Kapiti Coast HRC 18 January 2015 – R 4
ID: JCA12546
Meet Title:
Kapiti Coast HRC - 18 January 2015
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TCastles
Race Date:
2015/01/18
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of race 4 the “Small and Co Accountants Mobile Pace” Information A4223 was jointly filed by Stipendiary Stewards Mr J Muirhead and Mr L Tidmarsh alleging a breach of Rule 869 (3)(b) by Open Horseman Mr G Martin. The Information stated “by driving “Maldini” carelessly causing interference to “Victor Ideal” (S Dickson) near the 200m resulting with that runner breaking and losing all chance”. Mr Martin signed the Information admitting the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule.
Rule 869 (3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Tidmarsh used the side on and head-on films to identify Mr Martin running 3 back on the running line as the horses entered the home straight for the final time. He said as the horses straightened Mr Martin moved out approximately half a horse width without causing any interference to the horses around him. After then travelling a small distance Mr Martin pulled the sliding blinds on “Maldini” and then angled his horse out in front of “Victor Ideal” when not the required distance clear. Mr Tidmarsh said the result of this movement was that “Victor Ideal” clipped the outside sulky wheel of “Maldini” and broke losing all chance.
Mr Martin accepted what Mr Tidmarsh had said. He said he simply misjudged the distance between himself and the horse to his outside and as a result had caused the interference.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $400 fine or a suspension of 8 drives. He said this was Mr Martin’s first breach of this Rule. He also said that Mr Martin was an experienced driver whose actions had caused another horse to break and lose all chance and had the old protest Rule been in place the Stewards would have lodged a protest and sought to have Mr Martin’s horse relegated behind “Victor Ideal”. He further said that “Maldini” had gone on to finish second earning its owner (Mrs A Martin) $1100 in stakes. He said the Stewards submitted a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Martin said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. He said “Maldini” was the only horse he had in work and the only he horse he drove. He said he had had only 8 drives this season and could not afford to pay a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident. The side-on film gives the best view and shows Mr Martin commencing to move out near the 250m mark, and then momentarily holding that line before again sharply moving out in front of Mr Dickson. The result was Mr Dickson’s horse was squeezed for room and then broke after hitting the outer sulky wheel of Mr Martin’s horse. The Committee considers the degree of carelessness exhibited by Mr Martin is in the low to mid range. The Committee places no relevance on the point made by Mr Tidmarsh that had the old protest Rule been in place the Stewards would have lodged a protest and sought to have “Maldini” relegated to last place. The Committee also notes Mr Martin has admitted the breach and that this is his first breach of the careless driving Rule for several years.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $400 fine or an 8 drive suspension. However, a review of recent penalties for similar breaches shows a range of penalties have been given to drivers who have not previously breached this Rule with a fine of $250 or less having been given in the majority of cases.
The Committee has noted Mr Martin said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. However, on this occasion we believe a fine is a more appropriate penalty and that it should be consistent as possible with previous penalties given to “first time offenders”.
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: 6b2b82584411c16a7b2a4c5194a712b9
informantnumber: A4223
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/01/2015
hearing_title: Kapiti Coast HRC 18 January 2015 - R 4
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 4 the “Small and Co Accountants Mobile Pace” Information A4223 was jointly filed by Stipendiary Stewards Mr J Muirhead and Mr L Tidmarsh alleging a breach of Rule 869 (3)(b) by Open Horseman Mr G Martin. The Information stated “by driving “Maldini” carelessly causing interference to “Victor Ideal” (S Dickson) near the 200m resulting with that runner breaking and losing all chance”. Mr Martin signed the Information admitting the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule.
Rule 869 (3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Tidmarsh used the side on and head-on films to identify Mr Martin running 3 back on the running line as the horses entered the home straight for the final time. He said as the horses straightened Mr Martin moved out approximately half a horse width without causing any interference to the horses around him. After then travelling a small distance Mr Martin pulled the sliding blinds on “Maldini” and then angled his horse out in front of “Victor Ideal” when not the required distance clear. Mr Tidmarsh said the result of this movement was that “Victor Ideal” clipped the outside sulky wheel of “Maldini” and broke losing all chance.
Mr Martin accepted what Mr Tidmarsh had said. He said he simply misjudged the distance between himself and the horse to his outside and as a result had caused the interference.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state that the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $400 fine or a suspension of 8 drives. He said this was Mr Martin’s first breach of this Rule. He also said that Mr Martin was an experienced driver whose actions had caused another horse to break and lose all chance and had the old protest Rule been in place the Stewards would have lodged a protest and sought to have Mr Martin’s horse relegated behind “Victor Ideal”. He further said that “Maldini” had gone on to finish second earning its owner (Mrs A Martin) $1100 in stakes. He said the Stewards submitted a fine of $400 was an appropriate penalty.
Mr Martin said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. He said “Maldini” was the only horse he had in work and the only he horse he drove. He said he had had only 8 drives this season and could not afford to pay a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident. The side-on film gives the best view and shows Mr Martin commencing to move out near the 250m mark, and then momentarily holding that line before again sharply moving out in front of Mr Dickson. The result was Mr Dickson’s horse was squeezed for room and then broke after hitting the outer sulky wheel of Mr Martin’s horse. The Committee considers the degree of carelessness exhibited by Mr Martin is in the low to mid range. The Committee places no relevance on the point made by Mr Tidmarsh that had the old protest Rule been in place the Stewards would have lodged a protest and sought to have “Maldini” relegated to last place. The Committee also notes Mr Martin has admitted the breach and that this is his first breach of the careless driving Rule for several years.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $400 fine or an 8 drive suspension. However, a review of recent penalties for similar breaches shows a range of penalties have been given to drivers who have not previously breached this Rule with a fine of $250 or less having been given in the majority of cases.
The Committee has noted Mr Martin said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. However, on this occasion we believe a fine is a more appropriate penalty and that it should be consistent as possible with previous penalties given to “first time offenders”.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Martin - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 64a3673691d9af6e7447712fe9b65c92
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c478bfc07f0df0e23d2690bd8a987b8d
meet_expapproval: approved
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 18/01/2015
meet_title: Kapiti Coast HRC - 18 January 2015
meet_expappcomment:
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meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: kapiti-coast-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TCastles
meet_pm2: none
name: Kapiti Coast HRC