Auckland TC 16 March 2012 – R 10 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA12398
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 16 March 2012
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2012/03/16
Race Number:
R 10
Decision:
The protest was upheld and placings confirmed as follows:
1st – Stiletto Point No 5
2nd – Lord Diego No 8
3rd – Mighty Creation No 9
4th – Jonny Wilkinson No 2
In accordance with its decision the committee authorised payment of dividends.
Facts:
This is a contested protest instigated by Mr J Muirhead (Stipendiary Steward) following the running of race 10. It is alleged that Notverychristianlike, driven by Mr J Stormont raced inside the marker line in excess of 30 metres at about the 500 metre mark. The provisional placings were:
1st – Stiletto Point No 5
2nd – Lord Diego No 8
3rd – Mighty Creation No 9
4th – Notverychristianlike No 3
5th – Jonny Wilkinson No 2
Rule 869 (7A) provides that:
Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure:
a) That contact is not made with any marker
b) That any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line
Rule 869 (7B) provides that:
Where any horse or its sulky wheel moves inside the track marker line for more than 30 metres in the last 600 metres of a race the horse shall be disqualified from that race except where:
a) It is established that the breach was caused by interference by another horse or horseman;
b) It is established the horse did not gain any advantage from the breach in its finishing place or position.
This rule was read to all parties present. Mr Stormont advised the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) that he understood the rule and that he was representing the connections of the horse Notverychristianlike.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He submitted that Mr Stormont, driving Notverychristianlike was last in the running line with approximately 500 metres to run. He said that Notverychristianlike ran over at least 5 pylons.
Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr Stormont continued to drive inside the marker line for a distance of between 40 and 50 metres. He further submitted that had he corrected his horse he would have lost momentum and would not have gained any advantage, however Mr Stormont chose not to correct his horse. Mr Muirhead said that Notverychristianlike carried on finishing in 4th place, only marginally ahead of Jonny Wilkinson who placed 5th.
Mr Stormont submitted that he did not gain any advantage. He stated that when he hit the first pylon he lost ground. He submitted that had he tried to straighten his horse it may have broken.
In summing up Mr Muirhead submitted that the relevant rule provided some flexibility in that it specifically referred to a horse or sulky wheel being inside the marker line for more than 30 metres. And there is an expectation that within the 30 metres a driver would take action to correct his horse. Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr Stormont did not take the necessary action.
In summing up Mr Stormont submitted that “driving a horse is not like driving a car and you just can’t pull the rein and yank out”.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties and viewed the video footage of the incident several times. The Committee's assessment is that Notverychristianlike did race inside the marker line during the last 600 metres of the race for a distance in excess of 30 metres. There was no contributing interference from any other horse or horseman.
The Committee's view is that Notverychristianlike did gain an advantage on other runners in the race by effectively ‘cutting the corner’ and had the driver corrected the horse in a more timely manner it is inevitable that it would have lost ground. The Committee took into account the margin between 4th and 5th place which was less than half a length.
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: 580802af908670a81db1a762ec565f5e
informantnumber: 13428
horsename: NOTVERYCHRISTIANLIKE
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 12/03/2012
hearing_title: Auckland TC 16 March 2012 - R 10 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
This is a contested protest instigated by Mr J Muirhead (Stipendiary Steward) following the running of race 10. It is alleged that Notverychristianlike, driven by Mr J Stormont raced inside the marker line in excess of 30 metres at about the 500 metre mark. The provisional placings were:
1st – Stiletto Point No 5
2nd – Lord Diego No 8
3rd – Mighty Creation No 9
4th – Notverychristianlike No 3
5th – Jonny Wilkinson No 2
Rule 869 (7A) provides that:
Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure:
a) That contact is not made with any marker
b) That any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line
Rule 869 (7B) provides that:
Where any horse or its sulky wheel moves inside the track marker line for more than 30 metres in the last 600 metres of a race the horse shall be disqualified from that race except where:
a) It is established that the breach was caused by interference by another horse or horseman;
b) It is established the horse did not gain any advantage from the breach in its finishing place or position.
This rule was read to all parties present. Mr Stormont advised the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) that he understood the rule and that he was representing the connections of the horse Notverychristianlike.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He submitted that Mr Stormont, driving Notverychristianlike was last in the running line with approximately 500 metres to run. He said that Notverychristianlike ran over at least 5 pylons.
Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr Stormont continued to drive inside the marker line for a distance of between 40 and 50 metres. He further submitted that had he corrected his horse he would have lost momentum and would not have gained any advantage, however Mr Stormont chose not to correct his horse. Mr Muirhead said that Notverychristianlike carried on finishing in 4th place, only marginally ahead of Jonny Wilkinson who placed 5th.
Mr Stormont submitted that he did not gain any advantage. He stated that when he hit the first pylon he lost ground. He submitted that had he tried to straighten his horse it may have broken.
In summing up Mr Muirhead submitted that the relevant rule provided some flexibility in that it specifically referred to a horse or sulky wheel being inside the marker line for more than 30 metres. And there is an expectation that within the 30 metres a driver would take action to correct his horse. Mr Muirhead submitted that Mr Stormont did not take the necessary action.
In summing up Mr Stormont submitted that “driving a horse is not like driving a car and you just can’t pull the rein and yank out”.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties and viewed the video footage of the incident several times. The Committee's assessment is that Notverychristianlike did race inside the marker line during the last 600 metres of the race for a distance in excess of 30 metres. There was no contributing interference from any other horse or horseman.
The Committee's view is that Notverychristianlike did gain an advantage on other runners in the race by effectively ‘cutting the corner’ and had the driver corrected the horse in a more timely manner it is inevitable that it would have lost ground. The Committee took into account the margin between 4th and 5th place which was less than half a length.
Decision:
The protest was upheld and placings confirmed as follows:
1st – Stiletto Point No 5
2nd – Lord Diego No 8
3rd – Mighty Creation No 9
4th – Jonny Wilkinson No 2
In accordance with its decision the committee authorised payment of dividends.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(7A)and(7B)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Stormont - representing the connections of NOTVERYCHRISTIANLIKE
Respondent: Mr J Stormont - Driver of NOTVERYCHRISTIANLIKE
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9842c32862792c59281677663d3bbdb2
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 10
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