Archive Decision

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Manawatu RC 10 December 2016 – R 7 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt

ID: JCA15457

Applicant:
Mr N Goodwin - Senior Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr A Chan - Apprentice Rider

Other Person:
Mr N Harris - Apprentice Jockey Mentor assisting Mr Chan, Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A7691

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Manawatu RC - 10 December 2016

Meet Chair:
NMoffatt

Meet Committee Member 1:
TBird

Race Date:
2016/12/10

Race Number:
R 7

Decision:

As Mr Chan admitted the breach we found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Mr Chan is suspended from the close of racing today December 10th up to and including racing on Saturday December 31st, in effect six Central District’s days.
Days included in penalty are:

15/12/16  -Otaki
17/12/16 - Manawatu
24/12/16 - Taranaki
26/12/16 - Manawatu
27/12/16 - Taranaki
31/12/16 - Stratford

Facts:

Following the running of Race 7, Silvester/Clark Consulting Engineers Handicap, an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 638(1)(d) in that rider, Alfred Chan rode his horse in a careless manner allowing it to shift out in the straight making contact with CHAMBORD.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Chan confirmed to the Committee that he admitted the breach. Assisting him was Mr Noel Harris.
Mr Balcombe identified the runners involved using the head-on video. Mr Goodwin said the films were self-explanatory.  At approximately the 350m Mr Chan (SPEECHCRAFT) was racing 1½ horse widths off the fence. When placed under pressure SPEECHCRAFT began to run outwards with Mr Chan making no attempt to correct his mount. After moving out 11-12 horse widths SPEECHCRAFT made severe contact with CHAMBORD. Mr Goodwin said it was fortunate that Mr Chan was beaten by CHAMBORD otherwise a protest would have been lodged.

Mr Harris said Mr Goodwin had summed the situation up fairly. Mr Chan had ridden well up until the final stages when he shifted outwards over a large amount of ground. Mr Harris was not making excuses for Mr Chan’s ride but said it was rare for a horse to “run into the stick” as nine out of ten horses would run away from the whip.

In response to a question from the Committee Mr Chan said he was aware that his horse was running outwards but he was concentrating on riding hard to the finish.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Goodwin produced Mr Chan’s riding record which showed two suspensions for careless riding over the previous 12 months. He began riding in August 2015 and has had approximately 220 rides.
Mr Goodwin submitted that Mr Chan’s carelessness was at the top end but the consequences were lower on account of CHAMBORD getting up and winning the race.
He said Mr Chan was a promising apprentice who did not bother the Stewards very often and today’s ride was totally out of character. The only excuse Mr Goodwin could think of was that Mr Chan had a rush of blood to the head as he had never seen him ride like that before.
Mr Harris said he had just told Mr Chan earlier in the day how well he has been riding lately. He said in today’s instance Mr Chan got excited and was trying too hard to win the race. He said any jockey can ride a bad race and Mr Chan will really learn from today’s incident.

Reasons for Penalty:

In coming to a decision on penalty the committee took into account all of the submissions presented and adopted as a starting point a five day suspension. It was our view that Mr Chan’s degree of carelessness was at the high end therefore a significant aggravating factor. He moved outwards over a considerable distance while riding with vigour and only corrected after making heavy contact with CHAMBORD. If Mr Chan had beaten that runner there would inevitably have been a protest into the finish. We have added two days onto the starting point to reflect his level of carelessness.

Mr Chan has had two careless riding charges in the last 12months, one in the South Island and one since he moved north. We viewed his record to be a neutral factor.

The Stewards and Mr Harris (apprentice rider mentor) emphasised the fact that this breach was completely out of character and Mr Chan himself showed obvious distress and remorse over his ride. Taking into account all of these factors, including Mr Chan’s admission of the breach, it was our opinion that a six day suspension was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Goodwin spoke to Mr Sharrock on the phone and he advised that Mr Chan could begin any suspension immediately. The Stewards confirmed that since Mr Chan’s move north he was now considered predominantly a Central Districts rider.

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: 954169ae05549472a5e270a4a46404c2


informantnumber: A7691


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 12/12/2016


hearing_title: Manawatu RC 10 December 2016 - R 7 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 7, Silvester/Clark Consulting Engineers Handicap, an Information was lodged by Mr N Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 638(1)(d) in that rider, Alfred Chan rode his horse in a careless manner allowing it to shift out in the straight making contact with CHAMBORD.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr Chan confirmed to the Committee that he admitted the breach. Assisting him was Mr Noel Harris.
Mr Balcombe identified the runners involved using the head-on video. Mr Goodwin said the films were self-explanatory.  At approximately the 350m Mr Chan (SPEECHCRAFT) was racing 1½ horse widths off the fence. When placed under pressure SPEECHCRAFT began to run outwards with Mr Chan making no attempt to correct his mount. After moving out 11-12 horse widths SPEECHCRAFT made severe contact with CHAMBORD. Mr Goodwin said it was fortunate that Mr Chan was beaten by CHAMBORD otherwise a protest would have been lodged.

Mr Harris said Mr Goodwin had summed the situation up fairly. Mr Chan had ridden well up until the final stages when he shifted outwards over a large amount of ground. Mr Harris was not making excuses for Mr Chan’s ride but said it was rare for a horse to “run into the stick” as nine out of ten horses would run away from the whip.

In response to a question from the Committee Mr Chan said he was aware that his horse was running outwards but he was concentrating on riding hard to the finish.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Chan admitted the breach we found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Goodwin produced Mr Chan’s riding record which showed two suspensions for careless riding over the previous 12 months. He began riding in August 2015 and has had approximately 220 rides.
Mr Goodwin submitted that Mr Chan’s carelessness was at the top end but the consequences were lower on account of CHAMBORD getting up and winning the race.
He said Mr Chan was a promising apprentice who did not bother the Stewards very often and today’s ride was totally out of character. The only excuse Mr Goodwin could think of was that Mr Chan had a rush of blood to the head as he had never seen him ride like that before.
Mr Harris said he had just told Mr Chan earlier in the day how well he has been riding lately. He said in today’s instance Mr Chan got excited and was trying too hard to win the race. He said any jockey can ride a bad race and Mr Chan will really learn from today’s incident.


reasonsforpenalty:

In coming to a decision on penalty the committee took into account all of the submissions presented and adopted as a starting point a five day suspension. It was our view that Mr Chan’s degree of carelessness was at the high end therefore a significant aggravating factor. He moved outwards over a considerable distance while riding with vigour and only corrected after making heavy contact with CHAMBORD. If Mr Chan had beaten that runner there would inevitably have been a protest into the finish. We have added two days onto the starting point to reflect his level of carelessness.

Mr Chan has had two careless riding charges in the last 12months, one in the South Island and one since he moved north. We viewed his record to be a neutral factor.

The Stewards and Mr Harris (apprentice rider mentor) emphasised the fact that this breach was completely out of character and Mr Chan himself showed obvious distress and remorse over his ride. Taking into account all of these factors, including Mr Chan’s admission of the breach, it was our opinion that a six day suspension was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Goodwin spoke to Mr Sharrock on the phone and he advised that Mr Chan could begin any suspension immediately. The Stewards confirmed that since Mr Chan’s move north he was now considered predominantly a Central Districts rider.


penalty:

Mr Chan is suspended from the close of racing today December 10th up to and including racing on Saturday December 31st, in effect six Central District’s days.
Days included in penalty are:

15/12/16  -Otaki
17/12/16 - Manawatu
24/12/16 - Taranaki
26/12/16 - Manawatu
27/12/16 - Taranaki
31/12/16 - Stratford


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Senior Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr A Chan - Apprentice Rider


Otherperson: Mr N Harris - Apprentice Jockey Mentor assisting Mr Chan, Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: c6307c340333275b52c224c4a3d906b9


race_expapproval:


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race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 7


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


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meetdate: 10/12/2016


meet_title: Manawatu RC - 10 December 2016


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: manawatu-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: NMoffatt


meet_pm1: TBird


meet_pm2: none


name: Manawatu RC