HR Waikato 16 June 2017 – R 2 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA11476
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 16 June 2017
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2017/06/16
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
As Ms Wigg has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
We therefore imposed a fine of $300 on Ms Wigg.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, the NI Harness Awards Sep 2 Amateur Drivers Mobile Pace, Mr Mulcay lodged an Information alleging that Amateur Driver, Ms C Wigg, driving BOURBON STREET had caused her horse to break and lose all chance near the 600m by contacting the sulky of ADMIRALS FLIGHT.
Ms Wigg was present at the hearing and acknowledged that she understood the Rule, and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869(4) provides 'No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress'.
Using the available video films, Mr Mulcay identified the horses BOURBON STREET and ADMIRALS FLIGHT. As the horses neared the 800m mark, BOURBON STREET was 3 back on the pegs, behind ADMIRALS FLIGHT. Ms Wigg is clearly seen attempting to turn her horses head outward in an endeavour to come off the pegs line.. At about the 600m mark Ms Wigg strikes her horse with her whip, which caused BOURBON STREET to react by running into the back of ADMIRALS FLIGHT'S sulky. As a result BOURBON STREET went off-stride and galloped for some distance, losing all chance in the race. Mr Mulcay said he had seen worse breaches of this Rule, however added that the actions of Ms Wigg had caused her horse to lose any chance it had.
Ms Wigg acknowledged that her actions had caused her horse to break. She said that it was 'bad judgement' on her part, however she also added that she believed ADMIRALS FLIGHT had come back on her.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides for a suspension of 8 drives, or a fine of $400 as a starting point. He added that Ms Wigg had no prior breaches of this Rule in the past 12 months, and that she had admitted the breach. Mr Mulcay added that the Stewards believed that the breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
Ms Wigg said that if she had a choice between a suspension or a fine she would prefer a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a $400 fine or a suspension of 8 drives. It was clear that no other horse was affected by Ms Wiggs actions, however it was also clear that the manner of her driving was responsible for her horse losing any chance it had. We take into account her admission of the breach, and her clear record relative to the Rule in the previous 12 months. Other Amateur Drivers in similar circumstances have been fined between $250-$350. We placed this incident in the mid-range, and therefore considered a fine of $300 to be appropriate. We did not consider the breach called for any suspension of Ms Wiggs licence to drive in races.
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: 21503cd1a3c8b3a3df615c827a6069f1
informantnumber: A2623
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Causing own horse to break
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 17/06/2017
hearing_title: HR Waikato 16 June 2017 - R 2 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, the NI Harness Awards Sep 2 Amateur Drivers Mobile Pace, Mr Mulcay lodged an Information alleging that Amateur Driver, Ms C Wigg, driving BOURBON STREET had caused her horse to break and lose all chance near the 600m by contacting the sulky of ADMIRALS FLIGHT.
Ms Wigg was present at the hearing and acknowledged that she understood the Rule, and confirmed that she admitted the breach.
Rule 869(4) provides 'No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress'.
Using the available video films, Mr Mulcay identified the horses BOURBON STREET and ADMIRALS FLIGHT. As the horses neared the 800m mark, BOURBON STREET was 3 back on the pegs, behind ADMIRALS FLIGHT. Ms Wigg is clearly seen attempting to turn her horses head outward in an endeavour to come off the pegs line.. At about the 600m mark Ms Wigg strikes her horse with her whip, which caused BOURBON STREET to react by running into the back of ADMIRALS FLIGHT'S sulky. As a result BOURBON STREET went off-stride and galloped for some distance, losing all chance in the race. Mr Mulcay said he had seen worse breaches of this Rule, however added that the actions of Ms Wigg had caused her horse to lose any chance it had.
Ms Wigg acknowledged that her actions had caused her horse to break. She said that it was 'bad judgement' on her part, however she also added that she believed ADMIRALS FLIGHT had come back on her.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Wigg has admitted the breach we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Mulcay referred to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides for a suspension of 8 drives, or a fine of $400 as a starting point. He added that Ms Wigg had no prior breaches of this Rule in the past 12 months, and that she had admitted the breach. Mr Mulcay added that the Stewards believed that the breach could be dealt with by way of a fine.
Ms Wigg said that if she had a choice between a suspension or a fine she would prefer a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee confirmed that the JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a $400 fine or a suspension of 8 drives. It was clear that no other horse was affected by Ms Wiggs actions, however it was also clear that the manner of her driving was responsible for her horse losing any chance it had. We take into account her admission of the breach, and her clear record relative to the Rule in the previous 12 months. Other Amateur Drivers in similar circumstances have been fined between $250-$350. We placed this incident in the mid-range, and therefore considered a fine of $300 to be appropriate. We did not consider the breach called for any suspension of Ms Wiggs licence to drive in races.
penalty:
We therefore imposed a fine of $300 on Ms Wigg.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(4)
Informant: Mr S Mulcay - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms C Wigg - Amateur
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 73e39dd2fc12a517c466012ed562b5d4
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: a90ff2e82ece9c1e33c7f46e7feb62cd
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 16/06/2017
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 16 June 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato