Invercargill HRC 3 March 2018 – R 10 – (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA15592
Meet Title:
Invercargill HRC - 3 March 2018
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway
Race Date:
2018/03/03
Race Number:
R10
Decision:
The Committee clearly believes that Rule 213(1)(j) is there to protect the punter and connections of a horse and after taking all the above into consideration has decided that “Stylish Duke” should therefore be declared a non-runner. Authorisation of the payment of amended dividends based on that decision is given.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the “Waxy O’Shea’s Handicap Trot” Information A10423 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr Tidmarsh seeking a request for a Ruling relating to the start of the Race. The Information stated the Ruling was sought in relation to “whether “Stylish Duke” was denied a fair start and should be declared a non-runner”.
Rule 213(1) states:-
“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”.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Tidmarsh used the side on film of the pre-start and start of the Race to highlight the incident. He said “Delestic” was drawn Unruly 1 on the 10m mark and could be seen to be fractious before the start of the race. Behind “Delestic” he highlighted “Stylish Duke” which was drawn Unruly 1 on the 20m mark. Mr Tidmarsh said the driver of “Delestic”, Mr Purvis, could be seen to be having trouble settling the horse and getting it to face squarely up to the tape. He said as the tape was released “Delestic" was continuing to be fractious and backed back into “Stylish Duke” with the chances of that horse being extinguished.
Mr Tidmarsh said a critical aspect of the incident was whether the Committee felt the race had started because interference to a horse during a race does not justify the horse being declared a non-runner. He said it was his view that “Delestic” was never going to step away due to its fractious nature and, as a result in backing away as it did, it has significantly impeded the progress of "Stylish Duke" which meant the horse did not take part in the race. He concluded by saying he had no criticism of the actions of Mr Ward.
The Starter, Mr Ward, did not agree with Mr Tidmarsh’s interpretation of the film saying that he believed “Delestic” had gone backwards as the tape was released and therefore had caused the interference during the race and not prior to it commencing and should therefore be declared a starter.
Mr Williamson, the driver of “Stylish Duke” said that the horse drawn Unruly 2 on the 20m mark, ie to his outside, was possibly not as close to the outside rail as he could have been which meant ‘Stylish Duke” was also slightly out of position. However, he said “Delestic” came back onto him so quickly he had not had time to respond and as a result lost all chance at the start.
Reasons for Decision:
There is no dispute that, despite the best efforts of Mr Purvis, “Delestic” backed into “Stylish Duke” which was checked and took no part in the race. Rule 213(1)(j) allows the Stipendiary Stewards to scratch a horse if it was denied a fair start. Mr Tidmarsh on this occasion has chosen to refer the matter to the JCA because of the issue raised during the hearing as to whether the incident occurred before or after the start of the race.
The pre-start and start of the race were played several times during the hearing. “Delestic” was clearly “playing up” in the pre-start and Mr Purvis was in some difficulty trying to get the horse to face the tape to allow the race to start. Because of that we do not believe the horse was going to step away correctly. Whether it backed into “Stylish Duke” prior to or as the tape was released is seen as significant by all the parties even though there is some disagreement amongst them as to when ‘Delestic” did start to back away. Whilst noting the comments of Mr Williamson in relation to his position on the 20m mark, and the position of the horse to his outside on that mark, we do not believe that played a part in the events that unfolded.
In viewing the start of the Race the Committee would need a frame by frame view to ascertain the exact moment when “Delestic” started to back away. However, to the casual observer viewing the start of the Race “Stylish Duke” was clearly denied a fair start and lost all chance meaning the actions of “Delestic” did materially prejudice its chances.
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: b877b0bd6656814104c38fd03a327b9b
informantnumber: A 10423
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 05/03/2018
hearing_title: Invercargill HRC 3 March 2018 - R 10 - (request for a ruling) Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 10, the “Waxy O’Shea’s Handicap Trot” Information A10423 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr Tidmarsh seeking a request for a Ruling relating to the start of the Race. The Information stated the Ruling was sought in relation to “whether “Stylish Duke” was denied a fair start and should be declared a non-runner”.
Rule 213(1) states:-
“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”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Tidmarsh used the side on film of the pre-start and start of the Race to highlight the incident. He said “Delestic” was drawn Unruly 1 on the 10m mark and could be seen to be fractious before the start of the race. Behind “Delestic” he highlighted “Stylish Duke” which was drawn Unruly 1 on the 20m mark. Mr Tidmarsh said the driver of “Delestic”, Mr Purvis, could be seen to be having trouble settling the horse and getting it to face squarely up to the tape. He said as the tape was released “Delestic" was continuing to be fractious and backed back into “Stylish Duke” with the chances of that horse being extinguished.
Mr Tidmarsh said a critical aspect of the incident was whether the Committee felt the race had started because interference to a horse during a race does not justify the horse being declared a non-runner. He said it was his view that “Delestic” was never going to step away due to its fractious nature and, as a result in backing away as it did, it has significantly impeded the progress of "Stylish Duke" which meant the horse did not take part in the race. He concluded by saying he had no criticism of the actions of Mr Ward.
The Starter, Mr Ward, did not agree with Mr Tidmarsh’s interpretation of the film saying that he believed “Delestic” had gone backwards as the tape was released and therefore had caused the interference during the race and not prior to it commencing and should therefore be declared a starter.
Mr Williamson, the driver of “Stylish Duke” said that the horse drawn Unruly 2 on the 20m mark, ie to his outside, was possibly not as close to the outside rail as he could have been which meant ‘Stylish Duke” was also slightly out of position. However, he said “Delestic” came back onto him so quickly he had not had time to respond and as a result lost all chance at the start.
reasonsfordecision:
There is no dispute that, despite the best efforts of Mr Purvis, “Delestic” backed into “Stylish Duke” which was checked and took no part in the race. Rule 213(1)(j) allows the Stipendiary Stewards to scratch a horse if it was denied a fair start. Mr Tidmarsh on this occasion has chosen to refer the matter to the JCA because of the issue raised during the hearing as to whether the incident occurred before or after the start of the race.
The pre-start and start of the race were played several times during the hearing. “Delestic” was clearly “playing up” in the pre-start and Mr Purvis was in some difficulty trying to get the horse to face the tape to allow the race to start. Because of that we do not believe the horse was going to step away correctly. Whether it backed into “Stylish Duke” prior to or as the tape was released is seen as significant by all the parties even though there is some disagreement amongst them as to when ‘Delestic” did start to back away. Whilst noting the comments of Mr Williamson in relation to his position on the 20m mark, and the position of the horse to his outside on that mark, we do not believe that played a part in the events that unfolded.
In viewing the start of the Race the Committee would need a frame by frame view to ascertain the exact moment when “Delestic” started to back away. However, to the casual observer viewing the start of the Race “Stylish Duke” was clearly denied a fair start and lost all chance meaning the actions of “Delestic” did materially prejudice its chances.
Decision:
The Committee clearly believes that Rule 213(1)(j) is there to protect the punter and connections of a horse and after taking all the above into consideration has decided that “Stylish Duke” should therefore be declared a non-runner. Authorisation of the payment of amended dividends based on that decision is given.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: 213 (1)(j)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr N Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr M Williamson - Open Horseman, Mr B Ward - Starter
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: d4a75b78e9683400f21ead79ed020ebf
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R10
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ff0e66abf33ebbc516f099f09b103785
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/03/2018
meet_title: Invercargill HRC - 3 March 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: invercargill-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: MConway
meet_pm2: none
name: Invercargill HRC