Auckland RC 26 December 2020 – R 5 (request for ruling) – Chair, G Jones
ID: JCA15367
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 26 December 2020
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2020/12/26
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
Accordingly, under the provisions of the Rule, the Committee was of the opinion that although MONACO began awkwardly it was not denied a fair start and we authorise the payment of dividends pursuant to our decision.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Hallmark Stud Handicap (Listed Race), the Trainer of MONACO, Mr S Ralph, lodged an Information requesting a Ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether MONACO was denied a fair start.
The basis for the request was due to MONACO being slow to leave its barrier stall and as a consequence it lost considerable ground at the start.
Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first four 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:
Using the head-on race film Mr S Ralph demonstrated the start of the race. He pointed out that MONACO was standing quietly in barrier 8 (one from the outside), with the Barrier Attendant alongside holding on to the horse’s ear. He said that MONACO is usually the last horse to be loaded into its barrier stall, but on this occasion, it was loaded earlier. He added that its ear was being held quite tightly by the Barrier Attendant. By inference it was Mr Ralph's submission that this caused MONACO to be slow to begin and was the prime reason for it losing several lengths at the start.
Mr D Ralph (representing the Connections) stated that generally when there is a delay in loading the horses into their respective barrier positions, MONACO is either loaded late or is the last horse to be loaded.
Ms Newman asked the Committee to take note of MONACO’S hind legs which she submitted indicated the horse was unsettled and resisting having its ear held by the Barrier Attendant. She added that MONACO is normally the last horse to be loaded into the barrier and on past occasions it is only held by a Barrier Attendant for about two seconds, but in this instance, it was held for some considerable time.
The Starter, Mr McGovern said that he was standing behind the stalls when the field left the barrier and could not see whether or not MONACO was being held by the Barrier Attendant. When queried by the Committee as to whether it was standard practice for horses that are unsettled or fractious to be held by their ear he replied in the affirmative.
On behalf of the Stewards, Mr Oatham submitted that MONACO was on the ‘Starters List’ of horses to be loaded late into their stalls. He said that on this occasion there were nine runners in the race and four of the nine horses were on the starters list requiring assistance from the Barrier Attendants. For that reason, MONACO may have been loaded a little earlier than normal.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage. There were four camera angles available to the Committee for this purpose, namely head-on; side on (2) and rear view.
The Committee noted that MONACO was slow to leave the barrier and lost several lengths. It was evident that the reason for this was not due to a mechanical failure of the starting stalls. According, this was eliminated as a causal factor.
The Committee spent some considerable time reviewing the films from all angles to determine whether the Barrier Attendant was holding on to MONACO’S ear at the timer the barrier gates opened. On the basis of the available films this could not be conclusively established to the requisite standard. That is, the Committee could not be comfortably satisfied on the balance of probabilities that it was more likely than not; MONACO was denied a fair start due to being held by its ear at the precise time the barrier stall opened.
Further we do not find that the Barrier Attendant did anything untoward to unduly affect the chances of MONACO obtaining a fair start. The Starters Manual (v.2, August 2020) is clear as to the role and responsibilities of Barrier Attendants; specifically, at p 14:
Whilst the primary role of a Barrier Attendant is to load horses into the barrier, they will also be called on to assist in pacifying a fractious horse and aiding the safety of a rider in the barrier stalls. When ‘staying up’ with a horse already loaded into the barriers, barrier attendants are directed they must remain alert and that as soon as the starter makes his final call, they must immediately release their hold on the horse irrespective of whether or not it is still fractious. This avoids confusion as to whether a horse was denied a fair start on grounds of a barrier attendant still having a hold of the horse’s head when the start was affected. Under no circumstances may a barrier attendant hit a horse leaving the barriers with his hand or other object. If a horse refuses or is reluctant to jump it may not be assisted in anyway by a barrier attendant until it is retired from the event. (P.14 para 6.18).
In her evidence Ms Newman did not indicate that she raised any concerns with the Starter or Attendant that her horse was in difficulty prior to the field being dispatched. The films tend to indicate that the Barrier Attendant was holding on to MONACO’S ear prior to the start but it is definitely not clear from the head-on view that MONACO is being held as the barrier gate opens.
In our opinion MONACO turned its head as the gates opened and as a result began awkwardly. Therefore, it cannot be said that the prime reason for this was that it was being held at that time.
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: 8a15376ce335fe06f5024344e3af61f1
informantnumber: A13436
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 27/12/2020
hearing_title: Auckland RC 26 December 2020 - R 5 (request for ruling) - Chair, G Jones
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Hallmark Stud Handicap (Listed Race), the Trainer of MONACO, Mr S Ralph, lodged an Information requesting a Ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether MONACO was denied a fair start.
The basis for the request was due to MONACO being slow to leave its barrier stall and as a consequence it lost considerable ground at the start.
Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first four 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:
Using the head-on race film Mr S Ralph demonstrated the start of the race. He pointed out that MONACO was standing quietly in barrier 8 (one from the outside), with the Barrier Attendant alongside holding on to the horse’s ear. He said that MONACO is usually the last horse to be loaded into its barrier stall, but on this occasion, it was loaded earlier. He added that its ear was being held quite tightly by the Barrier Attendant. By inference it was Mr Ralph's submission that this caused MONACO to be slow to begin and was the prime reason for it losing several lengths at the start.
Mr D Ralph (representing the Connections) stated that generally when there is a delay in loading the horses into their respective barrier positions, MONACO is either loaded late or is the last horse to be loaded.
Ms Newman asked the Committee to take note of MONACO’S hind legs which she submitted indicated the horse was unsettled and resisting having its ear held by the Barrier Attendant. She added that MONACO is normally the last horse to be loaded into the barrier and on past occasions it is only held by a Barrier Attendant for about two seconds, but in this instance, it was held for some considerable time.
The Starter, Mr McGovern said that he was standing behind the stalls when the field left the barrier and could not see whether or not MONACO was being held by the Barrier Attendant. When queried by the Committee as to whether it was standard practice for horses that are unsettled or fractious to be held by their ear he replied in the affirmative.
On behalf of the Stewards, Mr Oatham submitted that MONACO was on the ‘Starters List’ of horses to be loaded late into their stalls. He said that on this occasion there were nine runners in the race and four of the nine horses were on the starters list requiring assistance from the Barrier Attendants. For that reason, MONACO may have been loaded a little earlier than normal.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage. There were four camera angles available to the Committee for this purpose, namely head-on; side on (2) and rear view.
The Committee noted that MONACO was slow to leave the barrier and lost several lengths. It was evident that the reason for this was not due to a mechanical failure of the starting stalls. According, this was eliminated as a causal factor.
The Committee spent some considerable time reviewing the films from all angles to determine whether the Barrier Attendant was holding on to MONACO’S ear at the timer the barrier gates opened. On the basis of the available films this could not be conclusively established to the requisite standard. That is, the Committee could not be comfortably satisfied on the balance of probabilities that it was more likely than not; MONACO was denied a fair start due to being held by its ear at the precise time the barrier stall opened.
Further we do not find that the Barrier Attendant did anything untoward to unduly affect the chances of MONACO obtaining a fair start. The Starters Manual (v.2, August 2020) is clear as to the role and responsibilities of Barrier Attendants; specifically, at p 14:
Whilst the primary role of a Barrier Attendant is to load horses into the barrier, they will also be called on to assist in pacifying a fractious horse and aiding the safety of a rider in the barrier stalls. When ‘staying up’ with a horse already loaded into the barriers, barrier attendants are directed they must remain alert and that as soon as the starter makes his final call, they must immediately release their hold on the horse irrespective of whether or not it is still fractious. This avoids confusion as to whether a horse was denied a fair start on grounds of a barrier attendant still having a hold of the horse’s head when the start was affected. Under no circumstances may a barrier attendant hit a horse leaving the barriers with his hand or other object. If a horse refuses or is reluctant to jump it may not be assisted in anyway by a barrier attendant until it is retired from the event. (P.14 para 6.18).
In her evidence Ms Newman did not indicate that she raised any concerns with the Starter or Attendant that her horse was in difficulty prior to the field being dispatched. The films tend to indicate that the Barrier Attendant was holding on to MONACO’S ear prior to the start but it is definitely not clear from the head-on view that MONACO is being held as the barrier gate opens.
In our opinion MONACO turned its head as the gates opened and as a result began awkwardly. Therefore, it cannot be said that the prime reason for this was that it was being held at that time.
Decision:
Accordingly, under the provisions of the Rule, the Committee was of the opinion that although MONACO began awkwardly it was not denied a fair start and we authorise the payment of dividends pursuant to our decision.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 632
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr S Ralph - Trainer of MONACO, Ms T Newman - Rider of MONACO, Mr D Ralph - representing the Connections of MONACO, Mr T McGovern - Starter
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
raceid: b3f3f8fb3b144a3e59cda4e37afd9a3c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
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race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 074c6f57c9fa4091c69cf7c4ac4946a1
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meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/12/2020
meet_title: Auckland RC - 26 December 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland RC