Invercargill HRC 20 May 2017 – R 1 (request for a ruling) Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA10632
Meet Title:
Invercargill HRC - 20 May 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp
Race Date:
2017/05/20
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
We accordingly advised the Stipendiary Stewards that in our opinion SVELT was denied a fair start.
Facts:
Mr Williamson, the driver of SVELT, sought a ruling as to whether that horse was denied a fair start in race 1 the APEX VALVES TROT.
The relevant rules provide:
213(1) A Stipendiary Steward at any time may scratch from a race or declare ineligible to start in a race until a specific condition is met any horse on all or any of the following grounds:
(j) if a horse was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.
860A(2) When following the completion of a barrier draw pursuant to r 860(2) or (3) hereof, any horse is scratched or withdrawn, the horses on the outside of the line or mark from which the horse was scratched or withdrawn shall move in to take up the vacant position and:
(a) in the case of a standing start where a vacant position occurs on the front line no horse shall be promoted from the second line to the front line after the right of re-entry time;
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Tidmarsh replayed the start of race 1 on video. He stated that SVELT had drawn 9, which prior to scratchings was in effect 1 on the second line. However, there had been two scratchings and the horse should have started towards the outside of the 1st line. The horse started from 1 on the second line.
Mr Williamson said he told the Starter at least twice that he was being required to start from the incorrect position and asked him to check with his race book. This was once before the false start and then again before second start of the race. Mr Williamson said it was important to get the horse rolling and if it had clear air at the start it would trot away quickly. He said the problem was that starting from the inside of the second line, he had had to ease SVELT and it had galloped. He believed he had been denied a fair start and that his chances were affected.
Mr Tidmarsh confirmed that the scratching of the two horses on the front line was before the right of re-entry time. The other horse that had started from the incorrect position had finished 2nd therefore they were not seeking a ruling in respect of that horse.
Reasons for Decision:
We are satisfied that SVELT should have started from towards the outside of the front line. Mr Williamson had twice told the Starter this, but to no avail. The horse started from the inside of the 2nd line. It was away fairly but broke when being restrained to follow a horse from the front line. We have placed emphasis not on the fact the horse broke, as this was some time after the start, but on the fact, it was entitled under the Rules to have a front-line position. Those persons who invested on the horse did so in the belief that race officials would ensure that the horse started from its correct position.
By being required to start in a position that was not in accordance with the Rules, despite the protests of the driver of the horse, we are satisfied SVELT was denied a fair start and that the chances of the horse were correspondingly materially prejudiced.
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: 0e72a42c7a7cdfa55c48d826bc51c1de
informantnumber: A9367
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 23/05/2017
hearing_title: Invercargill HRC 20 May 2017 - R 1 (request for a ruling) Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Williamson, the driver of SVELT, sought a ruling as to whether that horse was denied a fair start in race 1 the APEX VALVES TROT.
The relevant rules provide:
213(1) A Stipendiary Steward at any time may scratch from a race or declare ineligible to start in a race until a specific condition is met any horse on all or any of the following grounds:
(j) if a horse was denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse.
860A(2) When following the completion of a barrier draw pursuant to r 860(2) or (3) hereof, any horse is scratched or withdrawn, the horses on the outside of the line or mark from which the horse was scratched or withdrawn shall move in to take up the vacant position and:
(a) in the case of a standing start where a vacant position occurs on the front line no horse shall be promoted from the second line to the front line after the right of re-entry time;
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Tidmarsh replayed the start of race 1 on video. He stated that SVELT had drawn 9, which prior to scratchings was in effect 1 on the second line. However, there had been two scratchings and the horse should have started towards the outside of the 1st line. The horse started from 1 on the second line.
Mr Williamson said he told the Starter at least twice that he was being required to start from the incorrect position and asked him to check with his race book. This was once before the false start and then again before second start of the race. Mr Williamson said it was important to get the horse rolling and if it had clear air at the start it would trot away quickly. He said the problem was that starting from the inside of the second line, he had had to ease SVELT and it had galloped. He believed he had been denied a fair start and that his chances were affected.
Mr Tidmarsh confirmed that the scratching of the two horses on the front line was before the right of re-entry time. The other horse that had started from the incorrect position had finished 2nd therefore they were not seeking a ruling in respect of that horse.
reasonsfordecision:
We are satisfied that SVELT should have started from towards the outside of the front line. Mr Williamson had twice told the Starter this, but to no avail. The horse started from the inside of the 2nd line. It was away fairly but broke when being restrained to follow a horse from the front line. We have placed emphasis not on the fact the horse broke, as this was some time after the start, but on the fact, it was entitled under the Rules to have a front-line position. Those persons who invested on the horse did so in the belief that race officials would ensure that the horse started from its correct position.
By being required to start in a position that was not in accordance with the Rules, despite the protests of the driver of the horse, we are satisfied SVELT was denied a fair start and that the chances of the horse were correspondingly materially prejudiced.
Decision:
We accordingly advised the Stipendiary Stewards that in our opinion SVELT was denied a fair start.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 213(1)(j)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr N Williamson - Open Horseman and Driver of SVELT
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: 9476e361c10ec7107da8cf3b61eeb7ce
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: 872d6d5c77a2976812c449e1d34de51e
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/05/2017
meet_title: Invercargill HRC - 20 May 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: invercargill-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: GClapp
meet_pm2: none
name: Invercargill HRC