HR Waikato 28 January 2016 – R 1 – Chair, Mr B Scott
ID: JCA16241
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 28 January 2016
Meet Chair:
BScott
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2016/01/28
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
Penalty:
This Committee suspends Ms Wigg's Amateur Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing today up to the conclusion of racing on the 31st of May 2016.
Facts:
Following the running of the HARNESS JEWELS CAMBRIDGE JUNE 4 AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Amateur Driver Ms Cheree Wigg the driver of HADRIAN alleging that Ms Wigg failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures between the 1600 and 1100 metres marks to ensure that HADRIAN was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place.
Ms Wigg was present at the Hearing and she was assisted by Mr T Vince the Trainer of Hadrian. Ms Wigg advised the Committee that she admitted the breach.
Rule 868(2) provides "Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place."
The rule was read to Ms Wigg and she acknowledged that she understood it.
Mr Muirhead gave evidence and he said that HADRIAN drew 5 at the start and the other horse involved in the incident ALSA LUSTRE drew 1. He said that ALSA LUSTRE went straight to the lead and then HADRIAN came up alongside it. He then said that the lead time over the first 600 metres was 41.6 seconds and the 2nd and 3rd quarters were 30.8 seconds and 28.8 seconds respectively.
Mr Muirhead then said that HADRIAN finished second last 16 lengths from the winner. He also said that HADRIAN was one of the favourites for the race and was second favourite for a place.
Mr Muirhead then advised the Committee that after the race he ordered a Vet check of HADRIAN and the Vet reported a slow recovery of respiratory and heart rates 15 minutes after the race. The Vet's report was produced to the Committee.
The race films were then shown and Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident and showed where HADRIAN had moved up outside ALSA LUSTRE (which was leading) early in the race and then Ms Wigg tried to reach the lead with her horse. When that happened ALSA LUSTRE began pulling very hard and its driver could not restain it. From the 1600 metres mark to the 1100 metres mark Ms Wigg continued to try to reach the lead but was unsuccessful because ALSA LUSTRE kept pulling very hard. Ms Wigg even used the whip on her horse with a round to go but she could still not reach the lead. Mr Muirhead said that she should have backed off at that stage.
Mr Vince on behalf of Ms Wigg said that as the Trainer he had instructed her to lead and he thought HADRIAN would reach the lead comfortably. He did say that it was a poor drive by Ms Wigg. In her defence he did say that the driver of ALSA LUSTRE told Ms Wigg that she could have the lead but this proved not to be possible because ALSA LUSTRE pulled so fiercely.
In answer to a question from the Committee about Ms Wigg using the whip on her horse when it was running a 28.8 quarter Mr Vince said that Ms Wigg is very inexperienced and she didn't know that she was going that fast.
Mr Vince then said " there is no defence, it was a very poor drive ".
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA penalty guidelines which provide for starting point penalties of suspension of Licence for 15 drives or a $750.00 fine. He referred to 2 previous cases involving amateur drivers under this rule being Mrs Yoakley on the 15th March 2015 where she was suspended for 11 weeks and Mr Cronin on the 14th of My 2015 where he was suspended for 10 weeks. He said that any suspension of Ms Wigg's licence must be at least as long as those 2 suspensions.
Mr Vince said that Ms Wigg is inexperienced and that it was only her 3rd drive although he acknowledged that that doesn't help those members of the public who wagered on her horse. He said that the 2 drivers in the cases referred to above were far more experienced and any suspension of Ms Wigg's licence should be less than those drivers.
Mr Vince also said that he had applied to the Stewards for permission to scratch HADRIAN from its upcoming engagement at the Bay of Plenty HRC meeting on Sunday 31st January 2016.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has listened to the parties and we have viewed the race films (all angles) several times. The films are very clear and we agree with Mr Vince in that it was a very poor drive on the part of Ms Wigg.
We believe that this incident is in the upper level of seriousness particularly when we take into account the fact that Ms Wigg persisted in attempting to reach the lead over a distance of at least 500 metres when she could see that the leader was giving its driver a very difficult drive by pulling so fiercely. We were also very concerned that almost half way through the race when her horse was running a quarter in 28.8 Ms Wigg used the whip on it.
Despite the Trainer's instructions there are many occasions in a race when a driver must resort to plan B and in Ms Wigg's case that meant pulling back when it was clear that she could not reach the lead.
We are also concerned that HADRIAN was one of the favourites for the race and those who wagered on that horse were not given every chance of obtaining a return.
Mr Muirhead has referred us to 2 previous cases where suspensions of 10 and 11 weeks were imposed. We do not know how many drives that those suspensions involved and it is difficult for raceday Committees to calculate drives for Amateur drivers.
We are going to deal with this suspension in terms of drives (rather than weeks) as provided by the guidelines and we believe that a suspension of Ms Wigg's Licence until the 31st of May will involve approximately 8 drives being the meetings at Cambridge during that period and also the Tuesday meeting at Alexandra Park on the 8th of March 2016. We have not taken into account the Bay of Plenty HRC meeting on Sunday because Mr Vince has confirmed to us that HADRIAN is scratched from that meeting and drivers are already declared and Ms Wigg does not have a declared drive.
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: ced8e976c43f342adf512af4c85a376f
informantnumber: A3692
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failure to take all reasonable and permissable measures
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 03/02/2016
hearing_title: HR Waikato 28 January 2016 - R 1 - Chair, Mr B Scott
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the HARNESS JEWELS CAMBRIDGE JUNE 4 AMATEUR DRIVERS MOBILE PACE an Information was lodged by Stipendiary Steward Mr JM Muirhead against Amateur Driver Ms Cheree Wigg the driver of HADRIAN alleging that Ms Wigg failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures between the 1600 and 1100 metres marks to ensure that HADRIAN was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place.
Ms Wigg was present at the Hearing and she was assisted by Mr T Vince the Trainer of Hadrian. Ms Wigg advised the Committee that she admitted the breach.
Rule 868(2) provides "Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place."
The rule was read to Ms Wigg and she acknowledged that she understood it.
Mr Muirhead gave evidence and he said that HADRIAN drew 5 at the start and the other horse involved in the incident ALSA LUSTRE drew 1. He said that ALSA LUSTRE went straight to the lead and then HADRIAN came up alongside it. He then said that the lead time over the first 600 metres was 41.6 seconds and the 2nd and 3rd quarters were 30.8 seconds and 28.8 seconds respectively.
Mr Muirhead then said that HADRIAN finished second last 16 lengths from the winner. He also said that HADRIAN was one of the favourites for the race and was second favourite for a place.
Mr Muirhead then advised the Committee that after the race he ordered a Vet check of HADRIAN and the Vet reported a slow recovery of respiratory and heart rates 15 minutes after the race. The Vet's report was produced to the Committee.
The race films were then shown and Mr Muirhead demonstrated the incident and showed where HADRIAN had moved up outside ALSA LUSTRE (which was leading) early in the race and then Ms Wigg tried to reach the lead with her horse. When that happened ALSA LUSTRE began pulling very hard and its driver could not restain it. From the 1600 metres mark to the 1100 metres mark Ms Wigg continued to try to reach the lead but was unsuccessful because ALSA LUSTRE kept pulling very hard. Ms Wigg even used the whip on her horse with a round to go but she could still not reach the lead. Mr Muirhead said that she should have backed off at that stage.
Mr Vince on behalf of Ms Wigg said that as the Trainer he had instructed her to lead and he thought HADRIAN would reach the lead comfortably. He did say that it was a poor drive by Ms Wigg. In her defence he did say that the driver of ALSA LUSTRE told Ms Wigg that she could have the lead but this proved not to be possible because ALSA LUSTRE pulled so fiercely.
In answer to a question from the Committee about Ms Wigg using the whip on her horse when it was running a 28.8 quarter Mr Vince said that Ms Wigg is very inexperienced and she didn't know that she was going that fast.
Mr Vince then said " there is no defence, it was a very poor drive ".
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The breach is admitted and therefore the charge is upheld.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead referred to the JCA penalty guidelines which provide for starting point penalties of suspension of Licence for 15 drives or a $750.00 fine. He referred to 2 previous cases involving amateur drivers under this rule being Mrs Yoakley on the 15th March 2015 where she was suspended for 11 weeks and Mr Cronin on the 14th of My 2015 where he was suspended for 10 weeks. He said that any suspension of Ms Wigg's licence must be at least as long as those 2 suspensions.
Mr Vince said that Ms Wigg is inexperienced and that it was only her 3rd drive although he acknowledged that that doesn't help those members of the public who wagered on her horse. He said that the 2 drivers in the cases referred to above were far more experienced and any suspension of Ms Wigg's licence should be less than those drivers.
Mr Vince also said that he had applied to the Stewards for permission to scratch HADRIAN from its upcoming engagement at the Bay of Plenty HRC meeting on Sunday 31st January 2016.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has listened to the parties and we have viewed the race films (all angles) several times. The films are very clear and we agree with Mr Vince in that it was a very poor drive on the part of Ms Wigg.
We believe that this incident is in the upper level of seriousness particularly when we take into account the fact that Ms Wigg persisted in attempting to reach the lead over a distance of at least 500 metres when she could see that the leader was giving its driver a very difficult drive by pulling so fiercely. We were also very concerned that almost half way through the race when her horse was running a quarter in 28.8 Ms Wigg used the whip on it.
Despite the Trainer's instructions there are many occasions in a race when a driver must resort to plan B and in Ms Wigg's case that meant pulling back when it was clear that she could not reach the lead.
We are also concerned that HADRIAN was one of the favourites for the race and those who wagered on that horse were not given every chance of obtaining a return.
Mr Muirhead has referred us to 2 previous cases where suspensions of 10 and 11 weeks were imposed. We do not know how many drives that those suspensions involved and it is difficult for raceday Committees to calculate drives for Amateur drivers.
We are going to deal with this suspension in terms of drives (rather than weeks) as provided by the guidelines and we believe that a suspension of Ms Wigg's Licence until the 31st of May will involve approximately 8 drives being the meetings at Cambridge during that period and also the Tuesday meeting at Alexandra Park on the 8th of March 2016. We have not taken into account the Bay of Plenty HRC meeting on Sunday because Mr Vince has confirmed to us that HADRIAN is scratched from that meeting and drivers are already declared and Ms Wigg does not have a declared drive.
penalty:
This Committee suspends Ms Wigg's Amateur Drivers Licence from the conclusion of racing today up to the conclusion of racing on the 31st of May 2016.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 868(2)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms C Wigg - Amatuer Driver
Otherperson: Mr T Vince - Trainer of HADRIAN assisting Ms Wigg
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
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race_title: R1
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meetdate: 28/01/2016
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 28 January 2016
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name: Harness Racing Waikato