Canterbury JC 3 August 2019 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA12804
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury JC - 3 August 2019
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2019/08/03
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Johnson has admitted the breach and the charge is, accordingly, found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Johnson is fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Information No. A5747 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Mr C W Johnson, alleging a breach of Rule 330 (3) (a) in that Mr Johnson failed to arrive on course on time thus breaking his engagement for TAKE A RISK in Race 2, El Doute at Stud Cashmere Plate.
Mr Johnson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and he confirmed that he understood the Rule and the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 330 provides:
(3) A rider shall not:
(a) wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement.
Following the running of Race 1, a hurdle race, it was brought to the attention of the Stewards by Mrs Sharon Robertson, trainer of TAKE A RISK, a runner in Race 2, that Mr Johnson, who had been engaged to ride the horse, was not on course. Stewards attempted to contact Mr Johnson and eventually managed to contact his partner, Ms Middlewood, who was unable to explain his absence.
A suitable replacement rider, Mr T R Moseley, was engaged to take the mount on TAKE A RISK.
Stewards had received no notification from Mr Johnson or any other party as to Mr Johnson’s whereabouts, Mr Oatham said. He eventually arrived on course just prior to the running of Race 2. The rules require that he must be on course at least 40 minutes before the ride, Mr Oatham said. Mr Johnson having to be replaced on TAKE A RISK resulted in a delay in the runners leaving the birdcage for Race 2.
Mr Johnson said that he was late leaving home and had to stop for petrol on the way to the track and was “pushed for time”. He had asked, his partner, Ms Belinda Middlewood to phone the course to advise and he was not aware that she had not done so.
Submissions for Penalty:
The Penalty Guide suggests a starting point for a breach of the rule of a $200 fine, Mr Oatham said. He submitted that a fine in that vicinity would be appropriate. He referred the Committee to two recent penalties of $150 fines for breaches of the rule. However, he said, it was an aggravating factor in the present case that no notice of Mr Johnson’s delay was given which caused some inconvenience and delay in close proximity to the start time of Race 2.
Mr Johnson said that he considered that a fine in that vicinity would be reasonable.
Reasons for Penalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee adopted the Penalty Guide starting point of a $200 fine. We agree with Mr Oatham’s submission that it was an aggravating factor that no notice had been given by or on behalf of Mr Johnson that he was going to be delayed. For that factor, we uplift the starting point to $250. However, we are able to give Mr Johnson a discount from that adjusted starting point for his very frank admission of the breach, and that discount we fix at $50.
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: 5a0a297b584f6e0157de678f77c8dd3a
informantnumber:
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breaking Riding Engagement
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/08/2019
hearing_title: Canterbury JC 3 August 2019 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Information No. A5747 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J P Oatham, against Licensed Jockey (Class A), Mr C W Johnson, alleging a breach of Rule 330 (3) (a) in that Mr Johnson failed to arrive on course on time thus breaking his engagement for TAKE A RISK in Race 2, El Doute at Stud Cashmere Plate.
Mr Johnson had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He was present at the hearing of the information and he confirmed that he understood the Rule and the charge and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 330 provides:
(3) A rider shall not:
(a) wilfully or without reasonable cause break a riding engagement.
Following the running of Race 1, a hurdle race, it was brought to the attention of the Stewards by Mrs Sharon Robertson, trainer of TAKE A RISK, a runner in Race 2, that Mr Johnson, who had been engaged to ride the horse, was not on course. Stewards attempted to contact Mr Johnson and eventually managed to contact his partner, Ms Middlewood, who was unable to explain his absence.
A suitable replacement rider, Mr T R Moseley, was engaged to take the mount on TAKE A RISK.
Stewards had received no notification from Mr Johnson or any other party as to Mr Johnson’s whereabouts, Mr Oatham said. He eventually arrived on course just prior to the running of Race 2. The rules require that he must be on course at least 40 minutes before the ride, Mr Oatham said. Mr Johnson having to be replaced on TAKE A RISK resulted in a delay in the runners leaving the birdcage for Race 2.
Mr Johnson said that he was late leaving home and had to stop for petrol on the way to the track and was “pushed for time”. He had asked, his partner, Ms Belinda Middlewood to phone the course to advise and he was not aware that she had not done so.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Johnson has admitted the breach and the charge is, accordingly, found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
The Penalty Guide suggests a starting point for a breach of the rule of a $200 fine, Mr Oatham said. He submitted that a fine in that vicinity would be appropriate. He referred the Committee to two recent penalties of $150 fines for breaches of the rule. However, he said, it was an aggravating factor in the present case that no notice of Mr Johnson’s delay was given which caused some inconvenience and delay in close proximity to the start time of Race 2.
Mr Johnson said that he considered that a fine in that vicinity would be reasonable.
reasonsforpenalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee adopted the Penalty Guide starting point of a $200 fine. We agree with Mr Oatham’s submission that it was an aggravating factor that no notice had been given by or on behalf of Mr Johnson that he was going to be delayed. For that factor, we uplift the starting point to $250. However, we are able to give Mr Johnson a discount from that adjusted starting point for his very frank admission of the breach, and that discount we fix at $50.
penalty:
Mr Johnson is fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 330(3)(a)
Informant: J P Oatham, Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: C W Johnson, Licensed Jockey (Class A)
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0613ada744af3d5307826f7881ee47d3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 3325ba6c7e71d9e368cdaee21509edb9
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/08/2019
meet_title: Canterbury JC - 3 August 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-jc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury JC