Forbury Park TC 26 January 2012 – R 5
ID: JCA10809
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 26 January 2012
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
DSteel
Race Date:
2012/01/26
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
We find the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Prendergast is fined the sum of $200.
Charge:
Mr Allison, stipendiary steward, alleged that racing into the first bend Mr M Prendergast (MANCHESTER TOM) shifted ground inwards when insufficiently clear of LUELLA MIDFREW (Mr B Williamson) causing LUELLA MIDFREW to break.
Facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the videos that MANCHESTER TOM was quickly away from barrier 5 on the mobile and being pushed up towards the lead at the first turn. MANCHESTER TOM shifted down on the track at that bend tightening LUELLA MIDFREW which was racing on its inside. As a consequence LUELLA MIDFREW came into contact with WINGED WARRIOR (Mr N Williamson), which was racing on his inner.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Allison said the racing had been tight for some time and the respondent should have taken more care by straightening or restraining his horse.
Mr B Williamson gave evidence that there was crowding just before the first bend from Mr Prendergast who was racing on his outer. He said he saw MANCHESTER TOM coming over and called out for some time before the bend to be given room but the pressure was not relieved until after he had come into contact with WINGED WARRIOR on his inner. He said this was simply a consequence of his being squeezed for room. When questioned by this committee, he said there had been no pressure from his inside. It was all from Mr Prendergast racing on his outer.
Mr N Williamson gave evidence that racing into the first bend Mr B Williamson was on his outside. He could hear him yelling to be given room. He said on the point of the bend there was contact between his cart and LUELLA MIDFREW and that horse galloped.
Mr Prendergast said MANCHESTER TOM was fighting for its head and was a difficult horse to drive. He said he was aware that he was shifting in and was pulling on the right rein in an endeavour to straighten the horse. We asked him to demonstrate this on the videos but we could see no corrective action until after LUELLA MIDFREW had come into contact with WINGED WARRIOR. Mr Prendergast said he had never heard Mr B Williamson yelling.
Reasons for Decision:
Mr Prendergast has hunted MANCHESTER TOM towards the lead at a time when it was clear that the horse was hanging. He had had a prolonged warning from a driver on his inside (Mr B Williamson) that he was moving down on the track causing tightening. Ultimately LUELLA MIDFREW came into contact with WINGED WARRIOR and LUELLA MIDFREW galloped back through the field. The only corrective action we saw was after this contact when the respondent can clearly be seen to pull MANCHESTER TOM off LUELLA MIDFREW. It was too little too late, as Mr Allison has submitted. We believe a careful and prudent driver would not have continued to hunt up his horse towards the lead so soon after a 2200 start with a difficult bend looming and all the time drifting down on the track. These actions continued despite loud and persistent yelling from the driver on his inner to be given room.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Allison produced the defendant’s record, which was clear this season. He submitted a fine in the range of $200 to $250 was appropriate.
Mr Prendergast said he had not breached any rule for over 15 years. He asked that we take this into account together with the fact that the horse “fires up” immediately after the start of a mobile and he was doing his best to keep MANCHESTER TOM off other horses.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Prendergast is a very experienced horseman and has an excellent record of which he is justifiably proud. He has unfortunately let himself down on this occasion. The breach is not top end but the consequence of his shifting down on the track was LUELLA MIDFREW galloping and losing its position in the field. There was also a safety issue involved.
Taking into account these factors and the atrocious weather conditions under which the horses were competing, and the fact that the respondent has just returned to driving after being out for some time due to a race injury, we believe a fine is appropriate and that this can be at the lower end of the range.
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: 0a99efc7501b137365ecf8eb32fdc1d1
informantnumber: 5973
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 19/01/2012
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 26 January 2012 - R 5
charge:
Mr Allison, stipendiary steward, alleged that racing into the first bend Mr M Prendergast (MANCHESTER TOM) shifted ground inwards when insufficiently clear of LUELLA MIDFREW (Mr B Williamson) causing LUELLA MIDFREW to break.
facts:
Mr Allison demonstrated on the videos that MANCHESTER TOM was quickly away from barrier 5 on the mobile and being pushed up towards the lead at the first turn. MANCHESTER TOM shifted down on the track at that bend tightening LUELLA MIDFREW which was racing on its inside. As a consequence LUELLA MIDFREW came into contact with WINGED WARRIOR (Mr N Williamson), which was racing on his inner.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Allison said the racing had been tight for some time and the respondent should have taken more care by straightening or restraining his horse.
Mr B Williamson gave evidence that there was crowding just before the first bend from Mr Prendergast who was racing on his outer. He said he saw MANCHESTER TOM coming over and called out for some time before the bend to be given room but the pressure was not relieved until after he had come into contact with WINGED WARRIOR on his inner. He said this was simply a consequence of his being squeezed for room. When questioned by this committee, he said there had been no pressure from his inside. It was all from Mr Prendergast racing on his outer.
Mr N Williamson gave evidence that racing into the first bend Mr B Williamson was on his outside. He could hear him yelling to be given room. He said on the point of the bend there was contact between his cart and LUELLA MIDFREW and that horse galloped.
Mr Prendergast said MANCHESTER TOM was fighting for its head and was a difficult horse to drive. He said he was aware that he was shifting in and was pulling on the right rein in an endeavour to straighten the horse. We asked him to demonstrate this on the videos but we could see no corrective action until after LUELLA MIDFREW had come into contact with WINGED WARRIOR. Mr Prendergast said he had never heard Mr B Williamson yelling.
reasonsfordecision:
Mr Prendergast has hunted MANCHESTER TOM towards the lead at a time when it was clear that the horse was hanging. He had had a prolonged warning from a driver on his inside (Mr B Williamson) that he was moving down on the track causing tightening. Ultimately LUELLA MIDFREW came into contact with WINGED WARRIOR and LUELLA MIDFREW galloped back through the field. The only corrective action we saw was after this contact when the respondent can clearly be seen to pull MANCHESTER TOM off LUELLA MIDFREW. It was too little too late, as Mr Allison has submitted. We believe a careful and prudent driver would not have continued to hunt up his horse towards the lead so soon after a 2200 start with a difficult bend looming and all the time drifting down on the track. These actions continued despite loud and persistent yelling from the driver on his inner to be given room.
Decision:
We find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Allison produced the defendant’s record, which was clear this season. He submitted a fine in the range of $200 to $250 was appropriate.
Mr Prendergast said he had not breached any rule for over 15 years. He asked that we take this into account together with the fact that the horse “fires up” immediately after the start of a mobile and he was doing his best to keep MANCHESTER TOM off other horses.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Prendergast is a very experienced horseman and has an excellent record of which he is justifiably proud. He has unfortunately let himself down on this occasion. The breach is not top end but the consequence of his shifting down on the track was LUELLA MIDFREW galloping and losing its position in the field. There was also a safety issue involved.
Taking into account these factors and the atrocious weather conditions under which the horses were competing, and the fact that the respondent has just returned to driving after being out for some time due to a race injury, we believe a fine is appropriate and that this can be at the lower end of the range.
penalty:
Mr Prendergast is fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr C Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Prendergast - Licensed Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c72fea5a4886deb8fed9adcc6ce7cbe4
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: fa8966e3d8449b72b6cfe27f1fbb5c8a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/01/2012
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 26 January 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: DSteel
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC