Marlborough HRC 20 January 2019 – R 7 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA14848
Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 20 January 2019
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2019/01/20
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the “Les Hope Memorial Handicap Trot”, Information A11355 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Open Horseman Mr D Butt alleging “D Butt (Maria Tsarina) drove carelessly racing into the first bend by shifting inwards when insufficiently clear of “Zsa Zoe” which was checked”. Mr Butt signed the Information admitting the breach and also that he did not wish to be present at the hearing of the Information.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Using the side-on film of the start of the Race Mr Renault highlighted Mr Butt driving “Maria Tsarina” which had drawn 5 on the front line. He said as the horses were racing into the first bend Mr Butt shifted inwards in attempting to get in front of Ms Tomlinson driving “Zsa Zoe” who was positioned adjacent to the rail. Mr Renault said as Mr Butt came across he was not the required distance in front of “Zsa Zoe” and the right front leg of “Zsa Zoe” contacted the sulky wheel of “Maria Tsarina”. As a result, “Zsa Zoe” briefly galloped and lost its rightful position against the running rail ending up directly behind “Maria Tsarina”.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Butt had a clear record in relation to this Rule. He said he had had 13 drives so far this season and only 15 last season. He said the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10-drive suspension. He said the Stewards were submitting, notwithstanding Mr Butt had only had 13 drives this season, that a period of suspension be imposed in keeping with the current thinking within the RIU that breaches of this Rule should incur a suspension. Mr Renault said Mr Butt had 2 drives on both days of the Marlborough HRC meeting and on that basis the Stewards would be seeking a suspension of 5 days.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and submissions of Mr Renault. It is clear Mr Butt in shifting inwards to attempt to get to a position next to the running rail has come across Ms Tomlinson when not the required distance clear which has resulted in her horse’s front right leg contacting the sulky wheel of Mr Butt. As a consequence, Ms Tomlinson’s briefly galloped but in doing so it meant that she lost the position she was entitled to and ended up trailing Mr Butt.
We place the severity of the breach just below mid-range as Ms Tomlinson’s horse was able to quickly regain its gait. The committee notes Mr Butt’s clear record in relation to this Rule, his admittance of the breach and that the starting point penalty for mid-range breach of this Rule is a 10-drive suspension or a fine of $500.
The Committee has spent some time considering the penalty to be imposed. We do not believe a suspension is a directly meaningful penalty for a horseman who has had only 13 drives this season albeit with 4 of those 13 having been at this 2-day meeting. Whilst Mr Renault submitted a suspension should be imposed to be consistent with other penalties imposed for similar breaches of this Rule no two breaches are the same and on this occasion the Committee has decided that a more meaningful penalty is one of a fine.
We have decided that the starting point for this breach is a penalty of a fine of $400. However, in recognition of Mr Butt’s clear record and admittance of the breach we reduce that penalty by $50.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 83c18537da2e3361b8cdf07066ec5bb6
informantnumber: A11355
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/01/2019
hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 20 January 2019 - R 7 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the “Les Hope Memorial Handicap Trot”, Information A11355 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault against Open Horseman Mr D Butt alleging “D Butt (Maria Tsarina) drove carelessly racing into the first bend by shifting inwards when insufficiently clear of “Zsa Zoe” which was checked”. Mr Butt signed the Information admitting the breach and also that he did not wish to be present at the hearing of the Information.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Using the side-on film of the start of the Race Mr Renault highlighted Mr Butt driving “Maria Tsarina” which had drawn 5 on the front line. He said as the horses were racing into the first bend Mr Butt shifted inwards in attempting to get in front of Ms Tomlinson driving “Zsa Zoe” who was positioned adjacent to the rail. Mr Renault said as Mr Butt came across he was not the required distance in front of “Zsa Zoe” and the right front leg of “Zsa Zoe” contacted the sulky wheel of “Maria Tsarina”. As a result, “Zsa Zoe” briefly galloped and lost its rightful position against the running rail ending up directly behind “Maria Tsarina”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Mr Butt had a clear record in relation to this Rule. He said he had had 13 drives so far this season and only 15 last season. He said the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10-drive suspension. He said the Stewards were submitting, notwithstanding Mr Butt had only had 13 drives this season, that a period of suspension be imposed in keeping with the current thinking within the RIU that breaches of this Rule should incur a suspension. Mr Renault said Mr Butt had 2 drives on both days of the Marlborough HRC meeting and on that basis the Stewards would be seeking a suspension of 5 days.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and submissions of Mr Renault. It is clear Mr Butt in shifting inwards to attempt to get to a position next to the running rail has come across Ms Tomlinson when not the required distance clear which has resulted in her horse’s front right leg contacting the sulky wheel of Mr Butt. As a consequence, Ms Tomlinson’s briefly galloped but in doing so it meant that she lost the position she was entitled to and ended up trailing Mr Butt.
We place the severity of the breach just below mid-range as Ms Tomlinson’s horse was able to quickly regain its gait. The committee notes Mr Butt’s clear record in relation to this Rule, his admittance of the breach and that the starting point penalty for mid-range breach of this Rule is a 10-drive suspension or a fine of $500.
The Committee has spent some time considering the penalty to be imposed. We do not believe a suspension is a directly meaningful penalty for a horseman who has had only 13 drives this season albeit with 4 of those 13 having been at this 2-day meeting. Whilst Mr Renault submitted a suspension should be imposed to be consistent with other penalties imposed for similar breaches of this Rule no two breaches are the same and on this occasion the Committee has decided that a more meaningful penalty is one of a fine.
We have decided that the starting point for this breach is a penalty of a fine of $400. However, in recognition of Mr Butt’s clear record and admittance of the breach we reduce that penalty by $50.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Butt - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 90d9fbc758b44b38faf7191f122b333e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0d648cb8141aa25f37e13f2898e28f51
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/01/2019
meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 20 January 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: marlborough-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Marlborough HRC