Manawatu RC 21 December 2019 – R 2 and 4 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA17245
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Manawatu RC - 21 December 2019
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2019/12/21
Race Number:
R 2
Decision:
As the breach was admitted it was found proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Turner is suspended for 5 days, from the close of racing on Friday, December 27th up to and including racing on Thursday, January 2nd, 2020. In addition, he is fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
An Information was lodged by Mr Neil Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 330(3)(c) in that D Turner was unable to make the contracted weight for JUST BEN and DE GAULLE.
Rule 330(3) (c) states:
A Rider shall not:
(c) fail to ride a horse at the weight at which it is handicapped to carry
The Committee requested that Mr Turner’s riding agent, Mr Andre Neill, attend the hearing.
Mr Turner said he understood the nature of the charge and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin said that within the last 120 days, Mr Turner had incurred 2 suspensions for being unable to make the correct weight.
29/11/19-Levin - 10 days
19/9/19-Wanganui- 8 days'
The reason behind the lengthy suspensions was Mr Turner’s poor record over the last 12 months. Mr Goodwin said adequate replacement riders were found in Rosie Myers and Jonathon Parkes.
The Committee heard extensive reasons for Mr Turner’s inability to make contracted weight today. He explained he had just returned from a 2½ week suspension and with riding 4 days in a row his body had just “shut down” and would not lose the extra weight. Despite sweating for three hours this morning, his only weight loss was ¼ of a kilo.
Mr Turner remained 1kg over his contracted weight.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Goodwin said the Stewards’ submission was for a further period of suspension.
Mr Neill acknowledged that as Mr Turner’s agent, he had to take a more sensible approach to Mr Turner’s bookings and reconsider some of the weights that he is accepting on his behalf.
Mr Neill said Mr Turner is doing the very best he can with the body he has, and a more considered approach is required. One particular issue at this time of year is the number of consecutive days riding which, for some reason, appears to prevent Mr Turner from losing that extra weight. Mr Neill said he would look to accepting only heavier weights on those days.
The Committee was told of Mr Turner’s financial and personal background and the extent to which another lengthy suspension would have on his career. Details do not need to be published here.
Following Mr Neill’s submissions, Mr Goodwin said the Stewards accepted that sometimes weight would not come off despite a rider’s attempts. He said with the situation as outlined today, the Stewards would not be opposed to a combination penalty of a suspension and a fine.
The Committee requested some information around the communication between Mr Neill and Mr Turner.
Mr Neill said there was an agreement between Mr Turner and the RIU that he would not accept rides under 56 kgs, which they have adhered to; however, the consecutive days riding had tripped them up on this occasion. Mr Neill urged the Committee to show some compassion based on the full and frank nature of the matters discussed in the hearing.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee took into account all submissions. The Judicial Penalty Guide does not offer any assistance for a rider with Mr Turner’s record, which would probably be the worst in the country for overweight charges.
We have tried to strike a balance between imposing a meaningful penalty and showing some compassion based on all the submissions put before us. To our knowledge, Mr Neill has not previously attended a judicial hearing with Mr Turner. His presence today has assisted in two ways; it has provided the Committee with some important background information to Mr Turner’s situation, and it has highlighted to Mr Neill the responsibilities he has to Mr Turner as his riding agent.
Based on Mr Turner’s record, if we were to take the traditional approach to setting penalty, he would be facing a further 10 days or more suspension. We have however decided to approach this matter differently and use our discretion to allow some leniency.
It was explained to Mr Turner and Mr Neill that this sits alongside an expectation that ongoing weight issues will be resolved.
Although we have been told of financial hardship, Mr Turner has said that, if he is able to ride, he will be able to pay a monetary fine off.
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: efa72fdcd5bc7c89c07cb52d438d43f8
informantnumber: A12306
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unable to make contracted weight
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 22/12/2019
hearing_title: Manawatu RC 21 December 2019 - R 2 and 4 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
An Information was lodged by Mr Neil Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 330(3)(c) in that D Turner was unable to make the contracted weight for JUST BEN and DE GAULLE.
Rule 330(3) (c) states:
A Rider shall not:
(c) fail to ride a horse at the weight at which it is handicapped to carry
The Committee requested that Mr Turner’s riding agent, Mr Andre Neill, attend the hearing.
Mr Turner said he understood the nature of the charge and confirmed that he admitted the breach.
Mr Goodwin said that within the last 120 days, Mr Turner had incurred 2 suspensions for being unable to make the correct weight.
29/11/19-Levin - 10 days
19/9/19-Wanganui- 8 days'
The reason behind the lengthy suspensions was Mr Turner’s poor record over the last 12 months. Mr Goodwin said adequate replacement riders were found in Rosie Myers and Jonathon Parkes.
The Committee heard extensive reasons for Mr Turner’s inability to make contracted weight today. He explained he had just returned from a 2½ week suspension and with riding 4 days in a row his body had just “shut down” and would not lose the extra weight. Despite sweating for three hours this morning, his only weight loss was ¼ of a kilo.
Mr Turner remained 1kg over his contracted weight.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach was admitted it was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Goodwin said the Stewards’ submission was for a further period of suspension.
Mr Neill acknowledged that as Mr Turner’s agent, he had to take a more sensible approach to Mr Turner’s bookings and reconsider some of the weights that he is accepting on his behalf.
Mr Neill said Mr Turner is doing the very best he can with the body he has, and a more considered approach is required. One particular issue at this time of year is the number of consecutive days riding which, for some reason, appears to prevent Mr Turner from losing that extra weight. Mr Neill said he would look to accepting only heavier weights on those days.
The Committee was told of Mr Turner’s financial and personal background and the extent to which another lengthy suspension would have on his career. Details do not need to be published here.
Following Mr Neill’s submissions, Mr Goodwin said the Stewards accepted that sometimes weight would not come off despite a rider’s attempts. He said with the situation as outlined today, the Stewards would not be opposed to a combination penalty of a suspension and a fine.
The Committee requested some information around the communication between Mr Neill and Mr Turner.
Mr Neill said there was an agreement between Mr Turner and the RIU that he would not accept rides under 56 kgs, which they have adhered to; however, the consecutive days riding had tripped them up on this occasion. Mr Neill urged the Committee to show some compassion based on the full and frank nature of the matters discussed in the hearing.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee took into account all submissions. The Judicial Penalty Guide does not offer any assistance for a rider with Mr Turner’s record, which would probably be the worst in the country for overweight charges.
We have tried to strike a balance between imposing a meaningful penalty and showing some compassion based on all the submissions put before us. To our knowledge, Mr Neill has not previously attended a judicial hearing with Mr Turner. His presence today has assisted in two ways; it has provided the Committee with some important background information to Mr Turner’s situation, and it has highlighted to Mr Neill the responsibilities he has to Mr Turner as his riding agent.
Based on Mr Turner’s record, if we were to take the traditional approach to setting penalty, he would be facing a further 10 days or more suspension. We have however decided to approach this matter differently and use our discretion to allow some leniency.
It was explained to Mr Turner and Mr Neill that this sits alongside an expectation that ongoing weight issues will be resolved.
Although we have been told of financial hardship, Mr Turner has said that, if he is able to ride, he will be able to pay a monetary fine off.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Turner is suspended for 5 days, from the close of racing on Friday, December 27th up to and including racing on Thursday, January 2nd, 2020. In addition, he is fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 330(3)(c)
Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Turner - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr A Neill - Agent for Mr Turner, Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3812214baa8ed8efd43558930f586824
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6e3324dca46adbf4db4ce9018c7d5012
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 21/12/2019
meet_title: Manawatu RC - 21 December 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: manawatu-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Manawatu RC