Ashburton TC 4 May 2014 – R 3
ID: JCA13274
Meet Title:
Ashburton TC - 4 May 2014
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2014/05/04
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly Ms Smolenski was fined the sum of $250.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Chertsey Trotting Club Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren against Licensed Trainer Ms J Smolenski, alleging a breach of Rule 834(1) in that she failed to scratch SUNBLOC as she intended to do by the required official scratching time, resulting in SUNBLOC being late scratched at 11.51am, being 20 minutes prior to the official start time.
Rule 834(1) reads as follows:
“Any person intending to scratch a horse from a race after it has been deemed to have
accepted therefore, shall give notice to the Secretary of the Club to that effect before the
official scratching time which shall also be the official right of re-entry time for any race
meeting.”
Licensed trainer, Mr M Jones, as agent for Ms Smolenski, had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Jones had also advised the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing.
Mr Ydgren gave evidence that Ms Smolenski had called him on his mobile phone 20 minutes prior to Race 3 and told him that she had forgotten to scratch SUNBLOC from its engagement at today’s meeting. SUNBLOC was officially late scratched at 11.51am with Race 3 scheduled to start at 12.12pm. Ms Smolenski informed him that she had intended to scratch the horse at 3pm the previous day as the horse had been under veterinary care for an issue. She said that she had just completely forgotten about scratching the horse and was embarrassed about her lapse. Mr Ydgren stated that Ms Smolenski had a valid reason for scratching the horse as it was under veterinary care but had scratched outside the required official scratching time of 5pm Saturday 3 May.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren stated that Ms Smolenski had a clear record in regard to this rule. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of $500 for a breach of a similar Rule where a horse was late scratched without valid reason. Mr Ydgren said that Ms Smolenski admitted the breach at the first opportunity and was upset and remorseful about the oversight. He also stated that Ms Smolenski had a valid reason and that no one was denied a start due to the late scratching. Mr Ydgren submitted that he would leave it up to the Committee to decide on penalty.
Ms Smolenski submitted to the Stewards that a minimal fine be imposed.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Ms Smolenski’s good penalty record, her frank admission of the breach and the fact that no other horse was denied a start. We also took into account that the horse was under veterinary care with a valid reason to scratch and that the intention was to scratch by the required time but that Ms Smolenski had genuinely forgotten. We also took into account the fact that the horse was late scratched only 20 minutes prior to the race for which it was entered.
Taking all factors into consideration the Committee determined that an appropriate penalty in this case was a fine of $250.
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: 5b190454c8545808f034b2ad07d8fe1e
informantnumber: A6137
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to scratch horse by official time
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/05/2014
hearing_title: Ashburton TC 4 May 2014 - R 3
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3, the Chertsey Trotting Club Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren against Licensed Trainer Ms J Smolenski, alleging a breach of Rule 834(1) in that she failed to scratch SUNBLOC as she intended to do by the required official scratching time, resulting in SUNBLOC being late scratched at 11.51am, being 20 minutes prior to the official start time.
Rule 834(1) reads as follows:
“Any person intending to scratch a horse from a race after it has been deemed to have
accepted therefore, shall give notice to the Secretary of the Club to that effect before the
official scratching time which shall also be the official right of re-entry time for any race
meeting.”
Licensed trainer, Mr M Jones, as agent for Ms Smolenski, had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted. Mr Jones had also advised the Stewards that he did not wish to be present at the hearing.
Mr Ydgren gave evidence that Ms Smolenski had called him on his mobile phone 20 minutes prior to Race 3 and told him that she had forgotten to scratch SUNBLOC from its engagement at today’s meeting. SUNBLOC was officially late scratched at 11.51am with Race 3 scheduled to start at 12.12pm. Ms Smolenski informed him that she had intended to scratch the horse at 3pm the previous day as the horse had been under veterinary care for an issue. She said that she had just completely forgotten about scratching the horse and was embarrassed about her lapse. Mr Ydgren stated that Ms Smolenski had a valid reason for scratching the horse as it was under veterinary care but had scratched outside the required official scratching time of 5pm Saturday 3 May.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren stated that Ms Smolenski had a clear record in regard to this rule. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of $500 for a breach of a similar Rule where a horse was late scratched without valid reason. Mr Ydgren said that Ms Smolenski admitted the breach at the first opportunity and was upset and remorseful about the oversight. He also stated that Ms Smolenski had a valid reason and that no one was denied a start due to the late scratching. Mr Ydgren submitted that he would leave it up to the Committee to decide on penalty.
Ms Smolenski submitted to the Stewards that a minimal fine be imposed.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Ms Smolenski’s good penalty record, her frank admission of the breach and the fact that no other horse was denied a start. We also took into account that the horse was under veterinary care with a valid reason to scratch and that the intention was to scratch by the required time but that Ms Smolenski had genuinely forgotten. We also took into account the fact that the horse was late scratched only 20 minutes prior to the race for which it was entered.
Taking all factors into consideration the Committee determined that an appropriate penalty in this case was a fine of $250.
penalty:
Accordingly Ms Smolenski was fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 834(1)
Informant: N Ydgren-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J Smolenski-Licensed Public Trainer
Otherperson: M Jones-Licensed Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 31b0f6f5b27140a1a29462a72dd43978
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f1d9e57ca0b4abbe9fa99b613de903e6
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 04/05/2014
meet_title: Ashburton TC - 4 May 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: ashburton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Ashburton TC