Hawkes Bay RI 1 May 2021 – R 5 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA14683
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Hawkes Bay RI - 1 May 2021
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
TCastles
Race Date:
2021/05/01
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As Ms Hemi admitted the breach, it was deemed to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Hemi’s license is suspended from the close of racing on May 8th up to and including racing on May 13th.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, an Information was lodged by Mr Williamson alleging a breach of Rule 638 (4) in that L Hemi (ANDUIN) unreasonably reduced the pace of the race near the 900 metres hampering runners following.
Rule 638(4) reads:
A Rider shall not unreasonably slow, reduce or check the speed of his or her horse to a degree that interferes, either directly or indirectly, with any other horse in the race. [Amended 1 August 2017)
Mr Williamson had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the incident by way of the video footage. He identified Ms Hemi take the lead on ANDUIN. At this point she had a look behind her and took a hold of her mount thereby slowing the pace. The easing of pace affected horses in behind, namely SUPERDONNA (W Pinn) and NO ROCK NO POP (A Mudhoo), who both had to check losing ground.
Ms Hemi admitted easing the pace but said she did so because her horse was lugging slightly, and she was attempting to get around the corner. Mr Goodwin accepted that might have been the case but said Ms Hemi overdid it.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson said Ms Hemi has never been charged with a breach of this Rule before. He explained that slowing the pace used to be covered by the Careless Riding Rule but had been amended in 2017 to a stand-alone Rule. He further suggested that the Committee might consider viewing today's breach alongside the recently amended penalties for careless riding which had been reduced by NZTR last year.
Ms Hemi said that although she admitted to slowing the pace the incident was made worse due to inexperienced Apprentice Riders being involved and the fact that NO ROCK NO POP is a horse who is known to race fiercely anyway.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee considered all submissions. Unofficial records indicate only 3 previous breaches of this Rule which occurred in 2017/18. The penalties imposed for those breaches were suspensions of 7, 8, and 9 days respectively. This correlates with the starting point provided by the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees of a 6-8 day suspension.
Mr Williamson made a valid point. Penalties for careless riding have over the last year been reduced. This is in part due to Covid but also to address the shortage of Riders available nationally. It makes sense to this Committee to apply the same logic to a breach of Rule 638(4) which is very similar to a careless riding charge. The effect of Ms Hemi slowing the pace today was moderate interference to 2 runners in behind her.
We took into account her clear record and admission of the breach, but do not accept that inexperienced Riders should be a reason for mitigation. The Committee suggested to Ms Hemi that Senior Riders should be more mindful, when riding amongst Apprentices to allow more room and time. Balancing up all factors it was our opinion a 3-day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
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: 7065448925302172245022c5df603e48
informantnumber: A14555
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Slowing the Pace
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 03/05/2021
hearing_title: Hawkes Bay RI 1 May 2021 - R 5 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, an Information was lodged by Mr Williamson alleging a breach of Rule 638 (4) in that L Hemi (ANDUIN) unreasonably reduced the pace of the race near the 900 metres hampering runners following.
Rule 638(4) reads:
A Rider shall not unreasonably slow, reduce or check the speed of his or her horse to a degree that interferes, either directly or indirectly, with any other horse in the race. [Amended 1 August 2017)
Mr Williamson had Mr Goodwin demonstrate the incident by way of the video footage. He identified Ms Hemi take the lead on ANDUIN. At this point she had a look behind her and took a hold of her mount thereby slowing the pace. The easing of pace affected horses in behind, namely SUPERDONNA (W Pinn) and NO ROCK NO POP (A Mudhoo), who both had to check losing ground.
Ms Hemi admitted easing the pace but said she did so because her horse was lugging slightly, and she was attempting to get around the corner. Mr Goodwin accepted that might have been the case but said Ms Hemi overdid it.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Hemi admitted the breach, it was deemed to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson said Ms Hemi has never been charged with a breach of this Rule before. He explained that slowing the pace used to be covered by the Careless Riding Rule but had been amended in 2017 to a stand-alone Rule. He further suggested that the Committee might consider viewing today's breach alongside the recently amended penalties for careless riding which had been reduced by NZTR last year.
Ms Hemi said that although she admitted to slowing the pace the incident was made worse due to inexperienced Apprentice Riders being involved and the fact that NO ROCK NO POP is a horse who is known to race fiercely anyway.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee considered all submissions. Unofficial records indicate only 3 previous breaches of this Rule which occurred in 2017/18. The penalties imposed for those breaches were suspensions of 7, 8, and 9 days respectively. This correlates with the starting point provided by the Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees of a 6-8 day suspension.
Mr Williamson made a valid point. Penalties for careless riding have over the last year been reduced. This is in part due to Covid but also to address the shortage of Riders available nationally. It makes sense to this Committee to apply the same logic to a breach of Rule 638(4) which is very similar to a careless riding charge. The effect of Ms Hemi slowing the pace today was moderate interference to 2 runners in behind her.
We took into account her clear record and admission of the breach, but do not accept that inexperienced Riders should be a reason for mitigation. The Committee suggested to Ms Hemi that Senior Riders should be more mindful, when riding amongst Apprentices to allow more room and time. Balancing up all factors it was our opinion a 3-day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly, Ms Hemi’s license is suspended from the close of racing on May 8th up to and including racing on May 13th.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(4)
Informant: Mr M Willamson-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms L Hemi - Class A Rider
Otherperson: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d10429fbeacb632633d2db39baf86ffb
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: fca9d52412adc84b90489e0e05195aa4
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 1
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 01/05/2021
meet_title: Hawkes Bay RI - 1 May 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: hawkes-bay-ri
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: TCastles
meet_pm2: none
name: Hawkes Bay RI