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N Z Metro TC 9 November 2010 – R 3

ID: JCA13679

Applicant:
Mr N Escott, Chief Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr J Keast, Open Horseman

Information Number:
68790

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
869 (4)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 9 November 2010

Meet Chair:
JPhelan

Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie

Race Date:
2010/11/09

Race Number:
R 3

Decision:

As Mr Keast had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).

Penalty:

Mr Keast was fined the sum of $300-00.

Charge:

Careless Driving

Facts:

Following the running of Race 3, the Cromwell Lake Dunstan Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N. R. Escott against Open Horseman Mr J. T. Keast alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) in that he drove in a manner likely to cause interference.

The charge reads as follows.

“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(4) in that shortly after the start of this event Mr Keast allowed his runner to move down the track causing contact to the legs of “No Courage Russell” forcing this horse to gallop and inconvenience other horses.”

Rule 869(4) reads 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 progress.”

Mr Keast had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Keast agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.

Submissions for Decision:

There had been a previous Protest hearing in relation to this matter, and it was agreed that the evidence from that hearing would form the basis for this hearing.


Mr Escott gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate this incident as set out in the Information. Mr Keast said that he was still of the view that Mr Walkinshaw had contributed to the incident.

Submissions for Penalty:

In relation to penalty Mr Escott advised that Mr Keast had no previous relevant convictions, and as he had admitted the breach, recommended a fine of $400-00 to $500-00. It was also relevant, Mr Escott said, that this was a $20,000-00 race on a Premier Race Day.

Mr Keast said that he thought the fine recommended was “harsh”.

We adjourned to consider the matter of an appropriate penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

In considering an appropriate penalty we took into account that Mr Keast had no previous convictions under this Rule, and that he admitted the breach. On the other hand we also took into account that Mr Keast’s breach had resulted in his horse being relegated. Although this was a Premier Race Day, the race was a supporting race and not a major race. We also referred to penalties imposed for previous breaches of this Rule, and the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point of a fine of $500-00.

Taking all the above matters in to account we decided that an appropriate fine in this case was $300-00. On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our decision and the reasons for it.

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: 576ac4d9871aed28b6a98216d0ecb66c

informantnumber: 68790

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea: admitted

penaltyrequired: 1

decisiondate: 16/11/2010

hearing_title: N Z Metro TC 9 November 2010 - R 3

charge:

Careless Driving

facts:

Following the running of Race 3, the Cromwell Lake Dunstan Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr N. R. Escott against Open Horseman Mr J. T. Keast alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) in that he drove in a manner likely to cause interference.

The charge reads as follows.

“I the above named informant allege that the above named Defendant committed a breach of Rule 869(4) in that shortly after the start of this event Mr Keast allowed his runner to move down the track causing contact to the legs of “No Courage Russell” forcing this horse to gallop and inconvenience other horses.”

Rule 869(4) reads 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 progress.”

Mr Keast had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted, and this was confirmed at the hearing. Mr Keast agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.

appealdecision:

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

There had been a previous Protest hearing in relation to this matter, and it was agreed that the evidence from that hearing would form the basis for this hearing.


Mr Escott gave evidence and used video coverage to illustrate this incident as set out in the Information. Mr Keast said that he was still of the view that Mr Walkinshaw had contributed to the incident.

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

As Mr Keast had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).

sumissionsforpenalty:

In relation to penalty Mr Escott advised that Mr Keast had no previous relevant convictions, and as he had admitted the breach, recommended a fine of $400-00 to $500-00. It was also relevant, Mr Escott said, that this was a $20,000-00 race on a Premier Race Day.

Mr Keast said that he thought the fine recommended was “harsh”.

We adjourned to consider the matter of an appropriate penalty.

reasonsforpenalty:

In considering an appropriate penalty we took into account that Mr Keast had no previous convictions under this Rule, and that he admitted the breach. On the other hand we also took into account that Mr Keast’s breach had resulted in his horse being relegated. Although this was a Premier Race Day, the race was a supporting race and not a major race. We also referred to penalties imposed for previous breaches of this Rule, and the Penalty Guide which recommends a starting point of a fine of $500-00.

Taking all the above matters in to account we decided that an appropriate fine in this case was $300-00. On resuming the hearing we advised the parties of our decision and the reasons for it.

penalty:

Mr Keast was fined the sum of $300-00.

hearing_type: Hearing

Rules: 869 (4)

Informant: Mr N Escott, Chief Stipendiary Steward

JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Keast, Open Horseman

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid: 5b597194cc5e8798723d90844ef2d883

race_expapproval:

racecancelled: 0

race_noreport: 0

race_emailed1: 0

race_emailed2: 0

race_title: R 3

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid: 7636e62d57f70b624d41997f8ab2ceb8

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport: 0

waitingforpublication: 0

meet_emailed1: 0

meet_emailed2: 0

meetdate: 09/11/2010

meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 9 November 2010

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation: nz-metro-tc

meet_racingtype: harness-racing

meet_chair: JPhelan

meet_pm1: RMcKenzie

meet_pm2: none

name: NZ Metro TC