Gore HRC 27 April 2015 – R 4
ID: JCA10917
Meet Title:
Gore HRC - 27 April 2015
Meet Chair:
NSkelt
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2015/04/27
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
Mr Ferguson having admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Ferguson was fined the sum of $300 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of HRNZ.
Facts:
Following the running of race 4 The PGG Wrightson/ South Gore Dairy Pace an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Davidson alleging Junior Horseman Mr C Ferguson, as the driver of Wayward Roc in the race, drove carelessly.
With approximately 100 metres to run Wayward Roc shifted ground outwards when insufficiently clear of Real South (Miss M Neilson) which made contact with Tinted Light (R Swain) with Tinted Light breaking.
Mr Ferguson was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman shall in any race drive
(b) carelessly
Mr Davidson showed video replays of the incident from several angles with approximately 100 metres to run.
Mr Allison highlighted Wayward Roc (C Ferguson) shifting ground outwards forcing Real South (M Neilson) to make contact with Tinted Light (R Swain). Tinted Light was unable to shift outwards due to the fast finishing Shark Ali (A Beck) on its outside. At that point Tinted Light broke and lost its chance.
Mr Ferguson said that he had simply made an error of judgement – his horse was going well and he misjudged the gap when moving outwards. He had not seen Shark Ali wider out on the track prior to shifting outwards.
Mr J Cox supporting Mr Ferguson said that the horses affected by the incident were not going to run in to stakes bearing places.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Davidson informed the committee that Mr Ferguson had one previous breach of this rule at the Waikouaiti Meeting on 8th February 2015 when he received a fine of $200.
In the 2013/2014 season Mr Ferguson had 245 drives and has had 304 drives this season.
Mr Davidson said that Mr Ferguson was currently the leading Junior Horseman in New Zealand.
Mr Davidson believed the breach was mid to low end.
Mr Ferguson asked the committee to consider that he was a Junior Horseman when fixing penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the committee took into account that Mr Ferguson admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and that he is a Junior Horseman.
Mr Davidson indicated a fine of $250.00 would be appropriate and we take that as a starting point.
However, there are aggravating factors which place this incident in the mid range of carelessness. As a result of Mr Ferguson’s actions two horses suffered interference with one breaking from its gate. While neither horse finished in a stake bearing position their chances of finishing in a higher placing were affected. Also, this is Mr Ferguson’s second breach of the Rule within three months.
We believe a higher fine is appropriate.
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: 0ee357532f97a0312ad0ce4874e9696f
informantnumber: A3891
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: 869 (3) (b)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/04/2015
hearing_title: Gore HRC 27 April 2015 - R 4
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 4 The PGG Wrightson/ South Gore Dairy Pace an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr M Davidson alleging Junior Horseman Mr C Ferguson, as the driver of Wayward Roc in the race, drove carelessly.
With approximately 100 metres to run Wayward Roc shifted ground outwards when insufficiently clear of Real South (Miss M Neilson) which made contact with Tinted Light (R Swain) with Tinted Light breaking.
Mr Ferguson was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman shall in any race drive
(b) carelessly
Mr Davidson showed video replays of the incident from several angles with approximately 100 metres to run.
Mr Allison highlighted Wayward Roc (C Ferguson) shifting ground outwards forcing Real South (M Neilson) to make contact with Tinted Light (R Swain). Tinted Light was unable to shift outwards due to the fast finishing Shark Ali (A Beck) on its outside. At that point Tinted Light broke and lost its chance.
Mr Ferguson said that he had simply made an error of judgement – his horse was going well and he misjudged the gap when moving outwards. He had not seen Shark Ali wider out on the track prior to shifting outwards.
Mr J Cox supporting Mr Ferguson said that the horses affected by the incident were not going to run in to stakes bearing places.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Ferguson having admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Davidson informed the committee that Mr Ferguson had one previous breach of this rule at the Waikouaiti Meeting on 8th February 2015 when he received a fine of $200.
In the 2013/2014 season Mr Ferguson had 245 drives and has had 304 drives this season.
Mr Davidson said that Mr Ferguson was currently the leading Junior Horseman in New Zealand.
Mr Davidson believed the breach was mid to low end.
Mr Ferguson asked the committee to consider that he was a Junior Horseman when fixing penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the committee took into account that Mr Ferguson admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity and that he is a Junior Horseman.
Mr Davidson indicated a fine of $250.00 would be appropriate and we take that as a starting point.
However, there are aggravating factors which place this incident in the mid range of carelessness. As a result of Mr Ferguson’s actions two horses suffered interference with one breaking from its gate. While neither horse finished in a stake bearing position their chances of finishing in a higher placing were affected. Also, this is Mr Ferguson’s second breach of the Rule within three months.
We believe a higher fine is appropriate.
penalty:
Mr Ferguson was fined the sum of $300 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of HRNZ.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: careless driving
Informant: Mr M Davidson - Stipendiary Steward, Mr CJ Allison - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Ferguson - Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr JW Cox - Senior Horseman - Assisting
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 69d4190fc89177974ff44251aa26c2bf
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: a1131280939a6164be1a300f87ba68b8
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/04/2015
meet_title: Gore HRC - 27 April 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: gore-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: NSkelt
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Gore HRC