Banks Peninsula TC 26 January 2020 – R 10 (adjourned heard 6 February 2020 at Rangiora – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA19676
Hearing Type (Code):
harness-racing
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 26 January 2020
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2020/01/26
Race Number:
R 10
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Ms CM Tibbs, Stipendiary Steward
Respondent: Mr MJ Anderson, Licensed Open Driver
Information No: A11244
Meeting: Banks Peninsula Trotting Club
Date: 26 January 2020 (heard at Rangiora on 6 February 2020)
Venue: Motukarara Racecourse, Motukarara
Rule No: 869(3)(b)
Race: 10
Judicial Committee: Mr RG McKenzie, Chairman – Mr SC Ching, Member
Also Present: Mr SP Renault – Stipendiary Steward, Miss KA Butt – Licensed Open Driver
Plea: Denied
FACTS:
Following the running of Race 10, Crate & Barrel Leeston Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Ms CM Tibbs, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr MJ Anderson, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that Mr Anderson, as the driver of ALREADY GONE in the race, “drove carelessly near the 300 metres by shifting outwards checking SAGANO (KA Butt) which broke”.
The Information was filed with the Judicial Committee at the race meeting and adjourned sine die, Mr Anderson having left the course. The Information was subsequently served on Mr Anderson on 1 February 2020. The hearing of the Information took place at the race meeting of Amberley TC at Rangiora on 6 February 2020.
Mr Anderson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he did not admit the breach, and he confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3)-No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
SUBMISSIONS:
Ms Tibbs had Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, show the available video replays of the final 400-500 metres of the race. He pointed out ALREADY GONE, driven by Mr Anderson, racing three places back on the pylons nearing the home turn. SAGANO, driven by Miss Butt, was racing four places back, following Mr Anderson.
After turning for home, Mr Anderson attempted a run in the passing lane, Mr Renault said. At that stage, JETENARA (G D O’Reilly), ahead of him shifted into the passing lane, meaning Mr Anderson was blocked for a run. Mr Renault pointed to Mr Anderson go inwards, driving his horse forward with the whip. When the run was not available, Mr Anderson then shifted ground outwards driving forward with the whip. In the meantime, Miss Butt had improved to his outside and the near front leg of her runner made contact with Mr Anderson’s sulky wheel, resulting in her horse breaking, Mr Renault submitted.
Miss Butt said that, turning for home, her horse was racing four places back and following Mr Anderson’s runner. Mr Anderson’s horse then went down into the passing lane. She had attempted to take a gap between Mr Anderson and IT’S A DEAL (RE Cameron) and did so at some speed, she said. As she did so, Mr Anderson came back out and his sulky wheel contacted the leg of her runner. Miss Butt said that she had believed that there was a gap available to her.
Mr Anderson suggested to Ms Butt that she had been tightened up by IT’S A DEAL hanging in. He then had shown to the hearing an incident earlier in the race, about 350 metres after the start, in which his horse ducked out and locked wheels. His horse had raced in full blinds and with no earplugs and was racing erratically, Mr Anderson said.
Back to the incident out of which the charge arose, Mr Anderson said he had gone to take an inside run. There was no run, so he had balanced the horse up, it had overreacted and ducked out marginally, he said. This coupled with the speed of Miss Butt’s runner and the crowding from IT’S A DEAL led to the interference, he submitted, and not any carelessness on his part.
Miss Butt was questioned by the Committee. She said that, at the time, she was not aware of any pressure from Mr Cameron’s runner on her outside. All of the movement had come from Mr Anderson on her inside, she said. She said that she believed there had been a sufficient gap, and she had “hit it at speed”. She said that Mr Anderson’s movement had been quite quick, and she had no time to take evasive action.
Mr Anderson said that his first thought had been, for safety reasons, to balance his horse up, because of its known racing manners. As he did so, he said, it had ducked out and overcorrected.
Mr Anderson referred again to the video replays and submitted that Mr Cameron had taken Miss Butt’s gap. Miss Butt conceded that Mr Cameron had shifted in slightly, but not to a sufficient degree to place any pressure on her.
DECISION:
The charge was found proved.
REASONS FOR DECISION:
The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of both parties and carefully viewed the video replays from all available cameras. The Committee also took the opportunity to review at length and analyse the video evidence, outside of the hearing.
The evidence of the Stewards was to the effect that, shortly after turning for home, Mr Anderson had looked for a gap in the passing lane, driving his horse forward with the whip. When no gap became available, Stewards alleged, Mr Anderson had angled his horse out and, at that point, his sulky wheel contacted the leg of Miss Butt’s runner, causing it to gallop.
Miss Butt’s evidence was quite compelling, the Committee found. She said that she was in clear racing room and was accelerating into a gap between Mr Anderson and Mr Cameron. Mr Anderson had then come out in front of her, and his sulky had contacted the leg of her horse, causing it to gallop. She maintained that, even if Mr Cameron’s horse had moved in slightly, it had not placed any pressure on her and all of the movement resulting in her horse breaking had come from Mr Anderson on her inside. Mr Anderson’s movement had been quite quick, she said, and she was unable to take any evasive action.
Mr Anderson submitted, and it was basically his defence, that Miss Butt’s horse breaking was, essentially, the result of a combination of three factors – the racing manners of his own horse (which he described as “erratic”), Miss Butt taking the gap at speed and a contribution from Mr Cameron’s runner. The interference to Miss Butt’s runner was not because of any carelessness on his part, he submitted.
Having heard all of the evidence, and from our own observation of the videos replays, the Committee does not accept that Mr Anderson’s horse had raced erratically (and we attach no weight to the incident earlier in the race which Mr Anderson showed to us), but we find that Mr Anderson had angled the horse out for a run after he had been denied an inside run but, in doing so, he was not clear of the legs of Miss Butt’s runner which had, clearly, improved into a clear gap to his outside at that point and was commencing a run, as she was entitled to do. We are satisfied that this was the sole cause of Miss Butt’s horse breaking. We accept Miss Butt’s evidence that there was no contribution from Mr Cameron’s horse.
The Committee finds that Mr Anderson has, on this occasion, failed to exercise the degree of care expected of a reasonable and prudent driver in the circumstances.
PENALTY SUBMISSIONS:
Ms Tibbs told the Committee that Mr Anderson has had just over 1,200 lifetime drives. He has driven 203 times so far this season, 169 times last season and his record under the Rule is clear.
Ms Tibbs referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine. Stewards felt that an uplift from that starting point of a 10-drives suspension was appropriate for the aggravating factor of Miss Butt’s horse being taken out of the race. The level of the breach was mid-range, she said.
Mr Anderson drives, on average, three races per meeting, Ms Tibbs said. Mr Anderson asked Ms Tibbs to explain how she arrived at this, saying that he was averaging six drives per meeting. Ms Tibbs then produced details of Mr Anderson recent driving record – three drives at today’s meeting, two at Geraldine on 1 February, four drives at Addington on 31 January, one drive at Banks Peninsula on 26 January, three drives at Addington on 24 January and three drives at Timaru on 15 January. Mr Anderson submitted those figures were not a true indication as the stable that he drives for is currently down on numbers because of a virus in the stable.
Upcoming meetings were looked at. Mr Anderson said that he had driven at Winton TC on 31 December last
REASONS FOR PENALTY:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee took the starting point in the Penalty Guide for a mid-range breach of a 10-drives suspension. It was an aggravating factor, as submitted by Ms Tibbs, that Miss Butt’s runner had been put out of the race as a result of Mr Anderson’s actions. This factor warrants an uplift in the Penalty Guide starting point to 12 drives.
Mr Anderson’s good record under the Rule is a mitigating factor to be taken into account. We have allowed Mr Anderson a 2-drives discount for this factor.
PENALTY:
Mr Anderson’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on Sunday, 9 February up to and including Sunday, 16 February 2020 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period of suspension are NZ Metropolitan TC on 14 February, Oamaru HRC on 15 February and Winton HRC on 16 February 2020.
RG McKenzie
CHAIRMAN
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: 57c7c9ac46bb35249770e0598e54db6f
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype: harness-racing
startdate: 26/01/2020
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: no date provided
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 26 January 2020 - R 10 (adjourned heard 6 February 2020 at Rangiora - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: Ms CM Tibbs, Stipendiary Steward
Respondent: Mr MJ Anderson, Licensed Open Driver
Information No: A11244
Meeting: Banks Peninsula Trotting Club
Date: 26 January 2020 (heard at Rangiora on 6 February 2020)
Venue: Motukarara Racecourse, Motukarara
Rule No: 869(3)(b)
Race: 10
Judicial Committee: Mr RG McKenzie, Chairman – Mr SC Ching, Member
Also Present: Mr SP Renault – Stipendiary Steward, Miss KA Butt – Licensed Open Driver
Plea: Denied
FACTS:
Following the running of Race 10, Crate & Barrel Leeston Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Ms CM Tibbs, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr MJ Anderson, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that Mr Anderson, as the driver of ALREADY GONE in the race, “drove carelessly near the 300 metres by shifting outwards checking SAGANO (KA Butt) which broke”.
The Information was filed with the Judicial Committee at the race meeting and adjourned sine die, Mr Anderson having left the course. The Information was subsequently served on Mr Anderson on 1 February 2020. The hearing of the Information took place at the race meeting of Amberley TC at Rangiora on 6 February 2020.
Mr Anderson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he did not admit the breach, and he confirmed this at the hearing at which he was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3)-No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
SUBMISSIONS:
Ms Tibbs had Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, show the available video replays of the final 400-500 metres of the race. He pointed out ALREADY GONE, driven by Mr Anderson, racing three places back on the pylons nearing the home turn. SAGANO, driven by Miss Butt, was racing four places back, following Mr Anderson.
After turning for home, Mr Anderson attempted a run in the passing lane, Mr Renault said. At that stage, JETENARA (G D O’Reilly), ahead of him shifted into the passing lane, meaning Mr Anderson was blocked for a run. Mr Renault pointed to Mr Anderson go inwards, driving his horse forward with the whip. When the run was not available, Mr Anderson then shifted ground outwards driving forward with the whip. In the meantime, Miss Butt had improved to his outside and the near front leg of her runner made contact with Mr Anderson’s sulky wheel, resulting in her horse breaking, Mr Renault submitted.
Miss Butt said that, turning for home, her horse was racing four places back and following Mr Anderson’s runner. Mr Anderson’s horse then went down into the passing lane. She had attempted to take a gap between Mr Anderson and IT’S A DEAL (RE Cameron) and did so at some speed, she said. As she did so, Mr Anderson came back out and his sulky wheel contacted the leg of her runner. Miss Butt said that she had believed that there was a gap available to her.
Mr Anderson suggested to Ms Butt that she had been tightened up by IT’S A DEAL hanging in. He then had shown to the hearing an incident earlier in the race, about 350 metres after the start, in which his horse ducked out and locked wheels. His horse had raced in full blinds and with no earplugs and was racing erratically, Mr Anderson said.
Back to the incident out of which the charge arose, Mr Anderson said he had gone to take an inside run. There was no run, so he had balanced the horse up, it had overreacted and ducked out marginally, he said. This coupled with the speed of Miss Butt’s runner and the crowding from IT’S A DEAL led to the interference, he submitted, and not any carelessness on his part.
Miss Butt was questioned by the Committee. She said that, at the time, she was not aware of any pressure from Mr Cameron’s runner on her outside. All of the movement had come from Mr Anderson on her inside, she said. She said that she believed there had been a sufficient gap, and she had “hit it at speed”. She said that Mr Anderson’s movement had been quite quick, and she had no time to take evasive action.
Mr Anderson said that his first thought had been, for safety reasons, to balance his horse up, because of its known racing manners. As he did so, he said, it had ducked out and overcorrected.
Mr Anderson referred again to the video replays and submitted that Mr Cameron had taken Miss Butt’s gap. Miss Butt conceded that Mr Cameron had shifted in slightly, but not to a sufficient degree to place any pressure on her.
DECISION:
The charge was found proved.
REASONS FOR DECISION:
The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of both parties and carefully viewed the video replays from all available cameras. The Committee also took the opportunity to review at length and analyse the video evidence, outside of the hearing.
The evidence of the Stewards was to the effect that, shortly after turning for home, Mr Anderson had looked for a gap in the passing lane, driving his horse forward with the whip. When no gap became available, Stewards alleged, Mr Anderson had angled his horse out and, at that point, his sulky wheel contacted the leg of Miss Butt’s runner, causing it to gallop.
Miss Butt’s evidence was quite compelling, the Committee found. She said that she was in clear racing room and was accelerating into a gap between Mr Anderson and Mr Cameron. Mr Anderson had then come out in front of her, and his sulky had contacted the leg of her horse, causing it to gallop. She maintained that, even if Mr Cameron’s horse had moved in slightly, it had not placed any pressure on her and all of the movement resulting in her horse breaking had come from Mr Anderson on her inside. Mr Anderson’s movement had been quite quick, she said, and she was unable to take any evasive action.
Mr Anderson submitted, and it was basically his defence, that Miss Butt’s horse breaking was, essentially, the result of a combination of three factors – the racing manners of his own horse (which he described as “erratic”), Miss Butt taking the gap at speed and a contribution from Mr Cameron’s runner. The interference to Miss Butt’s runner was not because of any carelessness on his part, he submitted.
Having heard all of the evidence, and from our own observation of the videos replays, the Committee does not accept that Mr Anderson’s horse had raced erratically (and we attach no weight to the incident earlier in the race which Mr Anderson showed to us), but we find that Mr Anderson had angled the horse out for a run after he had been denied an inside run but, in doing so, he was not clear of the legs of Miss Butt’s runner which had, clearly, improved into a clear gap to his outside at that point and was commencing a run, as she was entitled to do. We are satisfied that this was the sole cause of Miss Butt’s horse breaking. We accept Miss Butt’s evidence that there was no contribution from Mr Cameron’s horse.
The Committee finds that Mr Anderson has, on this occasion, failed to exercise the degree of care expected of a reasonable and prudent driver in the circumstances.
PENALTY SUBMISSIONS:
Ms Tibbs told the Committee that Mr Anderson has had just over 1,200 lifetime drives. He has driven 203 times so far this season, 169 times last season and his record under the Rule is clear.
Ms Tibbs referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine. Stewards felt that an uplift from that starting point of a 10-drives suspension was appropriate for the aggravating factor of Miss Butt’s horse being taken out of the race. The level of the breach was mid-range, she said.
Mr Anderson drives, on average, three races per meeting, Ms Tibbs said. Mr Anderson asked Ms Tibbs to explain how she arrived at this, saying that he was averaging six drives per meeting. Ms Tibbs then produced details of Mr Anderson recent driving record – three drives at today’s meeting, two at Geraldine on 1 February, four drives at Addington on 31 January, one drive at Banks Peninsula on 26 January, three drives at Addington on 24 January and three drives at Timaru on 15 January. Mr Anderson submitted those figures were not a true indication as the stable that he drives for is currently down on numbers because of a virus in the stable.
Upcoming meetings were looked at. Mr Anderson said that he had driven at Winton TC on 31 December last
REASONS FOR PENALTY:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee took the starting point in the Penalty Guide for a mid-range breach of a 10-drives suspension. It was an aggravating factor, as submitted by Ms Tibbs, that Miss Butt’s runner had been put out of the race as a result of Mr Anderson’s actions. This factor warrants an uplift in the Penalty Guide starting point to 12 drives.
Mr Anderson’s good record under the Rule is a mitigating factor to be taken into account. We have allowed Mr Anderson a 2-drives discount for this factor.
PENALTY:
Mr Anderson’s Open Driver’s licence is suspended from after the close of racing on Sunday, 9 February up to and including Sunday, 16 February 2020 – 3 days. The meetings intended to be encompassed by that period of suspension are NZ Metropolitan TC on 14 February, Oamaru HRC on 15 February and Winton HRC on 16 February 2020.
RG McKenzie
CHAIRMAN
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Old Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant:
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PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
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