Forbury Park TC 19 July 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Pof G Hall
ID: JCA17794
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 19 July 2018
Meet Chair:
GHall
Race Date:
2018/07/19
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As Mr O’Connell has admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr O’Connell is suspended from the end of tonight’s meeting up to and including 19 August. This is 5 meetings. (It was accepted that Mr O’Connell was not intending to drive at Addington).
Facts:
Mr Renault alleged that Mr O’Connell (AVEROSS FERRARI) drove carelessly near the 2200 metres in race 5, the Dunedin City Mobile Pace 2700 metres, when shifting ground inwards resulting in WESTAR SAM (Mr B Williamson) being checked and losing its rightful racing position.
Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated the position of AVEROSS FERRARI and WESTAR SAM as the horses exited the first bend. Mr Williamson was 2 wide and the respondent was 3 wide. Mr B Williamson then briefly lost the back of Mr N Williamson and, in an endeavour to take this space, Mr O’Connell shifted down to the 2-wide position. Mr B Williamson had to ease his horse as a consequence and lost his spot in the field. Mr Renault emphasised there was some gap there for the respondent but not enough for him to be able to shift down as he did. Mr Renault demonstrated on the videos there was a horse to the inside of Mr B Williamson and that was why he had had to ease.
Mr O’Connell asked that Mr B Williamson be able to comment on the incident. Mr Renault did not object to this and the Committee heard from Mr Williamson. Mr Williamson stated that Mr O’Connell had misread the space that was available to him. He was of the view that with the passing lane to the inside Mr O’Connell had thought there was more room than there was. He said that while he had had to give up his place in the field to Mr O’Connell, and that Mr O’Connell’s move was not permitted under the Rules of Harness Racing, it was close to the start and had not made much difference in the end. When questioned by the Committee, he said that at the time he was aware of what Mr O’Connell was doing so had eased back and it had been easy for him to stay clear of Mr O’Connell’s cart. He said he was perhaps half a length off the horse he was trailing at this time. He reiterated there was not a full run there for Mr O’Connell and he had been checked slightly.
Mr O’Connell said he had misread the situation and accepted now that there was not a run there for him.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault produced the respondent’s record. Mr O’Connell has had 37 drives this season and 22 last season. His record was clear under this rule.
Mr Renault described the breach as at the higher end. Mr O’Connell had misread the situation and had shifted down to a 2-wide position despite there being 2 horses to his inside. He described the consequences as low to mid-range. Mr Williamson had not lost his chance in the race.
He believed an uplift from the starting point of $500 or 10 drives as provided in the Penalty Guide was appropriate with some discount for Mr O’Connell’s good record.
Mr O’Connell submitted that a fine was appropriate or a fine plus a suspension. When upcoming meetings were identified, he was adamant that he had been considering racing at both Gore and Rangiora, despite these being consecutive days.
Reasons for Penalty:
The breach is mid-range. There was clearly insufficient room for Mr O’Connell to shift down on the track when he did. He was fortunate that Mr Williamson anticipated his move and eased back and gave him room. As Mr Williamson said, it was early in the race and, while he lost his rightful position in the field, it had not affected his chances in the race in the long run. A suspension is the appropriate penalty in this instance and an uplift to 12 days is appropriate having regard to the nature of the breach. After considering the respondent’s admission of the breach and his good record, this is reduced to a 10-day suspension. Mr O’Connell has 2 horses currently racing from his stable and only drives these horses. Despite some misgivings, Mr O’Connell’s assurance that he would have raced the two at both Gore and Rangiora is accepted.
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: ee42de0f103d56df33660bfb70cadbe1
informantnumber: A10446
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 22/07/2018
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 19 July 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Pof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Renault alleged that Mr O’Connell (AVEROSS FERRARI) drove carelessly near the 2200 metres in race 5, the Dunedin City Mobile Pace 2700 metres, when shifting ground inwards resulting in WESTAR SAM (Mr B Williamson) being checked and losing its rightful racing position.
Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrated the position of AVEROSS FERRARI and WESTAR SAM as the horses exited the first bend. Mr Williamson was 2 wide and the respondent was 3 wide. Mr B Williamson then briefly lost the back of Mr N Williamson and, in an endeavour to take this space, Mr O’Connell shifted down to the 2-wide position. Mr B Williamson had to ease his horse as a consequence and lost his spot in the field. Mr Renault emphasised there was some gap there for the respondent but not enough for him to be able to shift down as he did. Mr Renault demonstrated on the videos there was a horse to the inside of Mr B Williamson and that was why he had had to ease.
Mr O’Connell asked that Mr B Williamson be able to comment on the incident. Mr Renault did not object to this and the Committee heard from Mr Williamson. Mr Williamson stated that Mr O’Connell had misread the space that was available to him. He was of the view that with the passing lane to the inside Mr O’Connell had thought there was more room than there was. He said that while he had had to give up his place in the field to Mr O’Connell, and that Mr O’Connell’s move was not permitted under the Rules of Harness Racing, it was close to the start and had not made much difference in the end. When questioned by the Committee, he said that at the time he was aware of what Mr O’Connell was doing so had eased back and it had been easy for him to stay clear of Mr O’Connell’s cart. He said he was perhaps half a length off the horse he was trailing at this time. He reiterated there was not a full run there for Mr O’Connell and he had been checked slightly.
Mr O’Connell said he had misread the situation and accepted now that there was not a run there for him.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr O’Connell has admitted the breach, it is found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault produced the respondent’s record. Mr O’Connell has had 37 drives this season and 22 last season. His record was clear under this rule.
Mr Renault described the breach as at the higher end. Mr O’Connell had misread the situation and had shifted down to a 2-wide position despite there being 2 horses to his inside. He described the consequences as low to mid-range. Mr Williamson had not lost his chance in the race.
He believed an uplift from the starting point of $500 or 10 drives as provided in the Penalty Guide was appropriate with some discount for Mr O’Connell’s good record.
Mr O’Connell submitted that a fine was appropriate or a fine plus a suspension. When upcoming meetings were identified, he was adamant that he had been considering racing at both Gore and Rangiora, despite these being consecutive days.
reasonsforpenalty:
The breach is mid-range. There was clearly insufficient room for Mr O’Connell to shift down on the track when he did. He was fortunate that Mr Williamson anticipated his move and eased back and gave him room. As Mr Williamson said, it was early in the race and, while he lost his rightful position in the field, it had not affected his chances in the race in the long run. A suspension is the appropriate penalty in this instance and an uplift to 12 days is appropriate having regard to the nature of the breach. After considering the respondent’s admission of the breach and his good record, this is reduced to a 10-day suspension. Mr O’Connell has 2 horses currently racing from his stable and only drives these horses. Despite some misgivings, Mr O’Connell’s assurance that he would have raced the two at both Gore and Rangiora is accepted.
penalty:
Mr O’Connell is suspended from the end of tonight’s meeting up to and including 19 August. This is 5 meetings. (It was accepted that Mr O’Connell was not intending to drive at Addington).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D O'Connell - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr B Williamson - Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: f4b44c95da01c6417f8cb559453c1994
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 93b3b60d474338665fe6c53ddc8a2865
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/07/2018
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 19 July 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC