Central Otago TC 2 January 2018 – R 1 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA12295
Meet Title:
Central Otago TC - 2 January 2018
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway
Race Date:
2018/01/02
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
As Mr Sissons has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.
Penalty:
Mr Sissons is suspended from the end of the meeting today up to and including 2 April. He is reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
Facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Sissons drove carelessly near the 2400 metres of race 1, the SUPREME EQUINE FEED ASHBURTON/ALEXANDRA NEW WORLD MOBILE PACE, when shifting inwards when not clear of PAT CAMPBELL (Ms C Wigg), which in turn shifted outwards causing LIVE TO TELL (Mr Cook) and EJA PATRON (Mr Maynard) to break.
Mr McIntyre, General Manager Stewards, demonstrated on the videos that the respondent shifted in some 200 metres after the start when not clear of PAT CAMPBELL and came into contact with the sulky of that horse. PAT CAMPBELL broke briefly and LIVE TO TELL and EJA PATRON also galloped as a result of attempting to avoid the incident. He said there was never room for the respondent to shift from a 3-wide position to a 2-wide position, as PAT CAMPBELL was established one-off the fence.
Mr Sissons said he thought he had maintained a 3-wide position. He accepted he did shift in slightly but he did not believe he was 2-wide at the time of the interference. This was later. When questioned, he accepted he had shifted in enough for PAT CAMPBELL to touch a wheel.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced the respondent’s record, which showed 7 drives this season and 22 the season before. Mr Sissons has had 2 previous breaches of this rule this season. One on 13 August when he was fined $400 and another on 8 October when he was suspended for 2 months. Mr Tidmarsh believed a 3-month suspension was appropriate.
Mr Sissons said he believed a 3-month suspension was fair.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Sissons has allowed his horse to shift in and has come into contact with PAT CAMPBELL. A number of horses were affected by the incident. As Mr Tidmarsh said, Mr Sissons looked twice, but still shifted in. It was a misjudgement.
Mr Sissons has had 2 breaches of the careless driving rule within the last 5 months. An uplift is necessary for the fact this is his 3rd breach. The starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide for a 2nd breach within 4 months is 3 days’ suspension. This has limited relevance when it is an amateur driver that is before the Committee.
We view the breach as mid range. A small discount is appropriate for the admission of the breach. There are on average 2 amateur driver races a month. Taking into account all of these factors, we arrive at a suspension of 3 months.
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: 4adabe01aa36982530c5df0c0994d0fb
informantnumber: A9787
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 03/01/2018
hearing_title: Central Otago TC 2 January 2018 - R 1 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Sissons drove carelessly near the 2400 metres of race 1, the SUPREME EQUINE FEED ASHBURTON/ALEXANDRA NEW WORLD MOBILE PACE, when shifting inwards when not clear of PAT CAMPBELL (Ms C Wigg), which in turn shifted outwards causing LIVE TO TELL (Mr Cook) and EJA PATRON (Mr Maynard) to break.
Mr McIntyre, General Manager Stewards, demonstrated on the videos that the respondent shifted in some 200 metres after the start when not clear of PAT CAMPBELL and came into contact with the sulky of that horse. PAT CAMPBELL broke briefly and LIVE TO TELL and EJA PATRON also galloped as a result of attempting to avoid the incident. He said there was never room for the respondent to shift from a 3-wide position to a 2-wide position, as PAT CAMPBELL was established one-off the fence.
Mr Sissons said he thought he had maintained a 3-wide position. He accepted he did shift in slightly but he did not believe he was 2-wide at the time of the interference. This was later. When questioned, he accepted he had shifted in enough for PAT CAMPBELL to touch a wheel.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Sissons has admitted the breach, we find the breach proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced the respondent’s record, which showed 7 drives this season and 22 the season before. Mr Sissons has had 2 previous breaches of this rule this season. One on 13 August when he was fined $400 and another on 8 October when he was suspended for 2 months. Mr Tidmarsh believed a 3-month suspension was appropriate.
Mr Sissons said he believed a 3-month suspension was fair.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Sissons has allowed his horse to shift in and has come into contact with PAT CAMPBELL. A number of horses were affected by the incident. As Mr Tidmarsh said, Mr Sissons looked twice, but still shifted in. It was a misjudgement.
Mr Sissons has had 2 breaches of the careless driving rule within the last 5 months. An uplift is necessary for the fact this is his 3rd breach. The starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide for a 2nd breach within 4 months is 3 days’ suspension. This has limited relevance when it is an amateur driver that is before the Committee.
We view the breach as mid range. A small discount is appropriate for the admission of the breach. There are on average 2 amateur driver races a month. Taking into account all of these factors, we arrive at a suspension of 3 months.
penalty:
Mr Sissons is suspended from the end of the meeting today up to and including 2 April. He is reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Sissons - Amateur Driver
Otherperson: Mr N McIntyre - General Manager of Stewards
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 185fb1e2c66cf6abec7b1c267392182a
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 2b956f06e0fc9f2d7fc818e1f8a906b3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/01/2018
meet_title: Central Otago TC - 2 January 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: central-otago-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: MConway
meet_pm2: none
name: Central Otago TC