Archive Decision

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Auckland TC 2 March 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Mr B J Scott

ID: JCA14889

Applicant:
Mr N Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr T A Cameron - Junior Driver

Other Person:
Mr S Phelan - Senior Horseman assisting Mr Cameron

Information Number:
A10702

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Driving inside the Marker Pegs

Rules:
Rule 869(7A)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 2 March 2018

Meet Chair:
BScott

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2018/03/02

Race Number:
R 5

Decision:

The breach is admitted and the charge is upheld.

Penalty:

This Committee imposes a fine of $450.00 on Mr Cameron.

Facts:

Following the running of the SIMS PACIFIC METALS NORTHERN BREEDERS HANDICAP TROT an Information was lodged by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren against Junior Driver Mr T A Cameron  alleging that Mr Cameron shifted his horse PRINCESS MACKENDON inwards early in the run home and raced over several marker pegs.

Rule 869(7A)(b) provides: Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line.

Mr Cameron was present at the Hearing and told the Committee that he understood the Rule and he admitted the breach. Mr Cameron as a Junior Driver was assisted by Senior Horseman Mr S Phelan.

Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards relied on the films shown in the Protest Hearing and Mr Cameron consented to those films being used in evidence in this Hearing.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Ydgren said that although Mr Cameron was a Junior Driver he has had 415 drives and that included 82 drives this season. He said that the JCA Guidelines provided for a starting point penalty of a suspension of Licence for 4 drives or a $200.00 fine.

He said that in this case however the race was a Group 3 race for a stake of $30,000.00 and although it did not qualify as a major race the fact that it was a Group 3 race meant that there should be an uplift in the starting point penalty.

He also said that another aggravating factor for the Committee to take into account was the fact that Mr Cameron's drive PRINCESS MACKENDON was disqualified from the race.

In mitigation Mr Ydgren said that the Committee should take into account Mr Cameron's status as a Junior Driver, his good record under this Rule and his admission of the breach.

In answer to a question from the Committee he said that the incident was in the mid range of seriousness.

He submitted that a fine of $400.00 would be appropriate.

Mr Phelan on behalf of Mr Cameron submitted that after taking all matters into account any fine should be at the lower end.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has had the benefit of viewing the films in the Protest Hearing and we have also listened to the submissions from the parties.

We find that the level of seriousness in this incident is in the mid to high range. We have told Mr Cameron that a relegation in a Group 3 race is a serious aggravating factor and one that requires a considerable uplift in penalty. We told Mr Cameron that as far as the Protest was concerned the evidence was very clear and we had no difficulty in upholding the Protest. We noted that it was a very clear action on Mr Cameron's part to drive into  (and continue to drive through) a gap where there was insufficient room.

A further aggravating factor was that the owners of PRINCESS MACKENDON lost any stake money as a result of the disqualification and the betting public missed out because the horse was the second favourite.

We believe that a proper  starting point penalty in this instance was a fine of $550.00 but against that we give Mr Cameron credit for his status as a Junior Driver (albeit an experienced one), his good record under this Rule and his admission of the breach which was inevitable given the compelling video evidence.

After taking into account the aggravating factors and giving credit for the mitigating factors we believe that a fine of $450.00 is appropriate.

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: 88897af5b85b9343a407a0b08427a1d9


informantnumber: A10702


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Driving inside the Marker Pegs


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 03/03/2018


hearing_title: Auckland TC 2 March 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Mr B J Scott


charge:


facts:

Following the running of the SIMS PACIFIC METALS NORTHERN BREEDERS HANDICAP TROT an Information was lodged by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren against Junior Driver Mr T A Cameron  alleging that Mr Cameron shifted his horse PRINCESS MACKENDON inwards early in the run home and raced over several marker pegs.

Rule 869(7A)(b) provides: Every horseman who moves inwards shall ensure that any part of the sulky does not protrude inside the marker line.

Mr Cameron was present at the Hearing and told the Committee that he understood the Rule and he admitted the breach. Mr Cameron as a Junior Driver was assisted by Senior Horseman Mr S Phelan.

Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards relied on the films shown in the Protest Hearing and Mr Cameron consented to those films being used in evidence in this Hearing.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

The breach is admitted and the charge is upheld.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Ydgren said that although Mr Cameron was a Junior Driver he has had 415 drives and that included 82 drives this season. He said that the JCA Guidelines provided for a starting point penalty of a suspension of Licence for 4 drives or a $200.00 fine.

He said that in this case however the race was a Group 3 race for a stake of $30,000.00 and although it did not qualify as a major race the fact that it was a Group 3 race meant that there should be an uplift in the starting point penalty.

He also said that another aggravating factor for the Committee to take into account was the fact that Mr Cameron's drive PRINCESS MACKENDON was disqualified from the race.

In mitigation Mr Ydgren said that the Committee should take into account Mr Cameron's status as a Junior Driver, his good record under this Rule and his admission of the breach.

In answer to a question from the Committee he said that the incident was in the mid range of seriousness.

He submitted that a fine of $400.00 would be appropriate.

Mr Phelan on behalf of Mr Cameron submitted that after taking all matters into account any fine should be at the lower end.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has had the benefit of viewing the films in the Protest Hearing and we have also listened to the submissions from the parties.

We find that the level of seriousness in this incident is in the mid to high range. We have told Mr Cameron that a relegation in a Group 3 race is a serious aggravating factor and one that requires a considerable uplift in penalty. We told Mr Cameron that as far as the Protest was concerned the evidence was very clear and we had no difficulty in upholding the Protest. We noted that it was a very clear action on Mr Cameron's part to drive into  (and continue to drive through) a gap where there was insufficient room.

A further aggravating factor was that the owners of PRINCESS MACKENDON lost any stake money as a result of the disqualification and the betting public missed out because the horse was the second favourite.

We believe that a proper  starting point penalty in this instance was a fine of $550.00 but against that we give Mr Cameron credit for his status as a Junior Driver (albeit an experienced one), his good record under this Rule and his admission of the breach which was inevitable given the compelling video evidence.

After taking into account the aggravating factors and giving credit for the mitigating factors we believe that a fine of $450.00 is appropriate.


penalty:

This Committee imposes a fine of $450.00 on Mr Cameron.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 869(7A)(b)


Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr T A Cameron - Junior Driver


Otherperson: Mr S Phelan - Senior Horseman assisting Mr Cameron


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 6e6592b18990bce62c9fbee5d86f2154


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 5


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 120323607600693e723f26e7380a77e9


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 02/03/2018


meet_title: Auckland TC - 2 March 2018


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: auckland-tc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: BScott


meet_pm1: SChing


meet_pm2: none


name: Auckland TC