Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 24 April 2021 – R 9 – Chair, Mr G Jones

ID: JCA10687

Applicant:
Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr J Richards – Trainer of RADEGAST

Information Number:
A13398

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Failed to scratch horse by deadline time

Rules:
534(1)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 24 April 2021

Meet Chair:
GJones

Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith

Race Date:
2021/04/24

Race Number:
R9

Decision:

As Mr Richards admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Mr Richards is fined $150.

Facts:

This charge should be read in conjunction with the Request for Ruling (Information Number A13397), where this Committee was requested to make a Ruling, pursuant to rule 534(2)(b) as to whether RADEGAST should be scratched from race 9.

Mr Williamson advised that following Race 4, Mr Richards sought Stewards' permission to late scratch RADEGAST from Race 9 because he believed that the track rating was worse than the official ‘slow 9’. Mr Williamson said that Stewards denied the request as the track conditions, according to Race times, were unchanged. Mr Williamson added that although the track was a slow 9 at the scratching deadline time, he acknowledged it was “holding and hard work”. Nevertheless, he said, based on times, Stewards are not prepared to downgrade the track from ‘slow 9’ to ‘heavy’.

Mr Richards submitted he did not scratch RADEGAST at the 7.30am deadline as he expected due to the forecasted fine weather that the track would dry out and improve. He said however that after the running of the first 4 Races his assessment of the track is that it is worse than a ‘slow 9’ and he thought it should be downgraded so that he could scratch his horse penalty free. In any event Mr Richards said he decided to scratch his horse and said he was prepared to face the consequences of doing so.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Williamson said that Mr Richards has a clear record under the Rule. He said that he understood Mr Richards quandary but under the circumstances Stewards are reluctant to downgrade the track. He added that the late scratching has not resulted in any other runner missing a start in the race.

Mr Williamson submitted that previous breaches of this Rule have attracted fines from $150 to $300 and said that this matter could be dealt with by way of a fine.

Mr Richards submitted that Jockeys had advised him the track is ‘heavy’ as opposed to a ‘slow 9’ and it should be downgraded.

Reasons for Penalty:

The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for breaches of this rule is a $200 fine and breaches are fact dependent.

Having considered the submissions and the interests of all concerned including the Club, the betting public, Mr Richards, and his Connections the Committee determined a modest fine to be appropriate under the circumstances.

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: 0820131bcbb4e1308d42a9b8db65b2ca


informantnumber: A13398


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Failed to scratch horse by deadline time


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 25/04/2021


hearing_title: Auckland RC 24 April 2021 – R 9 – Chair, Mr G Jones


charge:


facts:

This charge should be read in conjunction with the Request for Ruling (Information Number A13397), where this Committee was requested to make a Ruling, pursuant to rule 534(2)(b) as to whether RADEGAST should be scratched from race 9.

Mr Williamson advised that following Race 4, Mr Richards sought Stewards' permission to late scratch RADEGAST from Race 9 because he believed that the track rating was worse than the official ‘slow 9’. Mr Williamson said that Stewards denied the request as the track conditions, according to Race times, were unchanged. Mr Williamson added that although the track was a slow 9 at the scratching deadline time, he acknowledged it was “holding and hard work”. Nevertheless, he said, based on times, Stewards are not prepared to downgrade the track from ‘slow 9’ to ‘heavy’.

Mr Richards submitted he did not scratch RADEGAST at the 7.30am deadline as he expected due to the forecasted fine weather that the track would dry out and improve. He said however that after the running of the first 4 Races his assessment of the track is that it is worse than a ‘slow 9’ and he thought it should be downgraded so that he could scratch his horse penalty free. In any event Mr Richards said he decided to scratch his horse and said he was prepared to face the consequences of doing so.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Richards admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Williamson said that Mr Richards has a clear record under the Rule. He said that he understood Mr Richards quandary but under the circumstances Stewards are reluctant to downgrade the track. He added that the late scratching has not resulted in any other runner missing a start in the race.

Mr Williamson submitted that previous breaches of this Rule have attracted fines from $150 to $300 and said that this matter could be dealt with by way of a fine.

Mr Richards submitted that Jockeys had advised him the track is ‘heavy’ as opposed to a ‘slow 9’ and it should be downgraded.


reasonsforpenalty:

The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for breaches of this rule is a $200 fine and breaches are fact dependent.

Having considered the submissions and the interests of all concerned including the Club, the betting public, Mr Richards, and his Connections the Committee determined a modest fine to be appropriate under the circumstances.


penalty:

Mr Richards is fined $150.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 534(1)


Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Richards – Trainer of RADEGAST


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 6a7cfc6e9982cbbf4723cbe4251a9239


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R9


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: d913ddd3634279a80ea11b515be055c2


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 24/04/2021


meet_title: Auckland RC - 24 April 2021


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: GJones


meet_pm1: ASmith


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC