Archive Decision

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Ashburton TC 12 November 2015 – R 6 – Chair, Mr S Ching

ID: JCA17945

Applicant:
S Renault, Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
G O’Reilly, Licensed Open Horseman

Information Number:
A3625

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless driving

Rules:
869 (3) (b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 12 November 2015

Meet Chair:
SChing

Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp

Race Date:
2015/11/12

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

As Mr O’Reilly had admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.

Penalty:

Mr O’Reilly was fined the sum of $400.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Inkwise Fillies and Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G O’Reilly, alleging that near the 1300m, Mr O’Reilly, as the driver of GINA GRACE in the race, drove carelessly by allowing his horse to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear of FAST OFFICIAL, driven by Mr J Cox, who was checked and broke and also causing to interference HILARIOUS FANTASY, driven by Mr S Golding.

Mr O’Reilly informed the Committee that he understood the rule he was charged with and confirmed that he admitted the breach.

Rule 869 (3) (b provides as follows:

(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-

(b) carelessly;

Mr Renault gave evidence and replayed video films to show that near the 1300m and shortly after the start, Mr O’Reilly, driving GINA GRACE, was racing in a one off position and after unsuccessfully attempting to secure the lead had eased back and attempted to shift in to a position behind the leader, GREY SKIES, driven by Mr J Hay. Mr Renault stated that when shifting down to take up a position in the trail of the leader and in front of FAST OFFICIAL, Mr O’Reilly had not been clear of FAST OFFICIAL and as a result the off front leg of that horse has struck the sulky wheel of GINA GRACE causing FAST OFFICIAL to break. This incident caused interference to the trailing HILARIOUS FANTASY, who also broke, as well as inconveniencing several other runners including BETTOR IN THE DARK, MIRANDA CULLEN and NEK TIME. Mr Renault stated that Mr O’Reilly had made an error of judgement and was just not clear when attempting to take up the position in front of FAST OFFICIAL. Mr Renault submitted that due to the degree of interference, that being two horses breaking and several runners inconvenienced, the level of carelessness and the consequences of that carelessness were at the high end.

Mr O’Reilly stated that when he attempted to take the gap, Mr Cox, driving FAST OFFICIAL, had chased his horse up closing the room available. He said that he thought there was a gap available but it only takes a split second between sufficient room and not enough.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr O’Reilly, so far this season, had driven on 75 occasions with 378 drives last season. He said Mr O’Reilly had a clear penalty record in regard to this rule. Mr Renault said that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a $500 fine for a breach of this rule. Mr Renault stated that the level of carelessness and consequential effects were at the high end and submitted that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.

Mr O’Reilly stated that $400 was quite high considering it was a maiden race at Ashburton and submitted that a fine of $200 would be preferred.

Reasons for Penalty:

In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr O’Reilly’s good penalty record and his admission of the breach as mitigating factors. The aggravating factors were the level of carelessness and the consequential effects of his carelessness to which we agreed with Mr Renault, as being at the high end. After taking the JCA Penalty Guide recommended starting point of a $500 fine, an uplift in the penalty was warranted which we set at $100 taking the level of fine to $600. Against this we were able to give M O’Reilly a discount of $100 for his good penalty record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. We therefore determined that a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty in this case.

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: db6a38573349a792a587d0662392c9c7


informantnumber: A3625


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 16/11/2015


hearing_title: Ashburton TC 12 November 2015 - R 6 - Chair, Mr S Ching


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Inkwise Fillies and Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G O’Reilly, alleging that near the 1300m, Mr O’Reilly, as the driver of GINA GRACE in the race, drove carelessly by allowing his horse to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear of FAST OFFICIAL, driven by Mr J Cox, who was checked and broke and also causing to interference HILARIOUS FANTASY, driven by Mr S Golding.

Mr O’Reilly informed the Committee that he understood the rule he was charged with and confirmed that he admitted the breach.

Rule 869 (3) (b provides as follows:

(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-

(b) carelessly;

Mr Renault gave evidence and replayed video films to show that near the 1300m and shortly after the start, Mr O’Reilly, driving GINA GRACE, was racing in a one off position and after unsuccessfully attempting to secure the lead had eased back and attempted to shift in to a position behind the leader, GREY SKIES, driven by Mr J Hay. Mr Renault stated that when shifting down to take up a position in the trail of the leader and in front of FAST OFFICIAL, Mr O’Reilly had not been clear of FAST OFFICIAL and as a result the off front leg of that horse has struck the sulky wheel of GINA GRACE causing FAST OFFICIAL to break. This incident caused interference to the trailing HILARIOUS FANTASY, who also broke, as well as inconveniencing several other runners including BETTOR IN THE DARK, MIRANDA CULLEN and NEK TIME. Mr Renault stated that Mr O’Reilly had made an error of judgement and was just not clear when attempting to take up the position in front of FAST OFFICIAL. Mr Renault submitted that due to the degree of interference, that being two horses breaking and several runners inconvenienced, the level of carelessness and the consequences of that carelessness were at the high end.

Mr O’Reilly stated that when he attempted to take the gap, Mr Cox, driving FAST OFFICIAL, had chased his horse up closing the room available. He said that he thought there was a gap available but it only takes a split second between sufficient room and not enough.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr O’Reilly had admitted the breach the charge was found to be proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Renault told the Committee that Mr O’Reilly, so far this season, had driven on 75 occasions with 378 drives last season. He said Mr O’Reilly had a clear penalty record in regard to this rule. Mr Renault said that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a $500 fine for a breach of this rule. Mr Renault stated that the level of carelessness and consequential effects were at the high end and submitted that a fine of $400 be considered as penalty in this case.

Mr O’Reilly stated that $400 was quite high considering it was a maiden race at Ashburton and submitted that a fine of $200 would be preferred.


reasonsforpenalty:

In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr O’Reilly’s good penalty record and his admission of the breach as mitigating factors. The aggravating factors were the level of carelessness and the consequential effects of his carelessness to which we agreed with Mr Renault, as being at the high end. After taking the JCA Penalty Guide recommended starting point of a $500 fine, an uplift in the penalty was warranted which we set at $100 taking the level of fine to $600. Against this we were able to give M O’Reilly a discount of $100 for his good penalty record and a further discount of $100 for his admission of the breach. We therefore determined that a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty in this case.


penalty:

Mr O’Reilly was fined the sum of $400.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869 (3) (b)


Informant: S Renault, Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: G O’Reilly, Licensed Open Horseman


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: dd4c4ecd96a1b624dc239c37938c37ec


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R6


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


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race_pm2:


meetid: bd36f1c6e8e4f4b2257d9e4d788291f9


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


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meet_emailed1: 0


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meetdate: 12/11/2015


meet_title: Ashburton TC - 12 November 2015


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


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tracklocation: ashburton-tc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: SChing


meet_pm1: GClapp


meet_pm2: none


name: Ashburton TC