Geraldine TC 2 February 2013 – R 1 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA17621
Meet Title:
Geraldine TC - 2 February 2013
Meet Chair:
JPhelan
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2013/02/02
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The protest was dismissed, and a direction made that stake money be paid according to the judge’s placings.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Waikato Milking Systems Trot, an Information Instigating a Protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault against the placing of “Countess Pippa” (2), which was placed 5th in the race. It was alleged that this horse was in a break for a distance in excess of 150 metres from about the 500 metre mark, which was in breach of Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horses Regulation.
The Judge’s official placings in this race were as follows:
1st – Vacanza (16)
2nd – Dragon Lady (15)
3rd – Fear The Knight (12)
4th – Flying Buck (6)
5th – Countess Pippa (2)
6th – Nasty Brat (9)
The Information reads as follows:
“I, the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horses Regulation (in that) Countess Pippa broke near the 500m and galloped in excess of 150m.”
Rule 870(3) provides as follows:
“(3) Any Horse which breaks from its gait shall promptly regain its proper gait.”
Clause (a) of the “Breaking Horses” Regulation provides as follows:
“(a) Any horse which breaks from its gait either at the start or during the running of any race and continues on in the break for a distance of 150 metres or greater, shall be deemed to be in breach of Rule 870(3) in that it has failed to promptly regain its proper gait.”
This Regulation goes on to state that a horse in breach of the Regulation can be relegated or disqualified, and then there is a proviso to this Regulation which reads as follows –
“Provided that where such first mentioned horse is not in its correct gait as a result of interference to such horse or its horseman, then [subject to Rule 869(8)] such relegation or disqualification of the horse shall be at the discretion of the Judicial Committee.”
Mr B. D. J. Munro was the driver of “Countess Pippa” and he agreed that he would represent the interests of the connections of this horse. Mr Munro is a Junior Horseman and he was assisted at this hearing by Open Horseman Mr J. R. Dunn.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage of this incident to show that at the 500 metre mark “Countess Pippa” went into a break and galloped for between 160 and 170 metres. The horse lost considerable ground in the break before settling, and then ran on and finished in 5th place. At the time of this incident “Countess Pippa” was three back on the marker line with horses on its outside. Mr Munro said he had received interference and this caused his horse to break. However it was the Stipendiary Stewards evidence that “Countess Pippa” had broken free of interference, and that it should be disqualified from the race.
Mr Munro gave evidence that his horse was travelling well at the time of this incident, and only broke because he received a check when its back leg made contact with the wheel of the horse outside him, this being “Rebma” driven by Mrs A. J. Tomlinson. In Mr Dunn’s opinion the pressure seemed to be coming from the horse which was three wide.
Mrs Tomlinson gave evidence that she could not say if there was contact or not, but did say that things were very “tight” at the time of the incident, and that there was pressure from her outside. Mrs Tomlinson confirmed that her wheel was adjacent to “Countess Pippa’s” hind leg.
After hearing the evidence we adjourned to consider our decision.
Reasons for Decision:
After reviewing the evidence we could not discount that there might have been contact between “Countess Pippa’s” back leg and sulky wheel of “Rebma”. We were satisfied that “Countess Pippa” should be given the benefit of this doubt and, in accordance with the proviso to the Breaking Horses Regulation, decided to exercise our discretion in favour of “Countess Pippa” and dismiss the protest.
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: fa023ef7acd7c1498b0af6e26d1ee835
informantnumber: A1965
horsename: COUNTESS PIPPA
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 30/01/2013
hearing_title: Geraldine TC 2 February 2013 - R 1 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Waikato Milking Systems Trot, an Information Instigating a Protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault against the placing of “Countess Pippa” (2), which was placed 5th in the race. It was alleged that this horse was in a break for a distance in excess of 150 metres from about the 500 metre mark, which was in breach of Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horses Regulation.
The Judge’s official placings in this race were as follows:
1st – Vacanza (16)
2nd – Dragon Lady (15)
3rd – Fear The Knight (12)
4th – Flying Buck (6)
5th – Countess Pippa (2)
6th – Nasty Brat (9)
The Information reads as follows:
“I, the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 870(3) and the Breaking Horses Regulation (in that) Countess Pippa broke near the 500m and galloped in excess of 150m.”
Rule 870(3) provides as follows:
“(3) Any Horse which breaks from its gait shall promptly regain its proper gait.”
Clause (a) of the “Breaking Horses” Regulation provides as follows:
“(a) Any horse which breaks from its gait either at the start or during the running of any race and continues on in the break for a distance of 150 metres or greater, shall be deemed to be in breach of Rule 870(3) in that it has failed to promptly regain its proper gait.”
This Regulation goes on to state that a horse in breach of the Regulation can be relegated or disqualified, and then there is a proviso to this Regulation which reads as follows –
“Provided that where such first mentioned horse is not in its correct gait as a result of interference to such horse or its horseman, then [subject to Rule 869(8)] such relegation or disqualification of the horse shall be at the discretion of the Judicial Committee.”
Mr B. D. J. Munro was the driver of “Countess Pippa” and he agreed that he would represent the interests of the connections of this horse. Mr Munro is a Junior Horseman and he was assisted at this hearing by Open Horseman Mr J. R. Dunn.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage of this incident to show that at the 500 metre mark “Countess Pippa” went into a break and galloped for between 160 and 170 metres. The horse lost considerable ground in the break before settling, and then ran on and finished in 5th place. At the time of this incident “Countess Pippa” was three back on the marker line with horses on its outside. Mr Munro said he had received interference and this caused his horse to break. However it was the Stipendiary Stewards evidence that “Countess Pippa” had broken free of interference, and that it should be disqualified from the race.
Mr Munro gave evidence that his horse was travelling well at the time of this incident, and only broke because he received a check when its back leg made contact with the wheel of the horse outside him, this being “Rebma” driven by Mrs A. J. Tomlinson. In Mr Dunn’s opinion the pressure seemed to be coming from the horse which was three wide.
Mrs Tomlinson gave evidence that she could not say if there was contact or not, but did say that things were very “tight” at the time of the incident, and that there was pressure from her outside. Mrs Tomlinson confirmed that her wheel was adjacent to “Countess Pippa’s” hind leg.
After hearing the evidence we adjourned to consider our decision.
reasonsfordecision:
After reviewing the evidence we could not discount that there might have been contact between “Countess Pippa’s” back leg and sulky wheel of “Rebma”. We were satisfied that “Countess Pippa” should be given the benefit of this doubt and, in accordance with the proviso to the Breaking Horses Regulation, decided to exercise our discretion in favour of “Countess Pippa” and dismiss the protest.
Decision:
The protest was dismissed, and a direction made that stake money be paid according to the judge’s placings.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: Rule 870(3) and Breaking Horses Regulation
Informant: Mr S. P. Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr J.R. Dunn - Open Horseman - assisting Mr Munro
Respondent: Mr B. D. J. Munro - Junior Horseman
StipendSteward:
raceid: 8a2fbd43b3b7104146f8d7229dd14c95
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 705a9a4c0c6c2a2744a16ff7a7f46682
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 02/02/2013
meet_title: Geraldine TC - 2 February 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: geraldine-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: JPhelan
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Geraldine TC