HR Waikato 21 July 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA13596
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 21 July 2016
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2016/07/21
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
As Mr Brownlee has admitted the breach we find this charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $200 on Mr Brownlee.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the TE RAPA WHOLESALE CARS AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was laid by Mr Muirhead alleging that 'Amateur Horseman Mr J Brownlee (SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT) drove in a manner over the early stages which was likely to interfere with the progress of FRANCO EXETER, driven by Mr J Darby, by contacting and puncturing this horses offside sulky wheel'.
Mr Brownlee was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule. He said that while he had admitted the breach he added that there were some mitigating factors he wished the Committee to take into account.
Rule 869(4) states that '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 films Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident. Referring to the head-on film he identified the horses SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT and FRANCO EXETER. FRANCO EXETER had drawn barrier position 1 on the second line, with SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT alongside.
Mr Muirhead stated that approximately 150-200 metres after the start there had been contact between FRANCO EXETER and SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT which had dropped behind it. He added that CONCORDE which had started from barrier 1 on the front line was hanging out which allowed FRANCO EXETER to angle inside it. SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT moved up behind FRANCO EXETER and then it is clear on the film that Mr Darby was looking behind FRANCO EXETER.
Mr Muirhead said Mr Darby later told Stewards that SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT had made contact with his sulky wheel at that time. As a result the tyre on the offside sulky wheel had deflated and come adrift. Mr Muirhead added that as a result of this FRANCO EXETER's chances in the race were badly affected.
Mr Brownlee stated that while he had admitted the breach, he wasn't aware that his horse had made contact with FRANCO EXETER's sulky wheel. He added that he did not hear anything at the time, and that his horse had been 'pulling' hard.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Brownlee's driving record which showed 1 breach of the 'careless driving' Rule in January 2016 but no breaches of this Rule. He agreed with Mr Brownlee that he had made a mistake and added that he should have dropped further back behind FRANCO EXETER. Mr Muirhead stated that although there were consequences to Mr Brownlee's actions the Stewards felt the breach fell in in low end of the scale. He submitted that the JCA Penalty Guide provided a starting point of a fine of $200 or a suspension of 4 drives and the Stewards considered a fine would be an appropriate penalty.
Mr Brownlee agreed that he had made a mistake, and stated that he would prefer a fine as he does not drive in races very often.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties involved. We accept that Mr Brownlee has admitted the breach and that he does not have any prior breaches of this particular Rule on his record. While Mr Brownlee has submitted that there were mitigating circumstances in this incident, the fact remains that FRANCO EXETER was the favourite in the race and had its chances virtually extinguished as a result of a sulky tyre deflating. We note that the JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point of $200 or a 4 drive suspension, however the Guide also has other penalties under this Rule which are more severe depending on the circumstances. We believe that the Stewards have factored in that there were some mitigating circumstances in Mr Brownlee's favour when considering which part of this Rule would be applicable when completing the Information. We note that Mr Brownlee does not drive often in races.
The Committee also took note of fines imposed on drivers in similar situations when coming to its decision that a fine of $200 would be appropriate in this matter.
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: 4b3b62dfd23ab7704613f43a277ecb0f
informantnumber: A3735
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Hits wheel,interferes with another horses progress
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 23/07/2016
hearing_title: HR Waikato 21 July 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the TE RAPA WHOLESALE CARS AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE, an Information was laid by Mr Muirhead alleging that 'Amateur Horseman Mr J Brownlee (SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT) drove in a manner over the early stages which was likely to interfere with the progress of FRANCO EXETER, driven by Mr J Darby, by contacting and puncturing this horses offside sulky wheel'.
Mr Brownlee was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule. He said that while he had admitted the breach he added that there were some mitigating factors he wished the Committee to take into account.
Rule 869(4) states that '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 films Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident. Referring to the head-on film he identified the horses SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT and FRANCO EXETER. FRANCO EXETER had drawn barrier position 1 on the second line, with SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT alongside.
Mr Muirhead stated that approximately 150-200 metres after the start there had been contact between FRANCO EXETER and SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT which had dropped behind it. He added that CONCORDE which had started from barrier 1 on the front line was hanging out which allowed FRANCO EXETER to angle inside it. SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT moved up behind FRANCO EXETER and then it is clear on the film that Mr Darby was looking behind FRANCO EXETER.
Mr Muirhead said Mr Darby later told Stewards that SHANTAHLIA KNIGHT had made contact with his sulky wheel at that time. As a result the tyre on the offside sulky wheel had deflated and come adrift. Mr Muirhead added that as a result of this FRANCO EXETER's chances in the race were badly affected.
Mr Brownlee stated that while he had admitted the breach, he wasn't aware that his horse had made contact with FRANCO EXETER's sulky wheel. He added that he did not hear anything at the time, and that his horse had been 'pulling' hard.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Brownlee has admitted the breach we find this charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead produced Mr Brownlee's driving record which showed 1 breach of the 'careless driving' Rule in January 2016 but no breaches of this Rule. He agreed with Mr Brownlee that he had made a mistake and added that he should have dropped further back behind FRANCO EXETER. Mr Muirhead stated that although there were consequences to Mr Brownlee's actions the Stewards felt the breach fell in in low end of the scale. He submitted that the JCA Penalty Guide provided a starting point of a fine of $200 or a suspension of 4 drives and the Stewards considered a fine would be an appropriate penalty.
Mr Brownlee agreed that he had made a mistake, and stated that he would prefer a fine as he does not drive in races very often.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took note of the submissions of the parties involved. We accept that Mr Brownlee has admitted the breach and that he does not have any prior breaches of this particular Rule on his record. While Mr Brownlee has submitted that there were mitigating circumstances in this incident, the fact remains that FRANCO EXETER was the favourite in the race and had its chances virtually extinguished as a result of a sulky tyre deflating. We note that the JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point of $200 or a 4 drive suspension, however the Guide also has other penalties under this Rule which are more severe depending on the circumstances. We believe that the Stewards have factored in that there were some mitigating circumstances in Mr Brownlee's favour when considering which part of this Rule would be applicable when completing the Information. We note that Mr Brownlee does not drive often in races.
The Committee also took note of fines imposed on drivers in similar situations when coming to its decision that a fine of $200 would be appropriate in this matter.
penalty:
Accordingly we impose a fine of $200 on Mr Brownlee.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(4)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Brownlee - Amateur Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0a7ea037cb68c04bf150f72764817345
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ac1c42d501bae8ce2c14f2cd74f8ec63
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/07/2016
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 21 July 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato