Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 2 December 2017 – R 3 – (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA14970

Stipend Steward:
Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A9497

Hearing Type:
Request Ruling

Rules:
632

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 2 December 2017

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott

Race Date:
2017/12/02

Race Number:
R3

Decision:

Accordingly, the Committee exercised its discretion and declared both PEARLESCENCE and MAGIC CHAI to be non –starters.

The Committee ordered dividends and stakes to be paid in accordance with this decision.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 3, Dunstan Feeds Stayers Championship Qualifier 2100, Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson, lodged an Information requesting a ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether PEARLESCENCE and MAGIC CHAI were denied a fair start.

Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placing’s was prevented from taking an effective part in a race owing to the mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.”

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Williamson demonstrated on the video footage that when the gates opened 2 Barrier Attendants still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE. He said as a result the horse's bridle was displaced and Ms Johnson was dislodged from her mount shortly after the start. He said the connections of PEARLESCENCE were not given a fair opportunity.

Mr Williamson then asked Mr Innes to explain the circumstances which resulted in his mount MAGIC CHAI being retired from the race shortly after the start.

Mr Innes said that when the gates opened he observed that Ms Johnson had been dislodged from her mount. He said that he noticed PEARLESCENCE had no bridle and MAGIC CHAI’S progress was impeded as a result of Ms Johnson being dislodged from her mount. He said that he heard the Commentator say that it was a false start and then saw that the Clerk of the Course was racing towards the field. He said that the Clerk of the Course had called out to him that it was a false start and this reaffirmed his thoughts so he eased his mount down thinking that it was a “no race”.

Mr Oatham advised the Committee that the Stewards had interviewed all the riders prior to lodging an Information. He said that all the riders had heard the Commentator say that it was a false start. He said this comment impacted on MAGIC CHAI’S chances from taking an effective part in the race. He emphasised that all the riders except for Mr Innes were in front of the incident and were unaware of what had happened to PEARLESCENCE.

Ms Johnson said that the Barrier Attendants had their hands behind the ears of PEARLESCENCE at the start and as a result the bridle was forced off when the start was effected. Ms Johnson said that Mr Innes was the only rider that was aware of the incident.

Mr Pike said that he watched the race in the birdcage by the winning post and he clearly heard the Commentator say that it was a false start and the video footage showed that Mr Innes was convinced of this when he pulled up MAGIC CHAI. He said that Mr Innes had also seen the Clerk of the Course horse was racing towards him and he was calling out to Mr Innes “pull up” indicating that it was a false start.

Mr Harrison said that PEARLESCENCE has a reputation for being fractious in the gates and that is why 2 Barrier Attendants were up with the horse. He said when the start was effected the Barrier Attendants still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE and the horse jumped awkwardly with its bridle being displaced.

Reasons for Decision:

The Committee carefully considered the submissions placed before us and reviewed the video footage.

It was evident that when the gates commenced to open 2 Barrier Attendant’s still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE’S. This resulted in the horse jumping away awkwardly and it was obvious that the bridle was displaced. As a consequence Ms Johnson was dislodged from her mount shortly after the start. Therefore the Committee was satisfied that PEARLESCENCE was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.

In relation to MAGIC CHAI the video footage showed that the horse was slow away by its own accord. It was evident that Mr Innes looked across to position his mount closer to the running rail and he took several views of Ms Johnson being dislodged from PEARLESENCE. At that point in the race PEARLESCENCE was racing in 2nd last place with only MAGIC CHAI racing behind that runner. The Course Commentator made mention of the fact that “we may have a false start” and Mr Innes reacted to this by restraining his mount for some distance. The situation became further complicated when the Clerk of the Course joined into the race near the winning post on the first occasion in what appeared to be an effort to capture PEARLESCENCE, albeit the horse had no bridle. At that point he allegedly called out to Mr Innes that it was a “false start” and Mr Innes elected to withdraw MAGIC CHAI from the race.

The Committee was satisfied on this occasion that given the circumstances outlined in this rare incident that Mr Innes had sufficient valid reasons to justify his actions.

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: 937f0cf79165ce794a0279fa024a7975


informantnumber: A9497


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge:


plea:


penaltyrequired:


decisiondate: 04/12/2017


hearing_title: Auckland RC 2 December 2017 - R 3 - (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 3, Dunstan Feeds Stayers Championship Qualifier 2100, Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson, lodged an Information requesting a ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether PEARLESCENCE and MAGIC CHAI were denied a fair start.

Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placing’s was prevented from taking an effective part in a race owing to the mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.”


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Williamson demonstrated on the video footage that when the gates opened 2 Barrier Attendants still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE. He said as a result the horse's bridle was displaced and Ms Johnson was dislodged from her mount shortly after the start. He said the connections of PEARLESCENCE were not given a fair opportunity.

Mr Williamson then asked Mr Innes to explain the circumstances which resulted in his mount MAGIC CHAI being retired from the race shortly after the start.

Mr Innes said that when the gates opened he observed that Ms Johnson had been dislodged from her mount. He said that he noticed PEARLESCENCE had no bridle and MAGIC CHAI’S progress was impeded as a result of Ms Johnson being dislodged from her mount. He said that he heard the Commentator say that it was a false start and then saw that the Clerk of the Course was racing towards the field. He said that the Clerk of the Course had called out to him that it was a false start and this reaffirmed his thoughts so he eased his mount down thinking that it was a “no race”.

Mr Oatham advised the Committee that the Stewards had interviewed all the riders prior to lodging an Information. He said that all the riders had heard the Commentator say that it was a false start. He said this comment impacted on MAGIC CHAI’S chances from taking an effective part in the race. He emphasised that all the riders except for Mr Innes were in front of the incident and were unaware of what had happened to PEARLESCENCE.

Ms Johnson said that the Barrier Attendants had their hands behind the ears of PEARLESCENCE at the start and as a result the bridle was forced off when the start was effected. Ms Johnson said that Mr Innes was the only rider that was aware of the incident.

Mr Pike said that he watched the race in the birdcage by the winning post and he clearly heard the Commentator say that it was a false start and the video footage showed that Mr Innes was convinced of this when he pulled up MAGIC CHAI. He said that Mr Innes had also seen the Clerk of the Course horse was racing towards him and he was calling out to Mr Innes “pull up” indicating that it was a false start.

Mr Harrison said that PEARLESCENCE has a reputation for being fractious in the gates and that is why 2 Barrier Attendants were up with the horse. He said when the start was effected the Barrier Attendants still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE and the horse jumped awkwardly with its bridle being displaced.


reasonsfordecision:

The Committee carefully considered the submissions placed before us and reviewed the video footage.

It was evident that when the gates commenced to open 2 Barrier Attendant’s still had a hold of PEARLESCENCE’S. This resulted in the horse jumping away awkwardly and it was obvious that the bridle was displaced. As a consequence Ms Johnson was dislodged from her mount shortly after the start. Therefore the Committee was satisfied that PEARLESCENCE was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.

In relation to MAGIC CHAI the video footage showed that the horse was slow away by its own accord. It was evident that Mr Innes looked across to position his mount closer to the running rail and he took several views of Ms Johnson being dislodged from PEARLESENCE. At that point in the race PEARLESCENCE was racing in 2nd last place with only MAGIC CHAI racing behind that runner. The Course Commentator made mention of the fact that “we may have a false start” and Mr Innes reacted to this by restraining his mount for some distance. The situation became further complicated when the Clerk of the Course joined into the race near the winning post on the first occasion in what appeared to be an effort to capture PEARLESCENCE, albeit the horse had no bridle. At that point he allegedly called out to Mr Innes that it was a “false start” and Mr Innes elected to withdraw MAGIC CHAI from the race.

The Committee was satisfied on this occasion that given the circumstances outlined in this rare incident that Mr Innes had sufficient valid reasons to justify his actions.


Decision:

Accordingly, the Committee exercised its discretion and declared both PEARLESCENCE and MAGIC CHAI to be non –starters.

The Committee ordered dividends and stakes to be paid in accordance with this decision.


sumissionsforpenalty:


reasonsforpenalty:


penalty:


hearing_type: Request Ruling


Rules: 632


Informant:


JockeysandTrainer:


Otherperson:


PersonPresent: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr T Harrison - Official Starter, Mr T Pike - Trainer of MAGIC CHAI, Ms D Johnson - Rider of PEARLESCENCE, Mr L Innes - Rider of MAGIC CHAI


Respondent:


StipendSteward: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward


raceid: 4003c67ebde799a91c55d9ce48f831d0


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: 818d83cd999c7a783f300d28cf5454e4


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 02/12/2017


meet_title: Auckland RC - 2 December 2017


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: BScott


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC