Morrinsville TC 12 January 2014 – R 7
ID: JCA16558
Meet Title:
Morrinsville TC - 12 January 2014
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2014/01/12
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As this breach was admitted we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Horse Power Engineering (2005) Ltd Handicap Trot, an information was laid by Mr Muirhead Stipendiary Steward, alleging that horseman Mr J Stormont drove GINGER BERTHA carelessly causing interference to TOMMIRAY with 250 metres to run.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:
"No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly".
Mr Stormont was present at the hearing and admitted the breach and stated that he understood the Rule.
GINGER BERTHA had been the subject of a protest at an earlier hearing and the parties acknowledged that they accepted that evidence given by a witness at that hearing (Mr P Butcher, driver of TOMMIRAY) would be accepted without Mr Butcher being present at this hearing.
Mr Muirhead told the hearing that at about the 250 metre mark, GINGER BERTHA, driven by Mr Stormont, had made an outwards movement from its position 3 back on the rail. In doing so the horse angled outwards and its sulky wheel made contact with TOMMIRAY'S hind leg. This contact caused TOMMIRAY to go off-stride and gallop, losing any chance it had in the race. Mr Muirhead stated that the Stewards accepted that the horse TOMMIRAY had an unusual leg action, and that Mr Stormont had been 'unfortunate' in this incident as he was the driver making the forward move.
Mr Stormont agreed that there was contact between GINGER BERTHA'S sulky wheel and TOMMIRAY'S hind leg. He stated that he felt he was entitled to aim his horse into the gap which presented itself and that his movement was not 'abrupt'. He added that he felt there were mitigating circumstances, in that as has been earlier stated TOMMIRAY was inclined to throw its hind leg outwards as it trotted. He added that it was apparent that TOMMIRAY was 'flat' and going backwards at the time.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines called for a starting point of a fine of $500 or a 10 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule where a relegation resulted. However, in view of Mr Stormont's admission of the breach, his clear record of breaches for this Rule, and the mitigating circumstances prevailing he felt that a fine under $500 would be appropriate.
Mr Stormont stated that he felt a fine of $500 was 'too steep' under the circumstances and added that even a fine of $300 would still be excessive.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a charge of careless driving resulting in relegation is 10 drives or a $500. In this case Mr Stormont's drive GINGER BERTHA was relegated from 1st placing to 10th. This is an aggravating factor.
In Mr Stormont's favour is his admission of the breach, his excellent record regarding breaches of this Rule, and the Committee accepts that there were mitigating circumstances around the incident as outlined. We assess this breach to be at the lower end of the scale.
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: c5a063764168ed38a9af149bb5113d3d
informantnumber: A2516
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/01/2014
hearing_title: Morrinsville TC 12 January 2014 - R 7
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, the Horse Power Engineering (2005) Ltd Handicap Trot, an information was laid by Mr Muirhead Stipendiary Steward, alleging that horseman Mr J Stormont drove GINGER BERTHA carelessly causing interference to TOMMIRAY with 250 metres to run.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:
"No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly".
Mr Stormont was present at the hearing and admitted the breach and stated that he understood the Rule.
GINGER BERTHA had been the subject of a protest at an earlier hearing and the parties acknowledged that they accepted that evidence given by a witness at that hearing (Mr P Butcher, driver of TOMMIRAY) would be accepted without Mr Butcher being present at this hearing.
Mr Muirhead told the hearing that at about the 250 metre mark, GINGER BERTHA, driven by Mr Stormont, had made an outwards movement from its position 3 back on the rail. In doing so the horse angled outwards and its sulky wheel made contact with TOMMIRAY'S hind leg. This contact caused TOMMIRAY to go off-stride and gallop, losing any chance it had in the race. Mr Muirhead stated that the Stewards accepted that the horse TOMMIRAY had an unusual leg action, and that Mr Stormont had been 'unfortunate' in this incident as he was the driver making the forward move.
Mr Stormont agreed that there was contact between GINGER BERTHA'S sulky wheel and TOMMIRAY'S hind leg. He stated that he felt he was entitled to aim his horse into the gap which presented itself and that his movement was not 'abrupt'. He added that he felt there were mitigating circumstances, in that as has been earlier stated TOMMIRAY was inclined to throw its hind leg outwards as it trotted. He added that it was apparent that TOMMIRAY was 'flat' and going backwards at the time.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As this breach was admitted we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead submitted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines called for a starting point of a fine of $500 or a 10 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule where a relegation resulted. However, in view of Mr Stormont's admission of the breach, his clear record of breaches for this Rule, and the mitigating circumstances prevailing he felt that a fine under $500 would be appropriate.
Mr Stormont stated that he felt a fine of $500 was 'too steep' under the circumstances and added that even a fine of $300 would still be excessive.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide starting point for a charge of careless driving resulting in relegation is 10 drives or a $500. In this case Mr Stormont's drive GINGER BERTHA was relegated from 1st placing to 10th. This is an aggravating factor.
In Mr Stormont's favour is his admission of the breach, his excellent record regarding breaches of this Rule, and the Committee accepts that there were mitigating circumstances around the incident as outlined. We assess this breach to be at the lower end of the scale.
penalty:
The Committee imposes a fine of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Stormont - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b9ac524697bdeb703c4317d6dd335bbd
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: eff82cb8b3a0489a35bcc347fde772f8
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/01/2014
meet_title: Morrinsville TC - 12 January 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: morrinsville-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Morrinsville TC