hearingid: b5a87b8f0439c9ace4221ba9acacb7ae

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hearing_racingtype: harness-racing

startdate: 03/07/2008

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decisiondate: no date provided

hearing_title: Forbury Park TC - 3 July 2008 - Race 2

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Decision:

After the running of Race 2, The Vet Equine Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr P T Knowles.  The allegation being that Mr D J Dunn (One More Legend), had shifted outwards allowing his sulky to contact the front legs of Mitcheals Bay (C T Woodward), causing Mitcheals Bay to break and lose its chances.

Mr Dunn denied the breach and was assisted by Senior Horseman, Mr B Orange.

Mr Knowles had Stipendiary Steward Mr C Allison demonstrate the incident on film.  This shows One More Legend racing three back on the inner turning into the final 200 metres and Mitcheals Bay racing in the one out, one back position.

Once the passing lane becomes available to the trailing horse, Mr Dunn is seen to shift out gradually to find racing room further out on the track.  In doing so his horse appears to make contact with the front legs of Mitcheals Bay, causing that horse to break badly.

Mr Knowles then went on to ask Mr Woodward to describe how he had been affected.  His response was to state that he was flat at the time and that he wasn’t going to improve his position.  Mr Dunn had come out, steadied, then come out again. There had been definite contact with Mr Dunn, the check he received being enough to make his horse gallop. 

Mr Orange proceeded to explain the incident by way of  demonstrating on the video footage that although contact was made with Mitcheals Bay, that horse continued to pace for several strides before it broke.  In his opinion eight out of ten horses would not have galloped in this situation.  Mr Orange considered that Mr Dunn’s actions were not careless, rather that he had simply misjudged where Mr Woodward was.

In response to a question from the Committee to Mr Orange as to why Mr Dunn does not appear to look anywhere but straight ahead when he is drifting out, Mr Orange believed that this was not at issue.  Mr Dunn made comment that he always knew where Mr Woodward was.

In summing up, Mr Knowles maintained that the damage had been done when contact was made and that it was not unusual for a horse not to gallop immediately.

Decision and Reasons

From listening to the evidence and viewing video footage of the incident, the charge of careless driving is found proven.

As a professional horsemen, irrespective of junior driver status, there is an expectation to exercise a considerable degree of care when making a move such as the one in question here.  The responsibility is to ensure that not only does your horse receive the best possible opportunity, but at the same time does not place the safety of other horses and drivers at risk.

In this case One More Legend was given every opportunity and duly won the event, however this was at the expense of Mitcheals Bay.  This horse was put out of the event through coming into contact with One More Legend’s sulky and breaking as a result, losing whatever chance it may have had from finishing closer.

The evidence presented clearly establishes One More Legend was driven carelessly by Mr Dunn.  Even accepting that the outward movement was gradual and the fact that Mr Dunn maintains he knew where Mitcheals Bay was, contact was still made.

Penalty

Mr Knowles assessed the degree of carelessness to be in the mid range. Mr Dunn in his view had made an error, failed to look and had taken the legs of another horse.  Mr Knowles stated that Mr Dunn has had one previous charge of careless driving in January 2008, but in the main has driven well.  A fine in the range of $300-$400 was appropriate in this situation.

Mr Dunn believed this to be excessive for a mid range breach and continued to defend his actions and the manner in which he drove.

In assessing submissions as to penalty, it is the Committee’s view that the breach is above mid range.  On that basis, along with considering the manner in which Mr Dunn conducted himself in the latter part of the hearing, a fine of $350 is imposed.

D Steel

Chairman

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hearing_type: Old Hearing

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raceid: 82433e1655d685c9952f81f5628c1fea

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racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

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race_title: Race 2

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meetid: 8722f45ed1c37ec3fa9620b6053dfa15

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meetdate: 03/07/2008

meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 3 July 2008

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tracklocation: forbury-park-tc

meet_racingtype: harness-racing

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name: Forbury Park TC