Invercargill HRC 28 January 2017 – R 10 – Chair, Mr V Munro
ID: JCA12559
Meet Title:
Invercargill HRC - 28 January 2017
Meet Chair:
VMUnro
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2017/01/28
Race Number:
R 10
Decision:
Mr O’Connell having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr O’Connell is fined $300 and reminded of his responsibilities out on the track.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the PGG Wrightson Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr L Tidmarsh, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D O’Connell, alleging that Mr O’Connell, “allowed his horse ALEXY to shift inwards rounding the first bend when insufficiently clear of LIKETHELOOK which was checked”.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
 (b) carelessly.
Mr O’Connell had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He also wished to be present at the hearing.
Mr Tidmarsh, showed video replays of the race. He pointed out Mr O’Connell (driving ALEXY), which had drawn 6 on the front line and also identified Mr Suddaby (LIKETHELOOK) which had drawn 5 on the second row.
Mr Tidmarsh said when entering the bend leaving the home straight Mr O’Connell was two-wide, as he rounded the bend, Mr O’Connell took his horse to the marker line when insufficiently clear of LIKETHELOOK. As Mr O’Connell shifted inwards his inside left sulky wheel came into contact with the right front leg of LIKETHELOOK causing this horse to break for a short distance.
Mr O’Connell stated that he thought he was sufficiently clear and was only maintaining his line, he further stated, it was very close after watching the films.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh informed the Committee that Mr O’Connell has had 7 drives to date for this season, whilst last season he had three 3 drives. He also stated that Mr O’Connell has a clear record for careless driving in the past 12 months. Mr Tidmarsh’s view was that Mr O’Connell purely misjudged the shift inwards, that he made definite contact with his sulky wheel and the other horses front leg.
Mr Tidmarsh referred to the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a suspension of 10 drives or a $500 fine. He sought a fine of $300.
Mr O’Connell stated that a fine around $300 would be steep and reminded the committee that he had pleaded guilty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee noted that the appropriate starting point under the JCA Penalty Guide was a $500 fine. We took into account Mr O’Connell’s guilty plea and that with his clear driving record a fine of $300 would be just for this offence.
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: 378b2ec6c32814e2d48980869e9b7e5c
informantnumber: A8575
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/01/2017
hearing_title: Invercargill HRC 28 January 2017 - R 10 - Chair, Mr V Munro
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the PGG Wrightson Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr L Tidmarsh, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D O’Connell, alleging that Mr O’Connell, “allowed his horse ALEXY to shift inwards rounding the first bend when insufficiently clear of LIKETHELOOK which was checked”.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
 (b) carelessly.
Mr O’Connell had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that he admitted the breach. He also wished to be present at the hearing.
Mr Tidmarsh, showed video replays of the race. He pointed out Mr O’Connell (driving ALEXY), which had drawn 6 on the front line and also identified Mr Suddaby (LIKETHELOOK) which had drawn 5 on the second row.
Mr Tidmarsh said when entering the bend leaving the home straight Mr O’Connell was two-wide, as he rounded the bend, Mr O’Connell took his horse to the marker line when insufficiently clear of LIKETHELOOK. As Mr O’Connell shifted inwards his inside left sulky wheel came into contact with the right front leg of LIKETHELOOK causing this horse to break for a short distance.
Mr O’Connell stated that he thought he was sufficiently clear and was only maintaining his line, he further stated, it was very close after watching the films.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr O’Connell having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh informed the Committee that Mr O’Connell has had 7 drives to date for this season, whilst last season he had three 3 drives. He also stated that Mr O’Connell has a clear record for careless driving in the past 12 months. Mr Tidmarsh’s view was that Mr O’Connell purely misjudged the shift inwards, that he made definite contact with his sulky wheel and the other horses front leg.
Mr Tidmarsh referred to the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a suspension of 10 drives or a $500 fine. He sought a fine of $300.
Mr O’Connell stated that a fine around $300 would be steep and reminded the committee that he had pleaded guilty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee noted that the appropriate starting point under the JCA Penalty Guide was a $500 fine. We took into account Mr O’Connell’s guilty plea and that with his clear driving record a fine of $300 would be just for this offence.
penalty:
Mr O’Connell is fined $300 and reminded of his responsibilities out on the track.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D O'Connell - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9593b2973705e485a5aaf00395bf80d9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c9500cac5ca373e91c28b159b1379f24
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/01/2017
meet_title: Invercargill HRC - 28 January 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: invercargill-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: VMUnro
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Invercargill HRC