Manawatu HRC 31 January 2020 – R3 – Chair, Mr T Utikere
ID: JCA13365
Meet Title:
Manawatu HRC - 31 January 2020
Meet Chair:
TUtikere
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2020/01/31
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
As the charge was admitted, the Committee deemed the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Cowden is fined $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 3 (Cafe Jacko Mobile Pace 2500m) Information A10284 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It alleged a breach of Rule 869(3)(b), specifically that Junior Driver Mr J Cowden “...drove carelessly near the 300 metres when allowing his gelding to contact the sulky wheel of MOLLY DOOKER (B Mangos).”
Rule 869(3) states: “No horseman in any race shall drive:-...(b) carelessly”.
With the assistance of Senior Horseman Mr J Abernethy, Mr Cowden confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Using the side-on and head-on films, Mr Muirhead identified BENJAMIN BUTTON (J Cowden) towards the rear as the field approached the final bend. He said Mr Cowden was seeking to improve and shifted ground outwards, and in doing so came into contact with MOLLY DOOKER’s wheel. Mr Mangos had looked around post-incident as a result of the contact that was made.
Mr Cowden said he had aimed to improve, but that the films clearly showed that he had made contact.
Mr Abernethy agreed he had hit the wheel but that the horse had travelled strongly, was on the bit, and had made contact with a wheel previously when driven by Mr S Abernethy.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead initially identified the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives suspension or a $500 fine. He said Mr Cowden had a clear record, was a junior driver with 14 drives this season with previous international drives prior to that. He also said it was disappointing that stewards had previously spoken to him about shifting ground recently. The Committee identified that as the carelessness involved striking a sulky wheel, in fact the correct starting point was a 6 drives suspension or a $300 fine; which Mr Muirhead accepted was the case.
Mr Cowden said he arrived in New Zealand six weeks ago and had more than 100 droves in Ireland prior to his arrival in this country. Mr Abernethy asked the Committee to consider his guilty plea, status as a Junior Driver and sought the imposition of a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
When considering a financial penalty, the JCA Penalty Guide identifies a starting point of a $300 fine for this breach, which the Committee considers is appropriate to adopt on this occasion. We accept there are no aggravating features to the breach; Mr Cowden’s movement was slight in nature and as a result he had just touched Mr Mangos’ wheel. We accept upon our review of the films that he was driving a strong horse which was racing heavily on the bit. We place the carelessness at the low-end, and note that any previous warnings given to him by the RIU are irrelevant for the purposes of approaching penalty. In mitigation we consider his early admission, good record and status as a Junior Driver.
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: 684af34022f8eeebe20a492b7d78bc40
informantnumber: A10284
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/01/2020
hearing_title: Manawatu HRC 31 January 2020 - R3 - Chair, Mr T Utikere
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 3 (Cafe Jacko Mobile Pace 2500m) Information A10284 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It alleged a breach of Rule 869(3)(b), specifically that Junior Driver Mr J Cowden “...drove carelessly near the 300 metres when allowing his gelding to contact the sulky wheel of MOLLY DOOKER (B Mangos).”
Rule 869(3) states: “No horseman in any race shall drive:-...(b) carelessly”.
With the assistance of Senior Horseman Mr J Abernethy, Mr Cowden confirmed that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Using the side-on and head-on films, Mr Muirhead identified BENJAMIN BUTTON (J Cowden) towards the rear as the field approached the final bend. He said Mr Cowden was seeking to improve and shifted ground outwards, and in doing so came into contact with MOLLY DOOKER’s wheel. Mr Mangos had looked around post-incident as a result of the contact that was made.
Mr Cowden said he had aimed to improve, but that the films clearly showed that he had made contact.
Mr Abernethy agreed he had hit the wheel but that the horse had travelled strongly, was on the bit, and had made contact with a wheel previously when driven by Mr S Abernethy.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the charge was admitted, the Committee deemed the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead initially identified the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives suspension or a $500 fine. He said Mr Cowden had a clear record, was a junior driver with 14 drives this season with previous international drives prior to that. He also said it was disappointing that stewards had previously spoken to him about shifting ground recently. The Committee identified that as the carelessness involved striking a sulky wheel, in fact the correct starting point was a 6 drives suspension or a $300 fine; which Mr Muirhead accepted was the case.
Mr Cowden said he arrived in New Zealand six weeks ago and had more than 100 droves in Ireland prior to his arrival in this country. Mr Abernethy asked the Committee to consider his guilty plea, status as a Junior Driver and sought the imposition of a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
When considering a financial penalty, the JCA Penalty Guide identifies a starting point of a $300 fine for this breach, which the Committee considers is appropriate to adopt on this occasion. We accept there are no aggravating features to the breach; Mr Cowden’s movement was slight in nature and as a result he had just touched Mr Mangos’ wheel. We accept upon our review of the films that he was driving a strong horse which was racing heavily on the bit. We place the carelessness at the low-end, and note that any previous warnings given to him by the RIU are irrelevant for the purposes of approaching penalty. In mitigation we consider his early admission, good record and status as a Junior Driver.
penalty:
Mr Cowden is fined $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(3)(b)
Informant: M J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Cowden - Junior Driver
Otherperson: Mr J Abernethy - Open Horseman assisting Mr Cowden
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9ba354c6b3a3e694b19a2a5c2541cf37
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f418a47569080640545fe40ad69948be
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/01/2020
meet_title: Manawatu HRC - 31 January 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: manawatu-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: TUtikere
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Manawatu HRC