Marlborough HRC 29 April 2016 – R 1 (heard on 1 May 2016 at Blenheim) – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA15040
Meet Title:
Marlborough HRC - 29 April 2016
Meet Chair:
GClapp
Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams
Race Date:
2016/04/29
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
As Mr Broadhurst admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Broadhurst is suspended from close of racing on Sunday 1 May 2016 to the close of racing on Sunday 29 May 2016.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the “Criterion Hotel & Redwood Maiden Mobile Pace”, Information A3532 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4) by Open Horseman Mr D Broadhurst. The Information stated “that driver D Broadhurst permitted “Patrick Bee” to improve on the inside of the racing line near the 1600m which resulted in “Shadowman” being forced wider, with “Ngatira” also being forced wider”. Mr Broadhurst signed the Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule under which he had been charged.
Rule 869 (4) states:- “No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress”.
Submissions for Decision:
Using the side-on film of the field racing down the home straight for the first time Mr Neal said the race was being led by “Shadowman” (Ms K Gill) and to its outside was “Hes Fast and Furious” (Mr S Doody). Immediately behind “Shadowman” was Mr Broadhurst driving “Patrick Bee”. He said as the horses passed the winning post “Hes Fast and Furious” worked to the lead and crossed over to be in front of “Shadowman” who then trailed the leader. Me Neal said at this point Mr Broadhurst was then 3 back on the inside. He said near the 1600m mark Mr Broadhurst commenced to improve his position to the inside of Shadowman and as he progressed further alongside Ms Gill she was faced with either maintaining her position and probably causing serious difficulties to Mr Broadhurst or relinquishing her position on the back of the leader and shifting wider on the track. Mr Neal said Ms Gill chose to move out and in doing so forced “Ngatira” wider on the track.
Mr Neal then used the head-on film to show “Hes Fast and Furious” going to the front and racing approximately 3 horse widths off the rail that being, in the eyes of the Stewards, the “running line”. He highlighted Mr Broadhurst moving up on the inside of Ms Gill and because Mr Doody had dropped “Hes Fast and Furious” back to the rail when he got to the lead Ms Gill had to relinquish the position on the back of Mr Doody and shift wider on the track which then forced “Ngatira” wider.
Mr Neal said there were a lot of similarities between the incident today and one involving Junior Driver Mr Golding on Show Day in Christchurch last November when he also attempted to improve to inside of a runner and then ran out of room when those in front came back down to the pylons. Further, he said it was well established that there are racing lines and it is the obligation of the horse trailing to trail on the back of the leader and also that it was common in harness racing for leaders to drift out in the straight and then come back down again as they race round the bend and realign themselves with the rail.
Mr Broadhurst had no comments to make other than that he agreed with the description of the incident and the sequence of events as described by Mr Neal.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Broadhurst had not previously breached this Rule and only infrequently drove and normally only at country or provincial meetings and occasionally at Addington. He said the incident happened with 1600m to race and did not affect the outcome of the race but nevertheless drivers were expected to drive their horses correctly and on this occasion Mr Broadhurst had not done so. Mr Neal did not make a specific submission on penalty but did say he thought it should be “at the lower end”.
Mr Broadhurst said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. He said he had had 5 drives so far this season and was currently training 2 or 3 horses.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has given considerable thought to what is an appropriate and genuine penalty for Mr Broadhurst given the very small number of drives he has had so far this season. Today’s drive (on 1 May 2016) is his 6th drive for the season (the most drives he has had in 1 season since at least the 2007/2008 season), his 19th drive since the beginning of the 2012/2013 season and only his 31st since the beginning of the 2007/2008 season – source HRNZ website.
Whilst noting Mr Neal’s comments in relation to there being some similarity between today’s breach and the breach by Mr Golding on 13 November 2015 at Addington we note Mr Golding was charged with a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) – careless driving. Whilst the raceday decision also made reference to Rule 869(4) – the one Mr Broadhurst has been charged with today – we have not found the need to seek guidance from either the raceday decision or the subsequent Appeal Tribunal decision relating to Mr Golding in coming to our decision on the penalty to be imposed on Mr Broadhurst.
The JCA’s Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $300 fine or a 6 drives suspension. Given Mr Broadhurst has not previously breached this Rule, his admittance of the breach and the severity of the breach being at the low end, the Committee is prepared to reduce the penalty to one of either a $200 fine or 4 day suspension. Mr Broadhurst has stated that he would prefer a suspension and Mr Neal did not submit what he thought was an appropriate penalty. The Committee has decided that, on this occasion, a suspension will be imposed and that it will be one of 4 days. We have assumed Mr Broadhurst will at best have 1 drive a week over the next month or so which means he will be suspended for 4 weeks.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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hearingid: 9d908aabf7da14500c54b162993aadb9
informantnumber: A3532
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Causing Interference
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 03/05/2016
hearing_title: Marlborough HRC 29 April 2016 - R 1 (heard on 1 May 2016 at Blenheim) - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the “Criterion Hotel & Redwood Maiden Mobile Pace”, Information A3532 was filed by Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4) by Open Horseman Mr D Broadhurst. The Information stated “that driver D Broadhurst permitted “Patrick Bee” to improve on the inside of the racing line near the 1600m which resulted in “Shadowman” being forced wider, with “Ngatira” also being forced wider”. Mr Broadhurst signed the Information indicating he admitted the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule under which he had been charged.
Rule 869 (4) states:- “No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Using the side-on film of the field racing down the home straight for the first time Mr Neal said the race was being led by “Shadowman” (Ms K Gill) and to its outside was “Hes Fast and Furious” (Mr S Doody). Immediately behind “Shadowman” was Mr Broadhurst driving “Patrick Bee”. He said as the horses passed the winning post “Hes Fast and Furious” worked to the lead and crossed over to be in front of “Shadowman” who then trailed the leader. Me Neal said at this point Mr Broadhurst was then 3 back on the inside. He said near the 1600m mark Mr Broadhurst commenced to improve his position to the inside of Shadowman and as he progressed further alongside Ms Gill she was faced with either maintaining her position and probably causing serious difficulties to Mr Broadhurst or relinquishing her position on the back of the leader and shifting wider on the track. Mr Neal said Ms Gill chose to move out and in doing so forced “Ngatira” wider on the track.
Mr Neal then used the head-on film to show “Hes Fast and Furious” going to the front and racing approximately 3 horse widths off the rail that being, in the eyes of the Stewards, the “running line”. He highlighted Mr Broadhurst moving up on the inside of Ms Gill and because Mr Doody had dropped “Hes Fast and Furious” back to the rail when he got to the lead Ms Gill had to relinquish the position on the back of Mr Doody and shift wider on the track which then forced “Ngatira” wider.
Mr Neal said there were a lot of similarities between the incident today and one involving Junior Driver Mr Golding on Show Day in Christchurch last November when he also attempted to improve to inside of a runner and then ran out of room when those in front came back down to the pylons. Further, he said it was well established that there are racing lines and it is the obligation of the horse trailing to trail on the back of the leader and also that it was common in harness racing for leaders to drift out in the straight and then come back down again as they race round the bend and realign themselves with the rail.
Mr Broadhurst had no comments to make other than that he agreed with the description of the incident and the sequence of events as described by Mr Neal.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Broadhurst admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Neal said Mr Broadhurst had not previously breached this Rule and only infrequently drove and normally only at country or provincial meetings and occasionally at Addington. He said the incident happened with 1600m to race and did not affect the outcome of the race but nevertheless drivers were expected to drive their horses correctly and on this occasion Mr Broadhurst had not done so. Mr Neal did not make a specific submission on penalty but did say he thought it should be “at the lower end”.
Mr Broadhurst said he would prefer a suspension to a fine. He said he had had 5 drives so far this season and was currently training 2 or 3 horses.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has given considerable thought to what is an appropriate and genuine penalty for Mr Broadhurst given the very small number of drives he has had so far this season. Today’s drive (on 1 May 2016) is his 6th drive for the season (the most drives he has had in 1 season since at least the 2007/2008 season), his 19th drive since the beginning of the 2012/2013 season and only his 31st since the beginning of the 2007/2008 season – source HRNZ website.
Whilst noting Mr Neal’s comments in relation to there being some similarity between today’s breach and the breach by Mr Golding on 13 November 2015 at Addington we note Mr Golding was charged with a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) – careless driving. Whilst the raceday decision also made reference to Rule 869(4) – the one Mr Broadhurst has been charged with today – we have not found the need to seek guidance from either the raceday decision or the subsequent Appeal Tribunal decision relating to Mr Golding in coming to our decision on the penalty to be imposed on Mr Broadhurst.
The JCA’s Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $300 fine or a 6 drives suspension. Given Mr Broadhurst has not previously breached this Rule, his admittance of the breach and the severity of the breach being at the low end, the Committee is prepared to reduce the penalty to one of either a $200 fine or 4 day suspension. Mr Broadhurst has stated that he would prefer a suspension and Mr Neal did not submit what he thought was an appropriate penalty. The Committee has decided that, on this occasion, a suspension will be imposed and that it will be one of 4 days. We have assumed Mr Broadhurst will at best have 1 drive a week over the next month or so which means he will be suspended for 4 weeks.
penalty:
Mr Broadhurst is suspended from close of racing on Sunday 1 May 2016 to the close of racing on Sunday 29 May 2016.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(4)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Broadhurst - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 61285f68a5c10a4c4be6227ef8040d3e
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race_title: R 1
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meet_title: Marlborough HRC - 29 April 2016
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