Auckland TC 26 June 2015 – R 1
ID: JCA15868
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 26 June 2015
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott
Race Date:
2015/06/26
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
Penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a $200 fine on Mr Young.
Facts:
This charge arises from the running of race number 1 the Have Your Christmas Function at Alex Park Trot 2200m. The information alleged that Mr P Young “permitted his horse to start from an incorrect barrier position which resulted in the other unruly runners being placed in restricted room ”.
Mr Young endorsed the information “I do admit the breach of the rule” and wish to be present”.
Rule 862(2) provides:
No horseman shall permit a horse to start and no horse shall start other than from its correct barrier position or in advance of its correct barrier position (either at a standing or mobile start), unless directed by the Starter in accordance with Rule 860(8).
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available head and side-on video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that horse number 9 AWA CATHRINE driven by Mr Young drew unruly position number 1. He said there were a total of 4 runners in the race starting from unruly positions and Mr Young was required to start behind the horse drawn barrier 6 on the frontline, FIRST VINTAGE. Mr Young manoeuvred AWA CATHRINE to the outer line of FIRST VINTAGE and in doing so restricted the room of the other 3 unruly horses. This resulted in them not having sufficient room to take evasive action when two of them broke. Mr Muirhead explained that Mr Young ought to have maintained his line behind FIRST VINTAGE.
Mr Young told the Committee that he has been a licensed driver since 1965 and that this rule was ambiguous and needed to be changed. He said that AWA CATHRINE had given her driver at her previous start problems at the start of the race. He said she tends to go backwards at the start. On this occasion he was seeking forward momentum to avoid going backwards. Mr Young said that in his opinion the horse drawn unruly position number 1 should have an advantage over other unruly horses and under the current rule this is not the case.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead referenced the JCA Penalty Guidelines advising that the starting point for a breach of this rule is set at $400 fine or 8 drives suspension. He submitted Mr Young has a clear driving record albeit he does not drive very often. He said this breach is in the medium range and given Mr Young’s limited driving opportunities a suspension in the vicinity of 4 weeks would be appropriate.
Mr Young submitted that it was a minor breach and suggested he should receive a warning. He added if a suspension was considered it should be no more than 2 weeks or a very light fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches. The guidelines establish a starting point of 8 drives or $400. JCA penalty listings provide penalties for the past 5 breaches of this rule and they range from $200 to $250 fines.
The Committee has taken into account Mr Young’s good driving record but noted he does not drive regularly. The Committee gives credit to Mr Young for his admission and we take cognisance of the factors raised in his explanation. We have assessed the breach at slightly below mid-range.
The Committee considered the viability of suspending Mr Young’s license and came to the conclusion that for any suspension to be meaningful it would need to be for an extended period of time given his limited driving opportunities. On that basis we believe a fine is the most appropriate penalty.
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: de7937ab4ad1f654a33e6386e6d28beb
informantnumber: A7421
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Incorrect barrier position
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 27/06/2015
hearing_title: Auckland TC 26 June 2015 - R 1
charge:
facts:
This charge arises from the running of race number 1 the Have Your Christmas Function at Alex Park Trot 2200m. The information alleged that Mr P Young “permitted his horse to start from an incorrect barrier position which resulted in the other unruly runners being placed in restricted room ”.
Mr Young endorsed the information “I do admit the breach of the rule” and wish to be present”.
Rule 862(2) provides:
No horseman shall permit a horse to start and no horse shall start other than from its correct barrier position or in advance of its correct barrier position (either at a standing or mobile start), unless directed by the Starter in accordance with Rule 860(8).
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of available head and side-on video footage. He told the Judicial Committee (the ‘Committee’) that horse number 9 AWA CATHRINE driven by Mr Young drew unruly position number 1. He said there were a total of 4 runners in the race starting from unruly positions and Mr Young was required to start behind the horse drawn barrier 6 on the frontline, FIRST VINTAGE. Mr Young manoeuvred AWA CATHRINE to the outer line of FIRST VINTAGE and in doing so restricted the room of the other 3 unruly horses. This resulted in them not having sufficient room to take evasive action when two of them broke. Mr Muirhead explained that Mr Young ought to have maintained his line behind FIRST VINTAGE.
Mr Young told the Committee that he has been a licensed driver since 1965 and that this rule was ambiguous and needed to be changed. He said that AWA CATHRINE had given her driver at her previous start problems at the start of the race. He said she tends to go backwards at the start. On this occasion he was seeking forward momentum to avoid going backwards. Mr Young said that in his opinion the horse drawn unruly position number 1 should have an advantage over other unruly horses and under the current rule this is not the case.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and is therefore proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead referenced the JCA Penalty Guidelines advising that the starting point for a breach of this rule is set at $400 fine or 8 drives suspension. He submitted Mr Young has a clear driving record albeit he does not drive very often. He said this breach is in the medium range and given Mr Young’s limited driving opportunities a suspension in the vicinity of 4 weeks would be appropriate.
Mr Young submitted that it was a minor breach and suggested he should receive a warning. He added if a suspension was considered it should be no more than 2 weeks or a very light fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
In assessing penalty the Committee has taken into account the submissions of both the Informant and Defendant and we have also considered the Penalty Guidelines for Committees as well as recent penalties for similar breaches. The guidelines establish a starting point of 8 drives or $400. JCA penalty listings provide penalties for the past 5 breaches of this rule and they range from $200 to $250 fines.
The Committee has taken into account Mr Young’s good driving record but noted he does not drive regularly. The Committee gives credit to Mr Young for his admission and we take cognisance of the factors raised in his explanation. We have assessed the breach at slightly below mid-range.
The Committee considered the viability of suspending Mr Young’s license and came to the conclusion that for any suspension to be meaningful it would need to be for an extended period of time given his limited driving opportunities. On that basis we believe a fine is the most appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Having taken all matters into account the Committee imposes a $200 fine on Mr Young.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 862(2)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead- Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr P Young- Senior Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4ddcb7b11905064cb2fc9a20b167ea1d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 1115ab7f916620733a3f1a5fd0e9d8ae
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/06/2015
meet_title: Auckland TC - 26 June 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "MemberRole": "Chair ", "MemberID": "GJones", "Member": "", "OtherExpenses": "0", "KMs": "28", "Total": "17.36", "kmprice": 17.359999999999999, "Approved": "on"}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: BScott
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC