Banks Peninsula TC 29 September 2013 – R 9 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA16354
Meet Title:
Banks Peninsula TC - 29 September 2013
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2013/09/29
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
The protest was dismissed and it was ordered that the judge’s placings for the race should stand with dividends and stake monies to be paid accordingly.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, The Pres Handicap Trot, an information instigating a protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, by ASTRAL TRAVELLER (A M Butt) placed 8th by the judge against INDIANA JONES (C D Thornley) placed 1st by the judge, on the grounds that “INDIANA JONES shifted wider on the track interfering with ASTRAL TRAVELLER at approximately the 1100 metres” .
Mr C D Thornley, driver of INDIANA JONES, was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he was representing the connections of that horse at the protest hearing. Mr S M McRae, trainer of INDIANA JONES, was also present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(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 Ydgren showed video replays of the relevant part of the race. He showed the field running down the back straight with approximately 1100 metres to race. The field was being led by INDIANA JONES, driven by Mr Thornley, with ASTRAL TRAVELLER, driven by Mr Butt, racing outside the leader. At that point, INDIANA JONES commenced to shift outwards, carrying ASTRAL TRAVELLER “considerably wider on the track”, into about a 6-wide position. ASTRAL TRAVELLER remained wide for the remainder of the race and, effectively, lost its chance.
Mr Butt confirmed that Mrs Thornley’s horse had run out forcing his horse wider. His horse had been wider from that point but, notwithstanding that, it did not affect the chances of his horse, he said. He had been parked for some distance in any event but, Mr Butt said, the horse “went terrible” and ended up galloping turning for home because it was tired. It began to stop some 500 metres from home and its chances of “getting any money” were not affected, Mr Butt said. The horse did not seem to handle the dead track, he said.
Mr Thornley said that a starter’s assistant, in a “high-visibility” vest, was standing on the inside of the track and his horse had “spotted him” 200 metres away and had wanted to run away from him. The horse had propped and run sideways, Mr Thornley said. Mr Thornley pointed out that the horse wore headgear because of this propensity.
Mr Thornley submitted that the chances of ASTRAL TRAVELLER had not been affected.
Mr McRae said that the best horse had won the race and he referred to Mr Butt’s comments that the chances of his horse had not been affected.
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Butt was in the best position to assess the whether the chances of ASTRAL TRAVELLER had been affected but he asked the Committee to consider that being forced over that extra ground on that part of the track (on a bend) must have affected Mr Butt’s horse.
Reasons for Decision:
It was not disputed by the parties, and the Committee was satisfied, that INDIANA JONES had caused interference to ASTRAL TRAVELLER with approximately 1100 metres to run when it shifted that horse wider on the track and forced it to race over extra ground before it commenced to tire some 600 metres later.
Having made that finding, the Committee needed to consider whether the chances or progress of ASTRAL TRAVELLER were affected as a result of that interference. Mr Butt’s evidence was quite compelling in this regard supported, as it was, by the video evidence. The Committee noted that ASTRAL TRAVELLER finished in 8th and last placing, over 23 lengths from the winner, INDIANA JONES, and 13 lengths from the 4th placed runner, SPEEDY EARL.
Based on that evidence it heard and saw, the Committee was not satisfied that the chances or progress of ASTRAL TRAVELLER were affected – that is to say, that but for the interference that horse would likely have run in the first four placings in the race. All of the evidence suggested that was most unlikely.
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: a9351f077f72b23af1e1a3f959231f4f
informantnumber: A1625
horsename: Indiana Jones
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 20/09/2013
hearing_title: Banks Peninsula TC 29 September 2013 - R 9 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, The Pres Handicap Trot, an information instigating a protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, by ASTRAL TRAVELLER (A M Butt) placed 8th by the judge against INDIANA JONES (C D Thornley) placed 1st by the judge, on the grounds that “INDIANA JONES shifted wider on the track interfering with ASTRAL TRAVELLER at approximately the 1100 metres” .
Mr C D Thornley, driver of INDIANA JONES, was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he was representing the connections of that horse at the protest hearing. Mr S M McRae, trainer of INDIANA JONES, was also present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(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 Ydgren showed video replays of the relevant part of the race. He showed the field running down the back straight with approximately 1100 metres to race. The field was being led by INDIANA JONES, driven by Mr Thornley, with ASTRAL TRAVELLER, driven by Mr Butt, racing outside the leader. At that point, INDIANA JONES commenced to shift outwards, carrying ASTRAL TRAVELLER “considerably wider on the track”, into about a 6-wide position. ASTRAL TRAVELLER remained wide for the remainder of the race and, effectively, lost its chance.
Mr Butt confirmed that Mrs Thornley’s horse had run out forcing his horse wider. His horse had been wider from that point but, notwithstanding that, it did not affect the chances of his horse, he said. He had been parked for some distance in any event but, Mr Butt said, the horse “went terrible” and ended up galloping turning for home because it was tired. It began to stop some 500 metres from home and its chances of “getting any money” were not affected, Mr Butt said. The horse did not seem to handle the dead track, he said.
Mr Thornley said that a starter’s assistant, in a “high-visibility” vest, was standing on the inside of the track and his horse had “spotted him” 200 metres away and had wanted to run away from him. The horse had propped and run sideways, Mr Thornley said. Mr Thornley pointed out that the horse wore headgear because of this propensity.
Mr Thornley submitted that the chances of ASTRAL TRAVELLER had not been affected.
Mr McRae said that the best horse had won the race and he referred to Mr Butt’s comments that the chances of his horse had not been affected.
Mr Ydgren said that Mr Butt was in the best position to assess the whether the chances of ASTRAL TRAVELLER had been affected but he asked the Committee to consider that being forced over that extra ground on that part of the track (on a bend) must have affected Mr Butt’s horse.
reasonsfordecision:
It was not disputed by the parties, and the Committee was satisfied, that INDIANA JONES had caused interference to ASTRAL TRAVELLER with approximately 1100 metres to run when it shifted that horse wider on the track and forced it to race over extra ground before it commenced to tire some 600 metres later.
Having made that finding, the Committee needed to consider whether the chances or progress of ASTRAL TRAVELLER were affected as a result of that interference. Mr Butt’s evidence was quite compelling in this regard supported, as it was, by the video evidence. The Committee noted that ASTRAL TRAVELLER finished in 8th and last placing, over 23 lengths from the winner, INDIANA JONES, and 13 lengths from the 4th placed runner, SPEEDY EARL.
Based on that evidence it heard and saw, the Committee was not satisfied that the chances or progress of ASTRAL TRAVELLER were affected – that is to say, that but for the interference that horse would likely have run in the first four placings in the race. All of the evidence suggested that was most unlikely.
Decision:
The protest was dismissed and it was ordered that the judge’s placings for the race should stand with dividends and stake monies to be paid accordingly.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(8)
Informant: N M Ydgren, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: A M Butt, Licensed Open Driver, S M McRae, Licensed Public Trainer
Respondent: C D Thornley, Licensed Open Driver
StipendSteward:
raceid: 346cd8b138783f98138b437efab51413
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 4a14364d39db467fe34fa38d30541bed
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 29/09/2013
meet_title: Banks Peninsula TC - 29 September 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: banks-peninsula-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Banks Peninsula TC