Auckland TC 9 March 2012 – R 6 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA14551
Meet Title:
Auckland TC - 9 March 2012
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
GJones
Race Date:
2012/03/09
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
The protest is dismissed and it is ordered that dividends and stakes are to be paid in accordance with the Judge's official placings.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6 an Information Instigating a Protest was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr N G McIntyre against the 3rd placing of SKY FALCON (Driver Z Butcher) on the grounds of improving inside the marker line for approximately 80 metres from just before the home turn.
Rule 869(7B) provides: where any horse or its sulky wheel moves inside the track marker line for more than 30 metres in 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 its horseman:
or
(b) it is established the horse did not gain any advantage from the breach in its finishing place or position.
Mr Butcher advised the Committee that the protest was contested and that he was representing the connections of SKY FALCON. Mr DJ Butcher was present to assist Mr Z Butcher.
Mr McIntyre gave evidence and said that he was watching the race from the Stewards' position in the main stand and that prior to the home turn he saw SKY FALCON move inside the marker line for about 80 metres. The horse improved its position while inside the marker line. He said that it improved inside STAR OF VAN GOGH (Driver K Barron) and LUKSAM (Driver T Mitchell).
Mr Barron gave evidence and said that prior to the turn his horse STAR OF VAN GOGH was trailing on the marker line and his sulky locked wheels with that of LUKSAM which was on its outside. He said that the effect was like having a brake applied to his horse and he was stopped dead in his tracks. He had to take action to unlock the wheels and this took some time.
Mr Mitchell as the driver of LUKSAM confirmed Mr Barron's evidence.
Mr Butcher said that once the 2 horses in front of him locked wheels and were stopping he had nowhere to go and his only option was to go inside the marker line.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr McIntyre said that Mr Butcher took advantage of going inside the marker line and improved his position.
Mr Butcher said that because of what was happening with the 2 horses in front of him he had to think of his own safety and that of his horse. His only option was to go inside that marker line and he did so for safety reasons.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee has listened to very clear evidence from the Drivers and has watched the films on a number of occasions. Clearly the sulkies of Mr Barron and Mr Mitchell locked wheels at a vital part of the race when the speed was on. The locking of wheels had a dramatic effect on the 2 horses involved. The incident caused interference to SKY FALCON because it interfered with its progress.
Mr Butcher was immediately behind this incident and the Committee agrees that his only option was to go inside the marker line and he did so for safety reasons.
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: 91765b3d89878555ca999a060cb88d10
informantnumber: 13426
horsename: SKY FALCON
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 12/03/2012
hearing_title: Auckland TC 9 March 2012 - R 6 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6 an Information Instigating a Protest was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr N G McIntyre against the 3rd placing of SKY FALCON (Driver Z Butcher) on the grounds of improving inside the marker line for approximately 80 metres from just before the home turn.
Rule 869(7B) provides: where any horse or its sulky wheel moves inside the track marker line for more than 30 metres in 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 its horseman:
or
(b) it is established the horse did not gain any advantage from the breach in its finishing place or position.
Mr Butcher advised the Committee that the protest was contested and that he was representing the connections of SKY FALCON. Mr DJ Butcher was present to assist Mr Z Butcher.
Mr McIntyre gave evidence and said that he was watching the race from the Stewards' position in the main stand and that prior to the home turn he saw SKY FALCON move inside the marker line for about 80 metres. The horse improved its position while inside the marker line. He said that it improved inside STAR OF VAN GOGH (Driver K Barron) and LUKSAM (Driver T Mitchell).
Mr Barron gave evidence and said that prior to the turn his horse STAR OF VAN GOGH was trailing on the marker line and his sulky locked wheels with that of LUKSAM which was on its outside. He said that the effect was like having a brake applied to his horse and he was stopped dead in his tracks. He had to take action to unlock the wheels and this took some time.
Mr Mitchell as the driver of LUKSAM confirmed Mr Barron's evidence.
Mr Butcher said that once the 2 horses in front of him locked wheels and were stopping he had nowhere to go and his only option was to go inside the marker line.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr McIntyre said that Mr Butcher took advantage of going inside the marker line and improved his position.
Mr Butcher said that because of what was happening with the 2 horses in front of him he had to think of his own safety and that of his horse. His only option was to go inside that marker line and he did so for safety reasons.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee has listened to very clear evidence from the Drivers and has watched the films on a number of occasions. Clearly the sulkies of Mr Barron and Mr Mitchell locked wheels at a vital part of the race when the speed was on. The locking of wheels had a dramatic effect on the 2 horses involved. The incident caused interference to SKY FALCON because it interfered with its progress.
Mr Butcher was immediately behind this incident and the Committee agrees that his only option was to go inside the marker line and he did so for safety reasons.
Decision:
The protest is dismissed and it is ordered that dividends and stakes are to be paid in accordance with the Judge's official placings.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: Rule 869(7B)
Informant: Mr N G McIntyre - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr D Butcher - Assisting Mr Z Butcher, Mr Z Butcher - Licensed Junior Horseman, Mr K Barron - Licensed Horseman
Respondent: Mr Z Butcher - Driver of SKY FALCON
StipendSteward:
raceid: b241dcb27909fc612b94c92f4f0d2cf3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 09cd18e5c525b51de1e27a00e4ba1ff3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 09/03/2012
meet_title: Auckland TC - 9 March 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km: [{"Comment": [], "kmprice": 65.719999999999999, "MemberID": "BScott", "Member": "", "KMs": "106", "OtherExpenses": "0", "Total": 65.719999999999999, "MemberRole": "Chair ", "Approved": []}]
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: auckland-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: BScott
meet_pm1: GJones
meet_pm2: none
name: Auckland TC