Ashburton TC 26 December 2015 – R2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA17305
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 26 December 2015
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams
Race Date:
2015/12/26
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Court having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Court’s Open Horseman’s licence was suspended for a period commencing after the close of racing on 26 December 2015 up to and including 10 January 2016 – 5 days. The meetings encompassed by the term of suspension are Central Otago on 2 January 2016, Rangiora on 3 January, Oamaru on 7 January and Nelson on 8 and 10 January.
We record that we were aware that driver notification for the Banks Peninsula meeting on 29 December had closed but, in any event, Mr Court had no notified drives for that meeting.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Maxim Homes Fillies & Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G T Court, alleging that Mr Court, as the driver of RR SAND DOLLAR in the race, “near the 1100 metres [he] shifted outwards causing the improving KASHANA (J T Keast) to be shifted wider on the track”.
Mr Court was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(6) Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof:-
(b) a horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track:
(c) a horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.
Mr Ydgren had Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, show the incident, just prior to the 1100 metres, on video replays. Mr Quirk pointed out Mr Court, driving RR SAND DOLLAR, racing towards the rear of the field in the one-out line ahead of the improving KASHANA (J T Keast). When Mr Keast was at the wheel of RR SAND DOLLAR and going forward, Mr Court shifted his horse outwards and, as a result, forced Mr Keast 4-wide.
Mr Court submitted that most drivers in Mr Keast’s position would have pulled back. Mr Keast was only just on his wheel, he submitted. Mr Keast also had to urge his horse to get past.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Court has a clear record under the Rule. He has not been an “overly busy” driver in the past few seasons – he has only had two drives this season but they have come in the last 2 weeks, Mr Ydgren said.
To Mr Court’s credit was that he had admitted the breach, Mr Ydgren said. He referred to the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point of a 5 drives suspension or a $250 fine for a breach of the Rule. Mr Ydgren submitted that either a $200 fine or a 4 to 5 days’ suspension was an appropriate penalty (based on a maximum of one drive per meeting).
Mr Court told the Committee that he would prefer a suspension over a fine. A discussion then took place as to what meetings were upcoming at which Mr Court would possibly drive. Mr Court said that he was not intending to drive at Roxburgh on 3 January. He was unsure as to whether he would be at Nelson on 8 and 10 January. He did not seek a deferment of any term of suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee noted that Mr Court had expressed a preference for a suspension, so it was not necessary to consider an appropriate quantum of fine. The Committee also noted the starting point of a 4-5 drives’ suspension as per the Penalty Guide. The Committee was satisfied that Mr Court would likely have no more than 4 drives at the next five race meetings that it had considered and, it was further satisfied, that 4 drives was an appropriate penalty for this particular breach, having regard to Mr Court’s admission of the breach and his good record, albeit from a very small number of drives (2 this season and 3 in the 2014/2015 season). The Committee accepted that Mr Court is now driving again and is likely to be driving over the next few weeks.
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: f69cd888c04bad5dca7aafcb4615ebc7
informantnumber: A6741
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Pushout Rule
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 28/12/2015
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 26 December 2015 - R2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Maxim Homes Fillies & Mares Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G T Court, alleging that Mr Court, as the driver of RR SAND DOLLAR in the race, “near the 1100 metres [he] shifted outwards causing the improving KASHANA (J T Keast) to be shifted wider on the track”.
Mr Court was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(6) Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof:-
(b) a horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track:
(c) a horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.
Mr Ydgren had Stipendiary Steward, Mr R A Quirk, show the incident, just prior to the 1100 metres, on video replays. Mr Quirk pointed out Mr Court, driving RR SAND DOLLAR, racing towards the rear of the field in the one-out line ahead of the improving KASHANA (J T Keast). When Mr Keast was at the wheel of RR SAND DOLLAR and going forward, Mr Court shifted his horse outwards and, as a result, forced Mr Keast 4-wide.
Mr Court submitted that most drivers in Mr Keast’s position would have pulled back. Mr Keast was only just on his wheel, he submitted. Mr Keast also had to urge his horse to get past.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Court having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren informed the Committee that Mr Court has a clear record under the Rule. He has not been an “overly busy” driver in the past few seasons – he has only had two drives this season but they have come in the last 2 weeks, Mr Ydgren said.
To Mr Court’s credit was that he had admitted the breach, Mr Ydgren said. He referred to the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point of a 5 drives suspension or a $250 fine for a breach of the Rule. Mr Ydgren submitted that either a $200 fine or a 4 to 5 days’ suspension was an appropriate penalty (based on a maximum of one drive per meeting).
Mr Court told the Committee that he would prefer a suspension over a fine. A discussion then took place as to what meetings were upcoming at which Mr Court would possibly drive. Mr Court said that he was not intending to drive at Roxburgh on 3 January. He was unsure as to whether he would be at Nelson on 8 and 10 January. He did not seek a deferment of any term of suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee noted that Mr Court had expressed a preference for a suspension, so it was not necessary to consider an appropriate quantum of fine. The Committee also noted the starting point of a 4-5 drives’ suspension as per the Penalty Guide. The Committee was satisfied that Mr Court would likely have no more than 4 drives at the next five race meetings that it had considered and, it was further satisfied, that 4 drives was an appropriate penalty for this particular breach, having regard to Mr Court’s admission of the breach and his good record, albeit from a very small number of drives (2 this season and 3 in the 2014/2015 season). The Committee accepted that Mr Court is now driving again and is likely to be driving over the next few weeks.
penalty:
Mr Court’s Open Horseman’s licence was suspended for a period commencing after the close of racing on 26 December 2015 up to and including 10 January 2016 – 5 days. The meetings encompassed by the term of suspension are Central Otago on 2 January 2016, Rangiora on 3 January, Oamaru on 7 January and Nelson on 8 and 10 January.
We record that we were aware that driver notification for the Banks Peninsula meeting on 29 December had closed but, in any event, Mr Court had no notified drives for that meeting.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(6)(b)&(c)
Informant: Mr N M Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G T Court - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr R A Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 86198d3b62d3d2ebfebbbaceed772200
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: b2efeb1c50505b8e790168acd8314a8e
meet_expapproval:
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/12/2015
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 26 December 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: PWilliams
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton TC