Auckland TC 27 July 2012 – R 8 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA11689
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 27 July 2012
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2012/07/27
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
The protest is dismissed and the provisional judge’s placings stand. Belle De Jour remains in 4th place and Tick the Boxes and Eagle Eye remain placed 5th and 7th respectively. 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 eight. The basis of the protest is that Belle De Jour (M Howard) interfered with Eagle Eyes (G Wolfenden) with approximately 130 metres to run. Eagle Eyes subsequently impeded Tick the Boxes (Z Butcher). Belle De Jour was provisionally placed 4th, Tick the Boxes and Eagle Eyes were provisionally placed 5th and 7th respectively.
Rule 869 provides that:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and or any other horse or its progress.
(4A) No horse shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and or any other horse or its progress.
(8) The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to Rule 1003 thereof place any horse which:
a) may have gained an advantage by any conduct or interference prohibited by any preceding provision of this Rule and/or
b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses –immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He asked the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) to consider the close margin (less than a half head) between the 4th and 5th horses. He said that racing was tight in the final 200 metres and Belle De Jour was seeking to improve inwards and checked Eagle Eye who then impeded Tick the Boxes.
Mr Z Butcher submitted that racing was tight over the concluding stages and his horse’s chances were not affected. He said that he was finishing off the race as well as he could. He further stated that he never slowed down and did not feel as though he was impeded as a result of the incident.
Mr Wolfenden submitted that racing did get tight, but his horse had “done his dash” and was never going to finish in a closer position. He further stated that he thought Mr Butcher's horse was more inconvenienced than his due to the fact that Eagle Eyes was pushed down onto Tick the Boxes as a result of Belle De Jour’s inward movement.
Mr Howard submitted that he had nothing to say other than he did move inward but there was a gap and Mr Wolfenden’s horse was tiring.
In summing up Mr Muirhead submitted that he was surprised by Mr Butcher’s assessment of the incident and advised that it was up to the Committee to make their own assessment. He said the steward’s view is that Belle De Jour did gain an advantage.
In summing up Mr Howard submitted although his horse moved slightly inward he believed that at least at the start of the manoeuvre he had plenty of room.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties, viewed the video of the concluding stages of the race several times and took into account the margin between 4th and 5th.
The Committee's assessment of the incident is that Belle De Jour did shift inwards in the run to the finish line and impeded Eagle Eyes. As a result Tick the Boxes may have been momentarily held up. But Mr Butcher in anticipation moved inwards to avoid being impeded and was still able to finish the race off strongly. This assessment is consistent with Mr Butcher’s submission and the video evidence.
On that basis the protest is not upheld.
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: 225cbb9e2b514a86196ef53036769b53
informantnumber: 2472
horsename: BELLE DE JOUR
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 26/07/2012
hearing_title: Auckland TC 27 July 2012 - R 8 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
This is a contested protest instigated by Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead following the running of race eight. The basis of the protest is that Belle De Jour (M Howard) interfered with Eagle Eyes (G Wolfenden) with approximately 130 metres to run. Eagle Eyes subsequently impeded Tick the Boxes (Z Butcher). Belle De Jour was provisionally placed 4th, Tick the Boxes and Eagle Eyes were provisionally placed 5th and 7th respectively.
Rule 869 provides that:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and or any other horse or its progress.
(4A) No horse shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and or any other horse or its progress.
(8) The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to Rule 1003 thereof place any horse which:
a) may have gained an advantage by any conduct or interference prohibited by any preceding provision of this Rule and/or
b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses –immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident by way of video footage. He asked the Judicial Committee (the “Committee”) to consider the close margin (less than a half head) between the 4th and 5th horses. He said that racing was tight in the final 200 metres and Belle De Jour was seeking to improve inwards and checked Eagle Eye who then impeded Tick the Boxes.
Mr Z Butcher submitted that racing was tight over the concluding stages and his horse’s chances were not affected. He said that he was finishing off the race as well as he could. He further stated that he never slowed down and did not feel as though he was impeded as a result of the incident.
Mr Wolfenden submitted that racing did get tight, but his horse had “done his dash” and was never going to finish in a closer position. He further stated that he thought Mr Butcher's horse was more inconvenienced than his due to the fact that Eagle Eyes was pushed down onto Tick the Boxes as a result of Belle De Jour’s inward movement.
Mr Howard submitted that he had nothing to say other than he did move inward but there was a gap and Mr Wolfenden’s horse was tiring.
In summing up Mr Muirhead submitted that he was surprised by Mr Butcher’s assessment of the incident and advised that it was up to the Committee to make their own assessment. He said the steward’s view is that Belle De Jour did gain an advantage.
In summing up Mr Howard submitted although his horse moved slightly inward he believed that at least at the start of the manoeuvre he had plenty of room.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee carefully considered the submissions of all parties, viewed the video of the concluding stages of the race several times and took into account the margin between 4th and 5th.
The Committee's assessment of the incident is that Belle De Jour did shift inwards in the run to the finish line and impeded Eagle Eyes. As a result Tick the Boxes may have been momentarily held up. But Mr Butcher in anticipation moved inwards to avoid being impeded and was still able to finish the race off strongly. This assessment is consistent with Mr Butcher’s submission and the video evidence.
On that basis the protest is not upheld.
Decision:
The protest is dismissed and the provisional judge’s placings stand. Belle De Jour remains in 4th place and Tick the Boxes and Eagle Eye remain placed 5th and 7th respectively. In accordance with its decision the Committee authorised payment of dividends.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(4), (4A) and 8(b)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr Z Butcher - Junior Horseman and Driver of TICK THE BOXES, Mr G Wolfenden - Senior Horseman and Driver of EAGLE EYES, Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward, Mr M Howard - Senior Horseman, Driver and Owner of BELLE DE JOUR
Respondent: Mr M Howard - Senior Horseman, Driver and Owner of BELLE DE JOUR
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4f0a4acdc372c0cf4e9e1682783a95ae
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 826706bd4420a98a4c37b1abbc161e25
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/07/2012
meet_title: Auckland TC - 27 July 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