Canterbury Racing – 10 August 2005 – Race 1

Following the running of Race 1, the Bush Inn Hotel & TAB Maiden Hurdle, Stipendiary Steward Mr S. C. Ching laid an information pursuant to Rule 520(4)(c) alleging Jockey B. Ropiha allowed himself to be engaged to ride the horse "Miss Moss" at 63kg, but upon being weighed out was 64.5kg being 1.5kg in excess of the carded weight.

Rule 520(4)(c) reads as follows.

"(4) Every Rider commits a breach of these Rules who:

------
--
1. ?..
--
--
3. wilfully or without reasonable cause permits himself to be engaged to ride a horse when he knows or ought to know that he will not be able to ride the horse at the weight which it is handicapped to carry or such other weight at which he agrees to ride the horse."

Mr Ropiha agreed that he understood the rule and the charge. He had indicated on the information that he admitted the breach of this rule, and he confirmed this at the hearing.

Stipendiary Steward Mr S. C. Ching gave evidence that Mr Ropiha had approached him about half an hour before the first race to advise that he was going to be 1kg over, and according to the Rules he had to get permission for that. Mr Ching said that he told Mr Ropiha that he should speak to Mr Harris the trainer, and make sure it was OK with him. Mr Ching said that he was prepared to approve of this amount of overweight as there is a shortage of jumping riders. Mr Ching later saw Mr Ropiha and Mr Harris talking together and said to them "is that OK". Mr Harris was obviously unaware of the situation. Mr Ropiha then told Mr Harris that he was 1kg over and Mr Harris said that he had no choice at that stage but to agree to Mr Ropiha riding his horse.

Mr Ching said that later Mr K. Berry, Clerk of the Scales, advised him that Mr Ropiha was in fact 1.5kg over the carded weight. Mr Ching said that he was not very happy with the situation as usually permission would not be given for a jockey to ride at more than 1kg overweight. Mr Ching said that it sounded like this was a deliberate attempt by Mr Ropiha to mislead him.

Mr Ropiha said that he did not disagree with anything that Mr Ching had said. He said that he had ridden at 62kg last Saturday but knew that he would not be able to make the weight today.

Penalty: In relation to penalty Mr Ching advised that Mr Ropiha had no relevant previous convictions. Mr Ching said that this type of breach is usually dealt with by a monetary penalty, but in the circumstances the fine should be substantial.

Mr Ropiha said that a substantial fine would be hard for him as he does not get many rides. He asked that he be given a suspension instead. Mr Ching did not object to this course but stressed that the penalty imposed must reflect the serious nature of the breach.

We adjourned to consider the question of penalty. On returning to the Enquiry Room we delivered the following oral decision.

"Mr Ropiha we have considered an appropriate penalty. We find that a monetary penalty of between $200-00 and $500-00 would be appropriate depending on the circumstances. We also find that your breach of the Rules is at the upper end of the scale.

You have asked for a suspension instead of a fine. We are satisfied that this is appropriate and you will be suspended from the completion of racing on 14 August 2005 until after the completion of racing on 24 August 2005, effectively a 2 day suspension."

Before retiring to consider penalty there had been discussions with Mr Ching and Mr Ropiha regarding a suspension. A suspension could not commence until after 14 August 2005, as withdrawal time had passed for all meetings up to that date. It was also agreed that there was no suitable race for Mr Ropiha at the Taupo Racing Club's meeting on 17 August 2005 as he only rode in highweight and jumping races. The 2 days suspension therefore relates to race meetings on 20 and 24 August 2005.

Chairman