Auckland RC – 10 March 2007 – Race 7

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hearing_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing

startdate: 10/03/2007

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hearing_title: Auckland RC - 10 March 2007 - Race 7

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Hearing of information number 7875 filed under Rule 871(1)(d) by Mr Cameron George alleging careless riding by Ms L Cropp (Licensed Jockey)

Following the running of Race 7 at the Auckland Racing Club's meeting on Saturday 10 March, the Ford Diamond Stakes, a Group 1 event, Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr Cameron George preferred an information pursuant to Rule 871(1)(d) against Ms Lisa Crop alleging careless riding.

Ms Cropp denied the charge.

Mr George, with the assistance of the video cameras, alleged that Ms Cropp angled her mount "Pierre Joseph" outwards near the 100 metre mark when not sufficiently clear of "Jacob" (S Spratt) who was tightened on to "The Pooka" (M du Plessis) with both those runners being checked and "Jacob" clipping a heel.

Mr George requested Mr J Oatham, Assistant Stipendiary Steward, to demonstrate the incident on the video coverage. Mr Oatham pointed out the horses which showed Ms Cropp racing approximately four horse widths from the rail directly behind "Satinka" (V Colgan). There was approximately 2 horse lengths between them at that point. There was a gap sufficient for Ms Cropp to ride in to on Mr Colgan's inside, but at that point, Mr Colgan's mount moved inwards taking the line that Ms Cropp was about to take. As a consequence, Ms Cropp had to angle "Pierre Joseph" outwards which she did quite sharply. She took the line of "Jacob" and as a consequence of that "Jacob" was moved outwards on to "The Pooka". "Jacob", in the process, clipped a heel of Ms Cropp's mount and dipped sharply, narrowly avoiding a fall. Mr Oatham also demonstrated how there was some movement inwards from "El Cuento" (J Collett) and also "Keepa Cruisin" (L Innes) but notwithstanding that, Mr Oatham told the hearing that there was never sufficient room for Ms Cropp to attempt to improve in to the gap that she attempted.

Ms Cropp was asked if she wished to cross examine Mr Oatham on his evidence, but she did not do so.

Ms Cropp then presented her case by way of defence. She stated that she could not see how she was to blame for the incident. She stated that she had a lot of forward momentum at the relevant time and that whatever happened, she was a victim of movement from all angles namely "Satinka" and "El Cuento". She felt that the gap was available to her and did not believe that she should be held responsible for what happened as a result of the movements made by her.

In summary, Mr George submitted that there was no room for Ms Cropp to improve in the manner that she did. He said that she did so when not sufficiently clear and that her actions caused Ms Spratt's mount to clip a heel. Mr George acknowledged that there was some slight shifting on the part of "El Cuento" and "Keepa Cruisin", but the plain and simple fact of the matter is that if Ms Cropp had not taken the line that she did, the incident would never have happened as the movement on the part of the other horses was only slight. The gap was not there for Ms Cropp to take.

Ms Cropp stated that there were numerous contributing factors from other riders and that from her point of view, she should not be held responsible for the incident.

On the day of the hearing we delivered the following penalty decision. There is nothing further to be added to the oral decision given on the day.

Ms Cropp denied the charge and it was found proved against her. We have not ignored the fact that there was some movement from the other runners but as was said earlier, the essence of the prosecution case was that without Ms Cropp's actions, this incident would not have occurred. The movement of the other horses did not affect the situation.

Ms Cropp quoted to us the fact that Mr Innes had just received a five day suspension. Whilst it is very important for a Judicial Committee to impose penalties which are consistent, it must also be noted that every case has different elements, and there was certainly a significant number of different elements in her case. We have found that her degree of carelessness was greater than may have been the case with other jockeys who have been charged with similar offences. Furthermore, Ms Cropp's riding record is not incident free. She has had a number of suspensions in the last twelve months. For those reasons, we have decided that a seven day suspension has to be imposed, bearing in mind that this was a very important Two Year Old Race, being a Group 1 Race, for a stake of $175,000. We note that Ms Cropp rides at South Island meetings and therefore the period during which she will serve her suspension does take into account meetings at Ashburton and Southland.

Ms Cropp is therefore suspended from the conclusion of racing on Wednesday 14 March (Matamata meeting) until the conclusion of racing on Saturday 24 March. They are the Tauranga or Waverley meetings.

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hearing_type: Old Hearing

Rules: 871.1.d

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raceid: 4766f58a0012981f58b43c59a9639059

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race_title: Race 7

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meetdate: 10/03/2007

meet_title: Auckland RC - 10 March 2007

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name: Auckland RC