Forbury Park TC 8 December 2017 – R 5 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA15539
Meet Title:
Forbury Park TC - 8 December 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2017/12/08
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
We find there is sufficient doubt as to Mr McNally being solely responsible for this incident and the charge is dismissed.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5 the ROOFING SOLUTIONS TROT an information was lodged alleging Mr S McNally drove carelessly near the 950 metres when allowing his horse TROY CASTLETON to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS resulting in his runner breaking.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault, with the aid of the video replays, stated that with approximately 1100 metres to run TROY CASTLETON was trailing the leader HOLDON TOYASPURS. Mr McIlwrick (HIGHLAND STAR) improved three wide round the field and went to the lead at the winning post with a lap to run. Shortly after Mr McNally allowed his horse to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS causing his horse to break. This caused a chain reaction with resulting checks to trailing runners. He was of the opinion Mr McNally had driven carelessly by trailing too close behind HOLDON TOYASPURS resulting in the incident.
Mr McNally stated he was doing his best to restrain his horse in a trailing position behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. He said the field was “rolling along at a good speed” but when HIGHLAND STAR, which was travelling on the bit, made the lead there was an easing of the pace. He said TROY CASTLETON races strongly and when he took a tight hold the horse would not respond and he “couldn’t get out of it.” He said the video demonstrated that Ms Purvis’ horse was racing with its head to the side and had run in.
Miss Purvis (HOLDON TOYASPURS) stated that when HIGHLAND STAR made the lead there was an easing of pace. About the same time she activated the sliding blinds. She stated her horse tended to hang inwards on the bends. She stated her horse had shifted inwards “a little bit” at the same time. Prior to the easing of the pace she had not been concerned about the trailing horse (Mr McNally) travelling too close behind her.
In summary, Mr Renault stated there was no evidence to show that there was an (abrupt) easing of the pace. He said HOLDON TOYASPURS had hung inwards slightly but had not shifted inwards. However, he said the responsibility was on Mr McNally to maintain his position and he had failed to do that by trailing too closely behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. This had resulted in his horse coming into contact with the sulky stay and causing his horse to break.
Mr McNally stated there was an easing of the pace and he had done his best to restrain his horse. His horse had failed to respond and he had made every attempt to avoid it.
Reasons for Decision:
Mr McNally is charged with careless driving in that he allowed his horse to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS causing it to break, with resulting interference to other runners. Mr Renault’s opinion is that Mr McNally was solely at fault and that there were no other contributing factors. Both Mr McNally and Miss Purvis stated that when HIGHLAND STAR made the lead the pace eased. About the same time as HIGHLAND STAR made the lead Miss Purvis was clearly seen activating the sliding blinds on HOLDON TOYASPURS. This required her to lean forward in the sulky. This in turn allowed HOLDON TOYASPURS to shift inwards slightly. After activating the sliding blinds, Miss Purvis took a hold of HOLDON TOYASPURS and it was at this point that TROY CASTLETON made contact with her sulky stay. Prior to the incident Mr McNally had maintained a steady trailing position behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. He stated he had taken every care to restrain his horse, which he had fought to respond.
We are of the view that the easing of the pace by Mr McIlwrick and the simultaneous actions of Miss Purvis are contributing factors to TROY CASTLETON striking the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS. The easing of pace does not have to be abrupt to be a contributing factor. While Mr McNally has an obligation to drive within the rules, he is not responsible for the driving actions of those who are forward of his position. We point out that neither Mr McIlwrick nor Miss Purvis have breached any rules in this incident.
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: afe44b362fba1f9342315380f65f5c57
informantnumber: A9875
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 11/12/2017
hearing_title: Forbury Park TC 8 December 2017 - R 5 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5 the ROOFING SOLUTIONS TROT an information was lodged alleging Mr S McNally drove carelessly near the 950 metres when allowing his horse TROY CASTLETON to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS resulting in his runner breaking.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault, with the aid of the video replays, stated that with approximately 1100 metres to run TROY CASTLETON was trailing the leader HOLDON TOYASPURS. Mr McIlwrick (HIGHLAND STAR) improved three wide round the field and went to the lead at the winning post with a lap to run. Shortly after Mr McNally allowed his horse to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS causing his horse to break. This caused a chain reaction with resulting checks to trailing runners. He was of the opinion Mr McNally had driven carelessly by trailing too close behind HOLDON TOYASPURS resulting in the incident.
Mr McNally stated he was doing his best to restrain his horse in a trailing position behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. He said the field was “rolling along at a good speed” but when HIGHLAND STAR, which was travelling on the bit, made the lead there was an easing of the pace. He said TROY CASTLETON races strongly and when he took a tight hold the horse would not respond and he “couldn’t get out of it.” He said the video demonstrated that Ms Purvis’ horse was racing with its head to the side and had run in.
Miss Purvis (HOLDON TOYASPURS) stated that when HIGHLAND STAR made the lead there was an easing of pace. About the same time she activated the sliding blinds. She stated her horse tended to hang inwards on the bends. She stated her horse had shifted inwards “a little bit” at the same time. Prior to the easing of the pace she had not been concerned about the trailing horse (Mr McNally) travelling too close behind her.
In summary, Mr Renault stated there was no evidence to show that there was an (abrupt) easing of the pace. He said HOLDON TOYASPURS had hung inwards slightly but had not shifted inwards. However, he said the responsibility was on Mr McNally to maintain his position and he had failed to do that by trailing too closely behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. This had resulted in his horse coming into contact with the sulky stay and causing his horse to break.
Mr McNally stated there was an easing of the pace and he had done his best to restrain his horse. His horse had failed to respond and he had made every attempt to avoid it.
reasonsfordecision:
Mr McNally is charged with careless driving in that he allowed his horse to strike the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS causing it to break, with resulting interference to other runners. Mr Renault’s opinion is that Mr McNally was solely at fault and that there were no other contributing factors. Both Mr McNally and Miss Purvis stated that when HIGHLAND STAR made the lead the pace eased. About the same time as HIGHLAND STAR made the lead Miss Purvis was clearly seen activating the sliding blinds on HOLDON TOYASPURS. This required her to lean forward in the sulky. This in turn allowed HOLDON TOYASPURS to shift inwards slightly. After activating the sliding blinds, Miss Purvis took a hold of HOLDON TOYASPURS and it was at this point that TROY CASTLETON made contact with her sulky stay. Prior to the incident Mr McNally had maintained a steady trailing position behind HOLDON TOYASPURS. He stated he had taken every care to restrain his horse, which he had fought to respond.
We are of the view that the easing of the pace by Mr McIlwrick and the simultaneous actions of Miss Purvis are contributing factors to TROY CASTLETON striking the sulky stay of HOLDON TOYASPURS. The easing of pace does not have to be abrupt to be a contributing factor. While Mr McNally has an obligation to drive within the rules, he is not responsible for the driving actions of those who are forward of his position. We point out that neither Mr McIlwrick nor Miss Purvis have breached any rules in this incident.
Decision:
We find there is sufficient doubt as to Mr McNally being solely responsible for this incident and the charge is dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr S McNally - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Miss Purvis - Driver of HOLDON TOYASPURS
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: fdb94865d20bcc90e5e14d7f07411461
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: 1c0f0bf24137cf62c594c6cb85b152e8
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 08/12/2017
meet_title: Forbury Park TC - 8 December 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: forbury-park-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Forbury Park TC