Hawkes Bay RI – 19 October 2006 –

hearingid: 67a72bfa646006fd56ed95f7d6e38ec0

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startdate: 19/10/2006

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hearing_title: Hawkes Bay RI - 19 October 2006 -

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Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr C George, informed the committee that when visiting the jockey's room he noticed the vest of Jockey C Ormsby had been tampered with. There were a number of panels missing.

Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr C George, informed the committee that when visiting the jockey's room he noticed the vest of Jockey C Ormsby had been tampered with. There were a number of panels missing. Upon questioning Mr Ormsby, it was ascertained that he had been party to the vest being tampered with.

The vest concerned was shown to the Judicial Panel and it was noted that two panels were missing. Mr George informed the committee that removing the panels could assist in obtaining the correct weight at weigh-in time. He did however, point out that on this particular occasion there was no problem with Mr. Ormsby's weight. He believed it was purely a safety issue. Mr George stated that he had full co-operation from Mr Ormsby during the course of the investigation. Mr Ormsby and his employer Mr Scott had no comment to make.

Mr George reiterated that he had had full co-operation from Mr Ormsby. He felt strongly however that Mr Ormsby was cheating the system. He had deliberately tampered with his vest to possibly gain an unfair advantage. Mr George asked for a period of suspension in the range of 1 - 2 weeks. He agreed with a question by the chairman that this was a most unusual charge but did confirm similar breaches in Australia resulted in periods of suspension. He felt any attempt to gain an unfair advantage should be best served by suspension. Mr A Scott asked for the penalty to be by way of a fine. It was pointed out to Mr Scott that fines to apprentice jockeys were rare and had to be carefully considered. Mr Scott informed the committee that suspensions had not been successful in the past to Jockey Ormsby and perhaps a monetary penalty may have the desired effect.

The committee in arriving at its decision considered carefully the submissions on penalty placed before it. The unusual nature of the charge and the lack of previous breaches created an unusual precedent. While the charge was admitted the actions undertaken by Jockey Ormsby were deliberate and possibly undertaken to gain an unfair advantage. The committee felt that this could be best reflected in a period of suspension rather than a fine as suggested by his employer. The committee was also mindful of the period of time for suspension suggested by the Stipendiary Steward, C. George, that encompassed a particularly busy time for a jockey of Mr Ormsby's ability and which included a number of premier days. In arriving at its decision to suspend Jockey C Ormsby from race riding the committee was mindful of the deliberate actions of Mr Ormsby in tampering with gear required by the rules of racing for protection.

The committee was mindful that there were three premier race meetings incorporated in the period of suspension determined. However, it was the committee's belief that the seriousness of the offence and the deliberate actions by Mr Ormsby could not be reflected in any mitigating circumstances. Even Mr Ormsbys admittance of the breach and his full co-operation with the Stipendiary Stewards did not in the committee's opinion reflect a reason for a reduction of penalty. Mr C Ormsby was suspended from race riding from the completion of racing on Thursday the 23rd of November 2006 until the completion of racing on Thursday the 7^th of December 2006.

TW Castles (Chairman)

C Pettigrew

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