Archive Decision

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Auckland RC 26 December 2014 – R 5

ID: JCA11446

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Ms D Johnson - Licensed Jockey

Other Person:
Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A6869

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 26 December 2014

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones

Race Date:
2014/12/26

Race Number:
R5

Decision:

As Ms Johnson admitted the breach we find the charge proved.

Penalty:

We grant Ms Johnson’s request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).

Accordingly, Ms Johnson had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 2 January and conclude after racing on 8 January 2015(6 days).

Facts:

Following the running of race 5, Hallmark Stud Newmarket Handicap, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Johnson permitted her mount RUUD AWAKENING to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear forcing SIERRA BEEL inwards onto PINZARA which was checked near the 150 metres.

Ms Johnson acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles identified on the video films that near the 250 metre mark RUUD AWAKENING was racing 3 off the running rail with SIERRA BEEL on its inside and PINZARA racing adjacent to the rail. He said Ms Johnson allowed her mount to continue to shift in when under pressure. This resulted in both SIERRA BEEL and PINZARA being checked with PINZARA the worst affected losing considerable ground. He added RUUD AWAKENING shifted in gradually.

Ms Johnson told the Committee that the film clearly showed the incident. She said her mount lay in under pressure and offered no excuses.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Johnson’s record which showed 2 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months, the most recent being on 8 November 2014 which incurred a 4 day suspension. He said Ms Johnson had a reasonable record given that she is a busy rider and assessed the level of carelessness as mid to high range given the severe check to PINZARA which was still in contention at the time. He added SIERRA BEEL was also hampered. He submitted it was a Listed race and the Stewards view was that the matter could be dealt with by way of suspension in the 5 to 7 day range.
Ms Johnson advised that she had upcoming engagements at Tauranga on 2 January, and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension. She asked the Committee to consider her a national rider and to take into account pending South Island meetings during any period of suspension. Ms Johnson added that in support of this she recently rode at the Cromwell meeting on 30 November in her pursuit to win the jockey’s premiership.

In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Johnson acknowledged that she hadn’t previously ridden on the West Coast of the South Island. However, she reinforced her desire to ride everywhere.

The Stewards when asked whether they had a view advised the Committee that they could not add anything further and conceded that the West Coast was a once a year venue.

In terms of penalty Ms Johnson asked the Committee to take into account her good record and that she was a busy rider.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors were Ms Johnson’s admission of the breach and her good record in relation to this Rule as a busy rider. The aggravating factors was that although we have assessed the level of carelessness at mid-range the impact of the interference was relatively severe in that 2 horses were affected, in particular PINZARA which lost considerable ground.

The Committee has noted the event was a Listed race and this has been factored into our decision making. We accept Ms Johnson has been riding at several venues in the South Island this year.

After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 6 day 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: 1c938b23220463ceedfe20ef1406ab35


informantnumber: A6869


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 13/12/2014


hearing_title: Auckland RC 26 December 2014 - R 5


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 5, Hallmark Stud Newmarket Handicap, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Johnson permitted her mount RUUD AWAKENING to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear forcing SIERRA BEEL inwards onto PINZARA which was checked near the 150 metres.

Ms Johnson acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Coles identified on the video films that near the 250 metre mark RUUD AWAKENING was racing 3 off the running rail with SIERRA BEEL on its inside and PINZARA racing adjacent to the rail. He said Ms Johnson allowed her mount to continue to shift in when under pressure. This resulted in both SIERRA BEEL and PINZARA being checked with PINZARA the worst affected losing considerable ground. He added RUUD AWAKENING shifted in gradually.

Ms Johnson told the Committee that the film clearly showed the incident. She said her mount lay in under pressure and offered no excuses.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Ms Johnson admitted the breach we find the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Johnson’s record which showed 2 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months, the most recent being on 8 November 2014 which incurred a 4 day suspension. He said Ms Johnson had a reasonable record given that she is a busy rider and assessed the level of carelessness as mid to high range given the severe check to PINZARA which was still in contention at the time. He added SIERRA BEEL was also hampered. He submitted it was a Listed race and the Stewards view was that the matter could be dealt with by way of suspension in the 5 to 7 day range.
Ms Johnson advised that she had upcoming engagements at Tauranga on 2 January, and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension. She asked the Committee to consider her a national rider and to take into account pending South Island meetings during any period of suspension. Ms Johnson added that in support of this she recently rode at the Cromwell meeting on 30 November in her pursuit to win the jockey’s premiership.

In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Johnson acknowledged that she hadn’t previously ridden on the West Coast of the South Island. However, she reinforced her desire to ride everywhere.

The Stewards when asked whether they had a view advised the Committee that they could not add anything further and conceded that the West Coast was a once a year venue.

In terms of penalty Ms Johnson asked the Committee to take into account her good record and that she was a busy rider.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors were Ms Johnson’s admission of the breach and her good record in relation to this Rule as a busy rider. The aggravating factors was that although we have assessed the level of carelessness at mid-range the impact of the interference was relatively severe in that 2 horses were affected, in particular PINZARA which lost considerable ground.

The Committee has noted the event was a Listed race and this has been factored into our decision making. We accept Ms Johnson has been riding at several venues in the South Island this year.

After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 6 day suspension.


penalty:

We grant Ms Johnson’s request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).

Accordingly, Ms Johnson had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 2 January and conclude after racing on 8 January 2015(6 days).


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Ms D Johnson - Licensed Jockey


Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 53c5ceaed593b9f607852280e67aa926


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R5


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: a3789c8049af24548440c482c18244ee


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 26/12/2014


meet_title: Auckland RC - 26 December 2014


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: GJones


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland RC