Auckland RC 8 December 2012 – R 8
ID: JCA15449
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Auckland RC - 8 December 2012
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
RSeabrook
Race Date:
2012/12/08
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
As Mr Sweeney admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
We grant Mr Sweeney's request to seek a deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, we impose a suspension on Mr Sweeney which will commence after racing on 15 December 2012 and conclude after racing on 26 December 2012 (5 days).
Charge:
Following race 8, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The informant, Mr Oatham alleged that near the 950 metres Mr Sweeney permitted his mount (TRAPICHE) to shift in, crowding COOL STORM (A Calder) onto GINNER HART (N Harris) which clipped a heel and blundered.
Facts:
Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident by using all the available films. He pointed out to the committee on the head on film that Mr Sweeney was racing in a 3 wide position at the 1000 metre mark. Shortly after this point Mr Sweeney allowed his mount to move in when not the required distance clear of horses on his inside. This resulted in COOL STORM, being crowded which was then forced into the rightful running line of GINNER HART, which clipped a heel and blundered badly contacting the running rail. He said Mr Sweeney had placed horses on his inside in a vulnerable position and he had a responsibility to ride with duty of care.
Mr Sweeney said he had been squeezed out of a position earlier in the race and was trying to gather momentum again. He informed the committee that Mr Calder had called out to him but it was too late as the incident happened very quickly. He further stated that he was unaware that Mr Harris was racing inside Mr Calder and conceded he didn't react soon enough. Finally, he believed if the original incident had not occurred he would not have found himself in this present position.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Sweeney's record which showed 1 previous breach under this rule in the last 12 months. He said it was an excellent record and Mr Sweeney was upfront and honest with the stewards. Mr Oatham said the race was a mess in the early stages. He submitted the aggravating facts were the race was of Group 3 status and GINNER HART received a severe check, he assessed the overall carelessness as mid range.
Mr Sweeney submitted that he had firm commitments up to and including 15 December and was seeking a deferment to his proposed suspension.
In response to a question from the committee, Mr Sweeney informed us that he was available to ride everywhere. He further stated that Mr Hamilton, South Island trainer, had spoken to him previously about riding down south.
When the committee asked Mr Sweeney if he had any commitments after 15 December, he was unable to provide us with any, this included Mr Hamilton.
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 for this careless riding charge. The mitigating factors are Mr Sweeney's admission of the breach and his excellent record. The significant aggravating facts are Mr Sweeney's level of carelessness which we assess as above mid range, we note that Mr Harris was very lucky not to be dislodged from his mount because of Mr Sweeney’s actions and the status of the race, a Group 3 worth $70,000.
Finally, we did take into account the incident that occurred prior to the 1,000 metres. We accept there was some minor contribution from that incident. For this reason, we believe an appropriate penalty is a reduction from 6 days to 5.
The committee has not included any South Island dates in this penalty as there was no evidence provided to support that Mr Sweeney was intending to ride at Dunedin, Ashburton or Gore. We note that Mr Sweeney has not ridden at any of these race courses this year.
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: 946767b65bc8aacd5bc7996d6d6ed787
informantnumber: A4874
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/11/2012
hearing_title: Auckland RC 8 December 2012 - R 8
charge:
Following race 8, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The informant, Mr Oatham alleged that near the 950 metres Mr Sweeney permitted his mount (TRAPICHE) to shift in, crowding COOL STORM (A Calder) onto GINNER HART (N Harris) which clipped a heel and blundered.
facts:
Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident by using all the available films. He pointed out to the committee on the head on film that Mr Sweeney was racing in a 3 wide position at the 1000 metre mark. Shortly after this point Mr Sweeney allowed his mount to move in when not the required distance clear of horses on his inside. This resulted in COOL STORM, being crowded which was then forced into the rightful running line of GINNER HART, which clipped a heel and blundered badly contacting the running rail. He said Mr Sweeney had placed horses on his inside in a vulnerable position and he had a responsibility to ride with duty of care.
Mr Sweeney said he had been squeezed out of a position earlier in the race and was trying to gather momentum again. He informed the committee that Mr Calder had called out to him but it was too late as the incident happened very quickly. He further stated that he was unaware that Mr Harris was racing inside Mr Calder and conceded he didn't react soon enough. Finally, he believed if the original incident had not occurred he would not have found himself in this present position.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Sweeney admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mr Sweeney's record which showed 1 previous breach under this rule in the last 12 months. He said it was an excellent record and Mr Sweeney was upfront and honest with the stewards. Mr Oatham said the race was a mess in the early stages. He submitted the aggravating facts were the race was of Group 3 status and GINNER HART received a severe check, he assessed the overall carelessness as mid range.
Mr Sweeney submitted that he had firm commitments up to and including 15 December and was seeking a deferment to his proposed suspension.
In response to a question from the committee, Mr Sweeney informed us that he was available to ride everywhere. He further stated that Mr Hamilton, South Island trainer, had spoken to him previously about riding down south.
When the committee asked Mr Sweeney if he had any commitments after 15 December, he was unable to provide us with any, this included Mr Hamilton.
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 for this careless riding charge. The mitigating factors are Mr Sweeney's admission of the breach and his excellent record. The significant aggravating facts are Mr Sweeney's level of carelessness which we assess as above mid range, we note that Mr Harris was very lucky not to be dislodged from his mount because of Mr Sweeney’s actions and the status of the race, a Group 3 worth $70,000.
Finally, we did take into account the incident that occurred prior to the 1,000 metres. We accept there was some minor contribution from that incident. For this reason, we believe an appropriate penalty is a reduction from 6 days to 5.
The committee has not included any South Island dates in this penalty as there was no evidence provided to support that Mr Sweeney was intending to ride at Dunedin, Ashburton or Gore. We note that Mr Sweeney has not ridden at any of these race courses this year.
penalty:
We grant Mr Sweeney's request to seek a deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, we impose a suspension on Mr Sweeney which will commence after racing on 15 December 2012 and conclude after racing on 26 December 2012 (5 days).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Sweeney - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d807fc7dd1b0b06f5b59011b0d144e31
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 89be53e719f719146de87f41591e793b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 08/12/2012
meet_title: Auckland RC - 8 December 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: RSeabrook
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland RC