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N Z Metro T C 12 November 2010 – R 10

ID: JCA13733

Applicant:
Mr N Escott, Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr D Butt, Licensed Open Driver

Information Number:
69330

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
860(4)

Plea:
denied

Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 12 November 2010

Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 1:
JPhelan

Race Date:
2010/11/12

Race Number:
R 10

Decision:

The charge was dismissed.

Charge:

Shifted into passing lane in run home

Facts:

Following the running of Race 10, Peninsula Beachfront Resort Handicap Trot, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N R Escott, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D J Butt, alleging a breach of Passing Lane, False Rails & Home Straight Regulation and Rule 869 (4) in that Mr Butt, as the driver of MUSGROVE in the race, “allowed MUSGROVE to shift into the passing lane in the run home”.
 
Mr Butt was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he did not admit the breach.
 
The Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations provide as follows:
4.                  In the last lap of any race the leading horse on the running line shall, upon entering the home straight, maintain as straight a course as possible parallel to the running line and allow the trailing horses full access to the expanded inside lane.
 
Rule 869 provides as follows;
(4)     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 horse or its progress.

Submissions for Decision:

Mr N G McIntyre, Stipendiary Steward, showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out MUSGROVE, driven by Mr Butt, leading the field entering the home straight. MUSGROVE then drifted into the passing lane. Mr Butt had an obligation to take action to keep the passing lane clear but at no stage, Mr McIntyre submitted, did Mr Butt attempt to take the horse out of the passing lane once it was in there. The horse did “have its head round slightly”, Mr McIntyre said. He stated, when asked by Mr Butt, that the horse having its head round to the right indicated that Mr Butt was trying to pull the horse out.
 
Mr Butt stated that he had not driven his horse out at all in the run home. He submitted that the horse had been running in all the way down the straight and he had been “holding him out”. Mr Butt said that he turned and looked on his inside on several occasions as we was concerned he was not leaving enough room and risked relegation. He was “locked on one rein hard”. When he pulled the ear plugs, the horse ran in further. Mr Butt referred to the video replay and submitted that he could be seen to be pulling the right rein. He could not do any more than he did, he said.

Reasons for Decision:

Mr Butt has been charged with allowing MUSGROVE to shift into the passing lane. The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of both parties and carefully viewed the video replays. It was clear that Mr Butt did move into the passing lane and Mr Butt did not dispute that. The Committee had to decide whether this was the result of inaction on Mr Butt’s part or the result of the horse hanging in in the run home. We noted that Mr Butt did appear to us to be making an effort to keep the horse on a straight course and out of the passing lane. We further note that he kept both hands on the reins except for a brief moment when he activated the removable earplugs. In addition, Mr Butt appeared to have pressure on the right-hand rein. At no stage did he use the whip or drive his horse out. Mr Butt was obviously concerned about the situation – he could be seen looking to his inside to see that he was not impeding the progress of any other runner. He had an obligation to win the race within the Rules. We were not satisfied that he had breached the Regulation or the Rule.

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: 5df5d3341b343e2ced8258579edb4e25

informantnumber: 69330

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea: denied

penaltyrequired: 0

decisiondate: 16/11/2010

hearing_title: N Z Metro T C 12 November 2010 - R 10

charge:

Shifted into passing lane in run home

facts:

Following the running of Race 10, Peninsula Beachfront Resort Handicap Trot, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N R Escott, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr D J Butt, alleging a breach of Passing Lane, False Rails & Home Straight Regulation and Rule 869 (4) in that Mr Butt, as the driver of MUSGROVE in the race, “allowed MUSGROVE to shift into the passing lane in the run home”.
 
Mr Butt was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he did not admit the breach.
 
The Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations provide as follows:
4.                  In the last lap of any race the leading horse on the running line shall, upon entering the home straight, maintain as straight a course as possible parallel to the running line and allow the trailing horses full access to the expanded inside lane.
 
Rule 869 provides as follows;
(4)     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 horse or its progress.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

Mr N G McIntyre, Stipendiary Steward, showed video replays of the final 300 metres of the race. He pointed out MUSGROVE, driven by Mr Butt, leading the field entering the home straight. MUSGROVE then drifted into the passing lane. Mr Butt had an obligation to take action to keep the passing lane clear but at no stage, Mr McIntyre submitted, did Mr Butt attempt to take the horse out of the passing lane once it was in there. The horse did “have its head round slightly”, Mr McIntyre said. He stated, when asked by Mr Butt, that the horse having its head round to the right indicated that Mr Butt was trying to pull the horse out.
 
Mr Butt stated that he had not driven his horse out at all in the run home. He submitted that the horse had been running in all the way down the straight and he had been “holding him out”. Mr Butt said that he turned and looked on his inside on several occasions as we was concerned he was not leaving enough room and risked relegation. He was “locked on one rein hard”. When he pulled the ear plugs, the horse ran in further. Mr Butt referred to the video replay and submitted that he could be seen to be pulling the right rein. He could not do any more than he did, he said.

reasonsfordecision:

Mr Butt has been charged with allowing MUSGROVE to shift into the passing lane. The Committee listened to the evidence and submissions of both parties and carefully viewed the video replays. It was clear that Mr Butt did move into the passing lane and Mr Butt did not dispute that. The Committee had to decide whether this was the result of inaction on Mr Butt’s part or the result of the horse hanging in in the run home. We noted that Mr Butt did appear to us to be making an effort to keep the horse on a straight course and out of the passing lane. We further note that he kept both hands on the reins except for a brief moment when he activated the removable earplugs. In addition, Mr Butt appeared to have pressure on the right-hand rein. At no stage did he use the whip or drive his horse out. Mr Butt was obviously concerned about the situation – he could be seen looking to his inside to see that he was not impeding the progress of any other runner. He had an obligation to win the race within the Rules. We were not satisfied that he had breached the Regulation or the Rule.

Decision:

The charge was dismissed.

sumissionsforpenalty:

reasonsforpenalty:

penalty:

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 860(4)

Informant: Mr N Escott, Chief Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: Mr D Butt, Licensed Open Driver

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: af705233092d5f8ebc825ec21159a90d

race_expapproval:

racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

race_emailed2: 0

race_title: R 10

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid: bab6c5f7098464b9171add13cecdf413

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 12/11/2010

meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 12 November 2010

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: nz-metro-tc

meet_racingtype: harness-racing

meet_chair: RMcKenzie

meet_pm1: JPhelan

meet_pm2: none

name: NZ Metro TC