riding or other gear with which the rider did or did not weigh out as the case may be, commits a breach of these Rules.
--Mrs Pitman has acknowledged she was the person in charge of ZEDDANE on the day. She accepts that the lead bag had been left off the horse in the circumstances previously described, but believed because the horse had not ventured on the course proper or even entered the birdcage that there was no basis to the charge.
--We are aware that Mrs Pitman believes the omission would have been discovered when the horse was mounted in the birdcage. However, we cannot be certain as to this, and we do not believe that this provides any defence to the charge. We understand the elements of the charge to be that the defendant was the person in charge of the horse, and that she permitted an omission with respect to the weight of the horse. We find each element to be proved (Mrs Pitman was the person in charge of ZEDDANE and she permitted the lead bag to be omitted) but accept there are strong mitigating factors.
--Mr Davidson has said the sentencing range for this breach to be a fine of between $250 to $750 and asked for a fine of $500 on this occasion, as he believed the incident to be mid range. Mrs Pitman has asked for a warning.
--We accept the omission had no effect on the outcome of the race, but it would have had far more severe consequences had ZEDDANE competed without the impost of the lead bag. Fortunately this did not occur, but this was due to the diligence of Mr McLaughlin and not that of the defendant or the stable employees.
--Ms Tetzlaff should have been aware that the lead bag was to go on and should have ensured that it was affixed. Mrs Pitman should have double-checked it was there. We also take into account the difficult temperament of the horse, which was verified by Mr McLaughlin demonstrating to the Committee the hole in the sleeve of his suit, the consequence of his being bitten when assisting in the re-saddling of ZEDDANE. Mrs Pitman has no previous breaches of this Rule. We believe a penalty is appropriate rather than just a warning. The breach is at the very lower end of the scale. We fine Mrs Pitman the sum of $250.
--
Geoff Hall Chairman
Bevan Coombes Member
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 858.4
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: ee9d18c8d55229f1fb839d3a7966e63b
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: Race 7
submittochair:
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race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 9a286e3944e5388cc30a0c6c3a39eb07
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/03/2009
meet_title: Ashburton RC - 13 March 2009
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair:
meet_pm1:
meet_pm2:
name: Ashburton RC