Auckland TC 16 March 2012 – R 1 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA12119
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 16 March 2012
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2012/03/16
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
The protest was upheld and placings confirmed as follows:
1st – Spur Me On
2nd – Saffron Castleton
3rd – Zimple
4th – Mollyz Luck
In accordance with its decision the committee authorised payment of dividends.
Facts:
This is a contested protest instigated by Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead following the running of race one. The basis of the protest is that with approximately 300 metres to run, Zimple (Mrs L Neal) placed 1st by the Judge caused interference to the 3rd placegetter, Saffron Castleton (Mr Z Butcher). The provisional placings were:
1st – Zimple No 2
2nd – Spur me On No 1
3rd – Saffron Castleton No 4
4th – Mollyz Luck No 3
The official margins were 3 ½ L, 3L, 2 ¾ L
Rule 869 4(A) provides that:
“No horse shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with any other horse or its progress”.
This rule was read to all parties present.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) that as the field approached the 300 metre mark Zimple (Mrs L Neal) was in the lead and Saffron Castleton (Mr Z Butcher) was directly behind in the trail. Zimple ran out approximately one cart width and Saffron Castleton moved into the gap on the running line. At the same time, Mrs Neal allowed Zimple to shift back onto the running line when not sufficiently clear. Saffron Castleton reacted by breaking into a gallop for several strides and lost considerable ground.
Mr Butcher submitted that he was trailing Zimple into the home bend. He said that Zimple ran out about one cart width. He said that his horse was hanging in slightly and surged into the gap. At that point he anticipated that Mrs Neal may attempt to straighten and regain her position on the rails, so he called out to her. He said that Zimple did move in and this caused Saffron Castleton to break and lose several lengths.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Butcher submitted that there was sufficient room on the rails for him to improve on the inside of Zimple and that he was entitled to take up a better position. Mr Butcher said that he did not know if the break was as a result of the two horses making contact with each other.
Mrs Neal submitted that the horses were “baby” (two year old) trotters. She acknowledged that Zimple did run off slightly and move back onto the running line. She said that there was no contact between Zimple and Saffron Castleton and that Saffron Castleton had broken before Zimple moved back inwards.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties. The Committee's assessment of the incident is that Zimple did shift outwards, approximately one cart width, at about the 300 metre mark. Mrs Neal corrected Zimple and moved back into the running line. At this point in time, Mr Butcher had moved his drive inside of Zimple and as a result ran out of running room. As a consequence, Saffron Castleton broke, crossed over two pylons, and lost several lengths.
The Committee noted that Saffron Castleton finished the race off strongly once it regained its correct gait. It is the view of the Committee that Zimple gained an advantage over Saffron Castleton as a result of the interference and but for the interference would have finished in a better position.
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: 343fbdec244eed76d75752e9500d6692
informantnumber: 13427
horsename: ZIMPLE
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 12/03/2012
hearing_title: Auckland TC 16 March 2012 - R 1 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
This is a contested protest instigated by Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead following the running of race one. The basis of the protest is that with approximately 300 metres to run, Zimple (Mrs L Neal) placed 1st by the Judge caused interference to the 3rd placegetter, Saffron Castleton (Mr Z Butcher). The provisional placings were:
1st – Zimple No 2
2nd – Spur me On No 1
3rd – Saffron Castleton No 4
4th – Mollyz Luck No 3
The official margins were 3 ½ L, 3L, 2 ¾ L
Rule 869 4(A) provides that:
“No horse shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with any other horse or its progress”.
This rule was read to all parties present.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) that as the field approached the 300 metre mark Zimple (Mrs L Neal) was in the lead and Saffron Castleton (Mr Z Butcher) was directly behind in the trail. Zimple ran out approximately one cart width and Saffron Castleton moved into the gap on the running line. At the same time, Mrs Neal allowed Zimple to shift back onto the running line when not sufficiently clear. Saffron Castleton reacted by breaking into a gallop for several strides and lost considerable ground.
Mr Butcher submitted that he was trailing Zimple into the home bend. He said that Zimple ran out about one cart width. He said that his horse was hanging in slightly and surged into the gap. At that point he anticipated that Mrs Neal may attempt to straighten and regain her position on the rails, so he called out to her. He said that Zimple did move in and this caused Saffron Castleton to break and lose several lengths.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Butcher submitted that there was sufficient room on the rails for him to improve on the inside of Zimple and that he was entitled to take up a better position. Mr Butcher said that he did not know if the break was as a result of the two horses making contact with each other.
Mrs Neal submitted that the horses were “baby” (two year old) trotters. She acknowledged that Zimple did run off slightly and move back onto the running line. She said that there was no contact between Zimple and Saffron Castleton and that Saffron Castleton had broken before Zimple moved back inwards.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties. The Committee's assessment of the incident is that Zimple did shift outwards, approximately one cart width, at about the 300 metre mark. Mrs Neal corrected Zimple and moved back into the running line. At this point in time, Mr Butcher had moved his drive inside of Zimple and as a result ran out of running room. As a consequence, Saffron Castleton broke, crossed over two pylons, and lost several lengths.
The Committee noted that Saffron Castleton finished the race off strongly once it regained its correct gait. It is the view of the Committee that Zimple gained an advantage over Saffron Castleton as a result of the interference and but for the interference would have finished in a better position.
Decision:
The protest was upheld and placings confirmed as follows:
1st – Spur Me On
2nd – Saffron Castleton
3rd – Zimple
4th – Mollyz Luck
In accordance with its decision the committee authorised payment of dividends.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(4)(a) and 8(b)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr Z Butcher - Driver of SAFFRON CASTLETON
Respondent: Mrs L Neal - Trainer, Driver and Part Owner of ZIMPLE
StipendSteward:
raceid: f6b9ce2f5dea17cf0fabeb5f94790e2c
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6130f147ddd4faccd3e17646d611c2e6
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/03/2012
meet_title: Auckland TC - 16 March 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "GJones", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "26", "Total": "16.12", "kmprice": 16.120000000000001, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC