Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 12 March 2016 – R 8 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA14961

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr V Colgan

Other Person:
Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A7862

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 12 March 2016

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley

Race Date:
2016/03/12

Race Number:
R 8

Decision:

As Mr Colgan admitted the breach we found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Mr Colgan is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday March 19th up to and including racing on Saturday April 2nd.

This will encompass meetings on:

23/3/16 Avondale
24/3/16 Taranaki
26/3/16 Tauranga
30/3/16 Matamata
1/4/16 Rotorua
2/4/16 Auckland/Awapuni

Facts:

Following the running of Race 8, Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes, Group 1, an Information was lodged by Mr Oatham under Rule 638(1) (d) in that V Colgan VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL allowed his mount to shift in near the 100m crowding CONSENSUS (A Collett) which was checked.

Although the videos had been viewed several times during the protest hearing they were played again focussing on the careless riding charge relating to Mr Colgan. Mr Williamson said that during the hearing for Mr Turner’s charge, it had been established that GIRL OF MY DREAMS had shifted out and pushed CONSENSUS onto the hindquarters of VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL. It was from this point that VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL commenced to lay in. Mr Williamson said that although the initial interference had come from GIRL OF MY DREAMS, onto CONSENSUS onto VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL Mr Colgan still had a duty of care to stop riding and straighten his mount up.

Mr Colgan told the Committee that he agreed with Mr Williamson’s interpretation of the incident.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham advised the hearing that Mr Colgan had only one suspension for careless riding in the last 12 months which was a four day suspension (and a $1000 fine) incurred on New Year’s Day. Mr Oatham submitted that this was a very good record.

In regard to today’s breach Mr Oatham said there were two parts to the interference suffered by CONSENSUS. The first part was when Mr Turner was charged for forcing CONSENSUS onto the hindquarters of VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL which did appear to have some effect on that horse wanting to lay in. Mr Colgan was charged with careless riding because he continued to ride forward without taking the appropriate corrective action. The Stewards’ submission was for a period of suspension but because the interference to CONSENSUS was due to the actions of two horses, Mr Oatham said the penalty should be at the lower end in comparison to other careless riding charges incurred in Group 1 races.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Judicial Committee Penalty Guide provides that the starting point for penalties imposed for careless riding is a five day suspension. In this case we found that aggravating factors were the Group 1 status of the race, the $200,000 stake money and the degree of interference suffered by CONSENSUS. In our opinion this warranted an uplift of three days on the starting point to one of eight days. Mitigating factors were Mr Colgan’s admission of the breach, his very good record and the contributing actions of another runner (GIRL OF MY DREAMS) to the incident. For this we have allowed a two day discount.

A period of six days suspension was considered an appropriate penalty. The Committee sought clarification from Mr Colgan and the Stewards as to the areas where Mr Colgan could reasonably be expected to ride at. Mr Colgan said that while he rode the majority of the time in the Northern area he did on occasion ride in the Hawkes Bay and Taranaki regions. The Stewards were in agreement with Mr Colgan’s submission and while we were satisfied that Mr Colgan does, on occasion, ride at Hastings, for Mr Pike and Mr James, we were not prepared to include Waipukurau in this suspension.

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: 91a9c5a776585e102cfdb008f4af4e15


informantnumber: A7862


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 15/03/2016


hearing_title: Auckland RC 12 March 2016 - R 8 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 8, Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes, Group 1, an Information was lodged by Mr Oatham under Rule 638(1) (d) in that V Colgan VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL allowed his mount to shift in near the 100m crowding CONSENSUS (A Collett) which was checked.

Although the videos had been viewed several times during the protest hearing they were played again focussing on the careless riding charge relating to Mr Colgan. Mr Williamson said that during the hearing for Mr Turner’s charge, it had been established that GIRL OF MY DREAMS had shifted out and pushed CONSENSUS onto the hindquarters of VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL. It was from this point that VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL commenced to lay in. Mr Williamson said that although the initial interference had come from GIRL OF MY DREAMS, onto CONSENSUS onto VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL Mr Colgan still had a duty of care to stop riding and straighten his mount up.

Mr Colgan told the Committee that he agreed with Mr Williamson’s interpretation of the incident.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Colgan admitted the breach we found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham advised the hearing that Mr Colgan had only one suspension for careless riding in the last 12 months which was a four day suspension (and a $1000 fine) incurred on New Year’s Day. Mr Oatham submitted that this was a very good record.

In regard to today’s breach Mr Oatham said there were two parts to the interference suffered by CONSENSUS. The first part was when Mr Turner was charged for forcing CONSENSUS onto the hindquarters of VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL which did appear to have some effect on that horse wanting to lay in. Mr Colgan was charged with careless riding because he continued to ride forward without taking the appropriate corrective action. The Stewards’ submission was for a period of suspension but because the interference to CONSENSUS was due to the actions of two horses, Mr Oatham said the penalty should be at the lower end in comparison to other careless riding charges incurred in Group 1 races.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Judicial Committee Penalty Guide provides that the starting point for penalties imposed for careless riding is a five day suspension. In this case we found that aggravating factors were the Group 1 status of the race, the $200,000 stake money and the degree of interference suffered by CONSENSUS. In our opinion this warranted an uplift of three days on the starting point to one of eight days. Mitigating factors were Mr Colgan’s admission of the breach, his very good record and the contributing actions of another runner (GIRL OF MY DREAMS) to the incident. For this we have allowed a two day discount.

A period of six days suspension was considered an appropriate penalty. The Committee sought clarification from Mr Colgan and the Stewards as to the areas where Mr Colgan could reasonably be expected to ride at. Mr Colgan said that while he rode the majority of the time in the Northern area he did on occasion ride in the Hawkes Bay and Taranaki regions. The Stewards were in agreement with Mr Colgan’s submission and while we were satisfied that Mr Colgan does, on occasion, ride at Hastings, for Mr Pike and Mr James, we were not prepared to include Waipukurau in this suspension.


penalty:

Mr Colgan is suspended from the close of racing on Saturday March 19th up to and including racing on Saturday April 2nd.

This will encompass meetings on:

23/3/16 Avondale
24/3/16 Taranaki
26/3/16 Tauranga
30/3/16 Matamata
1/4/16 Rotorua
2/4/16 Auckland/Awapuni


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr V Colgan


Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 122eb8fd3099f730f51b9136a74b97ab


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 8


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: cebdb3828b8091f7c435ef6230eb6e56


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 12/03/2016


meet_title: Auckland RC - 12 March 2016


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: ADooley


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC