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Marlborough HRC 24 June 2016 – R 3 – Chair, Mr P Williams

ID: JCA14442

Applicant:
Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Ms K Gill - Junior Driver

Other Person:
Mr S Doody - Open Horseman - assisting Ms Gill

Information Number:
8035

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Driving

Rules:
869(3)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 24 June 2016

Meet Chair:
PWilliams

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2016/06/24

Race Number:
R3

Decision:

As Ms Gill admitted the breach the charge was found proved.

Penalty:

Ms Gill is suspended from the close of racing on Sunday 26 June 2016 to the close of racing on Sunday 14 August 2016. This 7 week period includes meetings at Rangiora on 24 July 2016 and 14 August 2016.

Facts:

Following the running of race 3 the “Speights Maiden Mobile Pace” Information A8035 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) by Junior Driver Ms K Gill. The Information stated “you attempted to improve your position when there was insufficient room to do so causing your horse to break”. Ms Gill signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that she understood the Rule under which she was charged. She was assisted during the hearing by Open Horseman Mr S Doody.

Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Ydgren used the films of the horses racing at the end of the back straight and rounding the final turn into the home straight. He highlighted Ms Gill, driving “Gotta Ticket” 4 back on the fence and trailing “Donegal Carrickfin” driven by Mr J Dunn. To Mr Dunn’s outside was “El Dancer” driven by Mr B Orange. He said Ms Gill attempted to improve her position by coming off the back of Mr Dunn into a gap between Mr Dunn and Mr Orange but as she moved forward she ran out of racing room which caused her horse to gallop. To a question from the Committee Mr Ydgren said he did not believe there was any contact and Ms Gill’s horse broke because of the tightening that occurred. Mr Ydgren said that whilst there was a slight gap initially for Ms Gill to move into she anticipated that it would grow further allowing her to fully move into it which had not eventuated.

Ms Gill said as the horses were coming around the final bend Mr Dunn was racing slightly off the fence. She said he moved closer to the rail and she moved into the gap that started to appear. She said the gap was wide enough for her horse and she thought it would get wider but that did not happen and her horse broke. To a question from the Committee she said as all the horses were rounding the final bend they had a tendency to drift down towards the rail and it was her misjudging the width of the gap rather than the actions of either Mr Dunn or Mr Orange that caused her horse to break.

Mr Doody agreed with Mr Ydgren’s interpretation of the films and said Ms Gill had misjudged the size of the gap she was attempting to move into.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Ydgren said Ms Gill was an inexperienced Junior Driver in her second season of driving who had not previously breached this Rule and had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity. He said she had 29 drives last season and 33 so far this 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 believed the severity of the breach to be in the mid-range, but conceded that no other horses were affected and submitted an 8 drive suspension or $400 fine was an appropriate penalty. He pointed out that given the limited driving opportunities for Ms Gill, whom he said only normally drove in the South Island at Rangiora and points north, determining any period of suspension was not as straight forward as it might otherwise be.

Ms Gill said the season was coming to an end for the horses that she drove. She initially confirmed that she did not normally drive at Addington (having only had 2 drives there in her short career) but there was always a possibility that she might be required to drive there in the next few weeks. Ms Gill confirmed she would like to seek a deferment of any suspension to enable her to drive at the Blenheim on Sunday 26 June 2016.

Mr Doody said Ms Gill could not afford to pay a fine and both he and Ms Gill would prefer a suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and the submissions from all parties. It is very clear that as Ms Gill shifted out from behind Mr Dunn into a gap between him and Mr Orange the gap did not continue to widen as she hoped it would and as a result tightening occurred and her horse broke. Both Ms Gill and Mr Doody did not dispute Mr Ydgren’s interpretation of the films and what occurred. The Committee believes the severity of the carelessness to be in the low to mid range as neither Mr Dunn’s or Mr Orange’s horses were affected by Ms Gill’s horse breaking.

The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. The Committee notes Ms Gill has admitted the breach and has not previously breached the careless driving Rule and that justifies some reduction in penalty from the starting point. The Committee has carefully considered the need to impose a meaningful penalty given that Ms Gill has very limited driving opportunities (averaging 3 drives per month this season) and only normally drives in the South Island at courses from Rangiora northwards. We have therefore decided to impose a penalty in weeks rather than days.

Ms Gill’s request for a deferment of any suspension to enable her to drive at Blenheim on Sunday 26 June 2016 is approved in terms of Rule 1304.

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: 8450cf5565ebe980edfc54f822c16903


informantnumber: 8035


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 27/06/2016


hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 24 June 2016 - R 3 - Chair, Mr P Williams


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 3 the “Speights Maiden Mobile Pace” Information A8035 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Ydgren alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) by Junior Driver Ms K Gill. The Information stated “you attempted to improve your position when there was insufficient room to do so causing your horse to break”. Ms Gill signed the Information admitting the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that she understood the Rule under which she was charged. She was assisted during the hearing by Open Horseman Mr S Doody.

Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Ydgren used the films of the horses racing at the end of the back straight and rounding the final turn into the home straight. He highlighted Ms Gill, driving “Gotta Ticket” 4 back on the fence and trailing “Donegal Carrickfin” driven by Mr J Dunn. To Mr Dunn’s outside was “El Dancer” driven by Mr B Orange. He said Ms Gill attempted to improve her position by coming off the back of Mr Dunn into a gap between Mr Dunn and Mr Orange but as she moved forward she ran out of racing room which caused her horse to gallop. To a question from the Committee Mr Ydgren said he did not believe there was any contact and Ms Gill’s horse broke because of the tightening that occurred. Mr Ydgren said that whilst there was a slight gap initially for Ms Gill to move into she anticipated that it would grow further allowing her to fully move into it which had not eventuated.

Ms Gill said as the horses were coming around the final bend Mr Dunn was racing slightly off the fence. She said he moved closer to the rail and she moved into the gap that started to appear. She said the gap was wide enough for her horse and she thought it would get wider but that did not happen and her horse broke. To a question from the Committee she said as all the horses were rounding the final bend they had a tendency to drift down towards the rail and it was her misjudging the width of the gap rather than the actions of either Mr Dunn or Mr Orange that caused her horse to break.

Mr Doody agreed with Mr Ydgren’s interpretation of the films and said Ms Gill had misjudged the size of the gap she was attempting to move into.


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Ms Gill admitted the breach the charge was found proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Ydgren said Ms Gill was an inexperienced Junior Driver in her second season of driving who had not previously breached this Rule and had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity. He said she had 29 drives last season and 33 so far this 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 believed the severity of the breach to be in the mid-range, but conceded that no other horses were affected and submitted an 8 drive suspension or $400 fine was an appropriate penalty. He pointed out that given the limited driving opportunities for Ms Gill, whom he said only normally drove in the South Island at Rangiora and points north, determining any period of suspension was not as straight forward as it might otherwise be.

Ms Gill said the season was coming to an end for the horses that she drove. She initially confirmed that she did not normally drive at Addington (having only had 2 drives there in her short career) but there was always a possibility that she might be required to drive there in the next few weeks. Ms Gill confirmed she would like to seek a deferment of any suspension to enable her to drive at the Blenheim on Sunday 26 June 2016.

Mr Doody said Ms Gill could not afford to pay a fine and both he and Ms Gill would prefer a suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and the submissions from all parties. It is very clear that as Ms Gill shifted out from behind Mr Dunn into a gap between him and Mr Orange the gap did not continue to widen as she hoped it would and as a result tightening occurred and her horse broke. Both Ms Gill and Mr Doody did not dispute Mr Ydgren’s interpretation of the films and what occurred. The Committee believes the severity of the carelessness to be in the low to mid range as neither Mr Dunn’s or Mr Orange’s horses were affected by Ms Gill’s horse breaking.

The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. The Committee notes Ms Gill has admitted the breach and has not previously breached the careless driving Rule and that justifies some reduction in penalty from the starting point. The Committee has carefully considered the need to impose a meaningful penalty given that Ms Gill has very limited driving opportunities (averaging 3 drives per month this season) and only normally drives in the South Island at courses from Rangiora northwards. We have therefore decided to impose a penalty in weeks rather than days.

Ms Gill’s request for a deferment of any suspension to enable her to drive at Blenheim on Sunday 26 June 2016 is approved in terms of Rule 1304.


penalty:

Ms Gill is suspended from the close of racing on Sunday 26 June 2016 to the close of racing on Sunday 14 August 2016. This 7 week period includes meetings at Rangiora on 24 July 2016 and 14 August 2016.


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869(3)(b)


Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Ms K Gill - Junior Driver


Otherperson: Mr S Doody - Open Horseman - assisting Ms Gill


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 9949bcfb349433f4336354202f61736d


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: bd2ff8adff6eeb98a59a2212b58ce8ce


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 24/06/2016


meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 24 June 2016


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: marlborough-hrc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: PWilliams


meet_pm1: SChing


meet_pm2: none


name: Marlborough HRC