Canterbury R 7 September 2013 – R 2
ID: JCA11318
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Canterbury Racing - 7 September 2013
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2013/09/07
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
On resumption of the hearing Ms McGregor was informed that her jockey license was suspended from the conclusion of racing today 7 September up to and including 28 September 2013 - a period of 3 weeks. In addition on the charge under Rule 649(1)(a) Ms McGregor is further suspended from 28 September up to and including 2 November 2013 - a period of 5 weeks.
Charge:
Breach of Rule 610(4) – In possession of modified body protector
Breach of Rule 649(1)(a) - Attempted to weigh out with modified body protector
Facts:
Prior to the running of Race 2, the South Island Racing Awards September 20th Rating 75, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Zarb against Licensed Jockey Ms L McGregor, alleging a breach of Rule 610(4) in that she had in her possession a modified body protector and alleging a breach of Rule 649(1)(a) in that she attempted to weigh out with a modified body protector.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named Informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 610(4) & Rule 649(1)(a) in that [1]Ms L McGregor had in her possession a body protector which was modified [2] committed a wrongful act by attempting to weigh out for Race 2, A BOB SHORT, with the modified body protector to affect the weight.”
Rule 610(4) reads as follows:
(4) A Rider may not wear or have in their possession a body protector or a skull cap that has been modified in any way.
Rule 649(1)(a) reads as follows:
(1) A Rider must not:
(a) do or permit any wrongful act or omission with respect to weight or weighing;
Submissions for Decision:
Ms McGregor had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted and this was confirmed at the hearing. Ms McGregor also confirmed she understood the Rules she was being charged with.
Mr Zarb gave evidence that Ms McGregor was engaged to ride A BOB SHORT in Race 2 and was having difficulty making the weight for the horse. She presented herself at the scales to weigh out for the horse with a modified body protector. Mr Zarb introduced as evidence the modified body protector which he said was not only was an unapproved body protector (Beta Standard) but had an estimated 4 pieces of padding missing. He said current standard for body protectors was SATRA standard. Mr Zarb in evidence said that Ms McGregor had admitted to the Stewards that she had attempted to weigh out with the modified body protector with the sole purpose of affecting the weight.
Ms McGregor stated that it was a stupid mistake and admitted that she had tried to cheat the weigh out. She submitted that she was trying to please the trainer and make the weight. She admitted that she was ¾ kg over the carded weight but with the ½ kg overweight allowance available to riders without penalty, she was trying to lose a ¼ kg to make the allowable weight. She said that the body protector was an old one and that the pieces of padding had fallen out over the years.
Reasons for Decision:
As Ms McGregor had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Zarb submitted that previous breaches of Rule 610(4) have been dealt with by the way of fines from $500 to $1000. Ms McGregor had informed the Stewards that she was not in a position to pay a substantial fine and therefore Mr Zarb submitted that a minimum 2 week suspension be considered for this breach.
In regard to 649(1)(a) Mr Zarb stated that previous breaches of this Rule had been dealt with by way of fines of $1,000 and suspensions of up to 4 weeks. Mr Zarb submitted that an additional suspension of 4 weeks be considered as penalty for this breach. Mr Zarb stated that Ms McGregor was a South Island rider and primarily rode for Ikamatua trainer, Mr P O’Malley. Ms McGregor only rode on occasion during the season and this needed to be taken into consideration with any penalty.
Ms McGregor confirmed to the Committee that she was not in a position to pay a substantial fine and would prefer a suspension. Ms McGregor submitted that she would use any suspension time to get her weight in check and would not present herself at the races to ride unless her weight was under control.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty we have taken into consideration all factors, of which the majority are aggravating. The aggravating factors are Ms McGregor’s knowledge that she was overweight, and the use of a body protector, which she knew was missing panels but was also a non-approved. Whilst Ms McGregor may have been trying to please the trainer, the fact of the matter is that she had a duty to comply with the Rules of Racing, which was her primary duty. Instead she set out to cheat and that must reflect in the penalty as a deterrent, not only to Ms McGregor, but also to others who may be of a like mind when facing a weight problem. The only mitigating factors we can take cognisance of, is Ms McGregor’s frank and forthright admission of the breach as well as her clear record in regard to the Rules over the previous 12 months. As Ms McGregor is not in a position to pay a substantial fine the Committee is charged with arriving at quantifiable and meaningful penalty. We believe a term of suspension is the appropriate penalty for both breaches. On the charge under Rule 610(4) Ms McGregor is suspended from the conclusion of racing today 7 September up to and including 28 September 2013 - a period of 3 weeks. On the charge under Rule 649(1)(a) Ms McGregor is further suspended from 28 September up to and including 2 November 2013 - a period of 5 weeks.
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: 16201a259763de326d96a140053517be
informantnumber: A4945
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/09/2013
hearing_title: Canterbury R 7 September 2013 - R 2
charge:
Breach of Rule 610(4) – In possession of modified body protector
Breach of Rule 649(1)(a) - Attempted to weigh out with modified body protector
facts:
Prior to the running of Race 2, the South Island Racing Awards September 20th Rating 75, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Zarb against Licensed Jockey Ms L McGregor, alleging a breach of Rule 610(4) in that she had in her possession a modified body protector and alleging a breach of Rule 649(1)(a) in that she attempted to weigh out with a modified body protector.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named Informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 610(4) & Rule 649(1)(a) in that [1]Ms L McGregor had in her possession a body protector which was modified [2] committed a wrongful act by attempting to weigh out for Race 2, A BOB SHORT, with the modified body protector to affect the weight.”
Rule 610(4) reads as follows:
(4) A Rider may not wear or have in their possession a body protector or a skull cap that has been modified in any way.
Rule 649(1)(a) reads as follows:
(1) A Rider must not:
(a) do or permit any wrongful act or omission with respect to weight or weighing;
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Ms McGregor had indicated on the Information that the breach was admitted and this was confirmed at the hearing. Ms McGregor also confirmed she understood the Rules she was being charged with.
Mr Zarb gave evidence that Ms McGregor was engaged to ride A BOB SHORT in Race 2 and was having difficulty making the weight for the horse. She presented herself at the scales to weigh out for the horse with a modified body protector. Mr Zarb introduced as evidence the modified body protector which he said was not only was an unapproved body protector (Beta Standard) but had an estimated 4 pieces of padding missing. He said current standard for body protectors was SATRA standard. Mr Zarb in evidence said that Ms McGregor had admitted to the Stewards that she had attempted to weigh out with the modified body protector with the sole purpose of affecting the weight.
Ms McGregor stated that it was a stupid mistake and admitted that she had tried to cheat the weigh out. She submitted that she was trying to please the trainer and make the weight. She admitted that she was ¾ kg over the carded weight but with the ½ kg overweight allowance available to riders without penalty, she was trying to lose a ¼ kg to make the allowable weight. She said that the body protector was an old one and that the pieces of padding had fallen out over the years.
reasonsfordecision:
As Ms McGregor had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved.
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Zarb submitted that previous breaches of Rule 610(4) have been dealt with by the way of fines from $500 to $1000. Ms McGregor had informed the Stewards that she was not in a position to pay a substantial fine and therefore Mr Zarb submitted that a minimum 2 week suspension be considered for this breach.
In regard to 649(1)(a) Mr Zarb stated that previous breaches of this Rule had been dealt with by way of fines of $1,000 and suspensions of up to 4 weeks. Mr Zarb submitted that an additional suspension of 4 weeks be considered as penalty for this breach. Mr Zarb stated that Ms McGregor was a South Island rider and primarily rode for Ikamatua trainer, Mr P O’Malley. Ms McGregor only rode on occasion during the season and this needed to be taken into consideration with any penalty.
Ms McGregor confirmed to the Committee that she was not in a position to pay a substantial fine and would prefer a suspension. Ms McGregor submitted that she would use any suspension time to get her weight in check and would not present herself at the races to ride unless her weight was under control.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty we have taken into consideration all factors, of which the majority are aggravating. The aggravating factors are Ms McGregor’s knowledge that she was overweight, and the use of a body protector, which she knew was missing panels but was also a non-approved. Whilst Ms McGregor may have been trying to please the trainer, the fact of the matter is that she had a duty to comply with the Rules of Racing, which was her primary duty. Instead she set out to cheat and that must reflect in the penalty as a deterrent, not only to Ms McGregor, but also to others who may be of a like mind when facing a weight problem. The only mitigating factors we can take cognisance of, is Ms McGregor’s frank and forthright admission of the breach as well as her clear record in regard to the Rules over the previous 12 months. As Ms McGregor is not in a position to pay a substantial fine the Committee is charged with arriving at quantifiable and meaningful penalty. We believe a term of suspension is the appropriate penalty for both breaches. On the charge under Rule 610(4) Ms McGregor is suspended from the conclusion of racing today 7 September up to and including 28 September 2013 - a period of 3 weeks. On the charge under Rule 649(1)(a) Ms McGregor is further suspended from 28 September up to and including 2 November 2013 - a period of 5 weeks.
penalty:
On resumption of the hearing Ms McGregor was informed that her jockey license was suspended from the conclusion of racing today 7 September up to and including 28 September 2013 - a period of 3 weeks. In addition on the charge under Rule 649(1)(a) Ms McGregor is further suspended from 28 September up to and including 2 November 2013 - a period of 5 weeks.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 610(4)- & 649(1)(a)
Informant: M Zarb-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: L McGregor-Licensed Jockey
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: ab6e90474af7e66cb8c86a88af56f3ff
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: ff131a40e03b2d9aeadda99e5cd00563
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/09/2013
meet_title: Canterbury Racing - 7 September 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: canterbury-racing
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Canterbury Racing