Appeal – T Harris
ID: JCA18728
Hearing Type (Code):
thoroughbred-racing
Decision: --
On the 28th December 2006 at Taupo the Judicial Committee at a race day hearing first relegated Troy Harris' mount HAMLETS GHOST from first to fourth and after hearing the evidence adduced in support of a charge brought under Rule 871 [1] [d] the "careless riding" Rule found Mr Harris guilty and suspended him for a period of five racing days.
--
JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
--APPEAL TRIBUNAL
--IN THE MATTER of appeals by Troy Harris
--against decisions of the Judicial Committee finding him guilty of careless riding and
--suspending him for a period of five (5) riding days.
----
Parties:
--Mr Troy Harris, Appellant
--Represented by Mr G Tankard
--New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, Respondent
--Represented by Mr C George
--Appeal Tribunal: Judge NF Smith, Presiding - Mr BP Holland, Member
--Registrar: Mrs M Stanbury
--Venue:
--Boardroom, Waikato Racing Club, Te Rapa Racecourse, Hamilton
--Date of Hearing: 3 January 2007
--__________________________________________________________________________
--DECISION OF APPEALS TRIBUNAL
--___________________________________________________________________________
--On the 28th December 2006 at Taupo the Judicial Committee at a race day hearing first relegated Troy Harris' mount HAMLETS GHOST from first to fourth and after hearing the evidence adduced in support of a charge brought under Rule 871 [1] [d] the "careless riding" Rule found Mr Harris guilty and suspended him for a period of five racing days.
--Through his counsel, Mr Tankard, Mr. Harris has appealed both the guilty finding and the period of suspension.
--Following the hearing of submissions the Appeal Tribunal delivered an oral decision as follows:
--"For reasons that will be reduced to writing as soon as possible, we are satisfied that Mr. Harris was properly found guilty of careless riding on the day.
--The appeal against the guilty finding is dismissed.
--On the question of penalty we do believe that a period of suspension was justified but in this case the period imposed was, in our opinion, excessive, having regard to the statement by Mr Oatham to the Committee indicating that the offending was at the lower end of the scale, that the horse, HAMLETS GHOST is a difficult ride and that a Norton bit had been used to try to improve his habits. We have also taken into account Mr. Harris' riding record.
--We therefore allow the appeal against the severity of penalty and reduce the period of suspension to three days being from the conclusion of racing on the 1st January 2007 until the conclusion of racing on the 6th January 2007.
--Because the appeal against conviction was unsuccessful the filing fee is forfeited, otherwise we make no order as to costs and costs will lie where they fall."
--It now remains for this Tribunal to record its reasons for dismissing the appeal against conviction.
--In support of the appeal Mr Tankard drew the attention of the Tribunal to the film of the offence in which he stressed that Mr. Harris was trying to straighten his mount. The left rein was tight, the right rein loose and Mr. Harris was using the whip on the right hand side of his mount's neck in an attempt to straighten the horse.
--He produced the bridle and bit used on the horse on the day of the offence and claimed, as Mr Carston had stated to the Committee, that HAMLETS GHOST was a strong horse and difficult to turn.
--He reminded the Tribunal of the comment made by Mr Oatham as to the degree of offending and referred to Mr. Harris' good riding record.
--In regard to the Committee's comments concerning the watering down of the evidence given by Messrs Bosson and Taylor, he claimed that the evidence given was in accordance with what was displayed by the film.
--Mr Tankard also raised concerns as to the failure of the Committee to pursue an answer to a question put by Mr Harris to Mr Robinson concerning the whipping action adopted when a horse is going to" run in", together with the manner in which the Committee prevented Mr Carston, appearing for Mr Harris, to have a closing statement.
--In opposing the appeal Mr George had Mr Robinson show the film again demonstrating that there was no evidence of Mr Harris ceasing to ride his horse out or make sufficient effort to turn the horse. It was stated that a horse is turned not by pulling back on a reign but by reaching out and pulling the head sideways. There was no indication of this on the film.
--Mr George in his submissions stated that when the horse veered out from the rail, Mr Harris had failed in his duty to first, stop riding, and then make every effort to straighten his mount.
--Having heard the submissions from both sides, viewed the film and perused the transcript of the race day hearing, this Committee is satisfied that Mr Harris' mount did cross the mount of Mr. Bosson when not its own length and one further length clear, forcing Mr Bosson to check off his heels thus lose momentum and the opportunity of a better placing in the race.
--We are satisfied too, that despite Mr. Taylor's evidence that his mount had not been adversely interfered with but that his line had been dictated only, that the action of Mr.Harris' mount in moving right across in front of the field prevented Mr Taylor from achieving a better finishing place, a matter that was put right by the Committee following the relegation hearing.
--Despite the arguments that the horse HAMLETS GHOST is a difficult ride, we are swayed by Mr George's submission, as supported by the film that Mr. Harris had failed in his duty, by not stopping riding his mount out or taking sufficient steps to straighten his mount. A matter that is clearly caught within the provisions of "careless riding"
--For those reasons we have upheld the decision of the Committee and dismissed the appeal.
--By way of obiter, this Tribunal expresses its concern as to the manner in which the race day Committee curtailed Mr Carston's query immediately prior to the adjournment for deliberation and also the failure of the Committee to induce Mr. Robinson to respond to the question re whipping action put to him by Mr Harris.
--Persons appearing before the Judicial Committee must be given and be seen to be given every opportunity to present their case in full. In saying this however, we are satisfied that in this instance, the Committee's action in this case does not amount to a dereliction of its duty sufficient to amount to an infringement of natural justice.
--Dated at Tauranga this 8th day of January 2007.
----
N.F.Smith
--Chairman
Decision Date: 01/01/2001
Publish Date: 01/01/2001
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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hearingid: 2197a5e8c209e2dbae70445e7030514d
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
startdate: 01/01/2001
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Appeal - T Harris
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
--On the 28th December 2006 at Taupo the Judicial Committee at a race day hearing first relegated Troy Harris' mount HAMLETS GHOST from first to fourth and after hearing the evidence adduced in support of a charge brought under Rule 871 [1] [d] the "careless riding" Rule found Mr Harris guilty and suspended him for a period of five racing days.
--
JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY
--APPEAL TRIBUNAL
--IN THE MATTER of appeals by Troy Harris
--against decisions of the Judicial Committee finding him guilty of careless riding and
--suspending him for a period of five (5) riding days.
----
Parties:
--Mr Troy Harris, Appellant
--Represented by Mr G Tankard
--New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, Respondent
--Represented by Mr C George
--Appeal Tribunal: Judge NF Smith, Presiding - Mr BP Holland, Member
--Registrar: Mrs M Stanbury
--Venue:
--Boardroom, Waikato Racing Club, Te Rapa Racecourse, Hamilton
--Date of Hearing: 3 January 2007
--__________________________________________________________________________
--DECISION OF APPEALS TRIBUNAL
--___________________________________________________________________________
--On the 28th December 2006 at Taupo the Judicial Committee at a race day hearing first relegated Troy Harris' mount HAMLETS GHOST from first to fourth and after hearing the evidence adduced in support of a charge brought under Rule 871 [1] [d] the "careless riding" Rule found Mr Harris guilty and suspended him for a period of five racing days.
--Through his counsel, Mr Tankard, Mr. Harris has appealed both the guilty finding and the period of suspension.
--Following the hearing of submissions the Appeal Tribunal delivered an oral decision as follows:
--"For reasons that will be reduced to writing as soon as possible, we are satisfied that Mr. Harris was properly found guilty of careless riding on the day.
--The appeal against the guilty finding is dismissed.
--On the question of penalty we do believe that a period of suspension was justified but in this case the period imposed was, in our opinion, excessive, having regard to the statement by Mr Oatham to the Committee indicating that the offending was at the lower end of the scale, that the horse, HAMLETS GHOST is a difficult ride and that a Norton bit had been used to try to improve his habits. We have also taken into account Mr. Harris' riding record.
--We therefore allow the appeal against the severity of penalty and reduce the period of suspension to three days being from the conclusion of racing on the 1st January 2007 until the conclusion of racing on the 6th January 2007.
--Because the appeal against conviction was unsuccessful the filing fee is forfeited, otherwise we make no order as to costs and costs will lie where they fall."
--It now remains for this Tribunal to record its reasons for dismissing the appeal against conviction.
--In support of the appeal Mr Tankard drew the attention of the Tribunal to the film of the offence in which he stressed that Mr. Harris was trying to straighten his mount. The left rein was tight, the right rein loose and Mr. Harris was using the whip on the right hand side of his mount's neck in an attempt to straighten the horse.
--He produced the bridle and bit used on the horse on the day of the offence and claimed, as Mr Carston had stated to the Committee, that HAMLETS GHOST was a strong horse and difficult to turn.
--He reminded the Tribunal of the comment made by Mr Oatham as to the degree of offending and referred to Mr. Harris' good riding record.
--In regard to the Committee's comments concerning the watering down of the evidence given by Messrs Bosson and Taylor, he claimed that the evidence given was in accordance with what was displayed by the film.
--Mr Tankard also raised concerns as to the failure of the Committee to pursue an answer to a question put by Mr Harris to Mr Robinson concerning the whipping action adopted when a horse is going to" run in", together with the manner in which the Committee prevented Mr Carston, appearing for Mr Harris, to have a closing statement.
--In opposing the appeal Mr George had Mr Robinson show the film again demonstrating that there was no evidence of Mr Harris ceasing to ride his horse out or make sufficient effort to turn the horse. It was stated that a horse is turned not by pulling back on a reign but by reaching out and pulling the head sideways. There was no indication of this on the film.
--Mr George in his submissions stated that when the horse veered out from the rail, Mr Harris had failed in his duty to first, stop riding, and then make every effort to straighten his mount.
--Having heard the submissions from both sides, viewed the film and perused the transcript of the race day hearing, this Committee is satisfied that Mr Harris' mount did cross the mount of Mr. Bosson when not its own length and one further length clear, forcing Mr Bosson to check off his heels thus lose momentum and the opportunity of a better placing in the race.
--We are satisfied too, that despite Mr. Taylor's evidence that his mount had not been adversely interfered with but that his line had been dictated only, that the action of Mr.Harris' mount in moving right across in front of the field prevented Mr Taylor from achieving a better finishing place, a matter that was put right by the Committee following the relegation hearing.
--Despite the arguments that the horse HAMLETS GHOST is a difficult ride, we are swayed by Mr George's submission, as supported by the film that Mr. Harris had failed in his duty, by not stopping riding his mount out or taking sufficient steps to straighten his mount. A matter that is clearly caught within the provisions of "careless riding"
--For those reasons we have upheld the decision of the Committee and dismissed the appeal.
--By way of obiter, this Tribunal expresses its concern as to the manner in which the race day Committee curtailed Mr Carston's query immediately prior to the adjournment for deliberation and also the failure of the Committee to induce Mr. Robinson to respond to the question re whipping action put to him by Mr Harris.
--Persons appearing before the Judicial Committee must be given and be seen to be given every opportunity to present their case in full. In saying this however, we are satisfied that in this instance, the Committee's action in this case does not amount to a dereliction of its duty sufficient to amount to an infringement of natural justice.
--Dated at Tauranga this 8th day of January 2007.
----
N.F.Smith
--Chairman
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