Nelson HRC 10 June 2012 – R 7
ID: JCA12958
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 10 June 2012
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
PWilliams
Race Date:
2012/06/10
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
Mr May having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr May was fined the sum of $150.
Charge:
Coming to starting gate out of position.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Seacross Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr R T May, alleging a breach of Rule 857 (7) (d) in that as the driver of VIEWFIELD APACHE in the race, he “came to the starting point out of position”.
Mr May was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 857 provides as follows:
(7) No horseman shall:-
(d) come to the starting gate out of position.
Submissions for Decision:
The Committee noted that VIEWFIELD APACHE had drawn to start from barrier position 6 on the second row at the 2400 metres mobile start.
Mr Renault referred to the video replays of the start of the race and submitted that Mr May had clearly started out of position – he started from barrier position 5 on the second row behind the mobile gate at the 2400 metres starting point. When questioned, Mr May had told the Stewards that he believed that he was to start from 5, Mr Renault said. There were clear “mitigating factors”, Mr Renault submitted. He referred to the evidence given at the earlier protest hearing relating to the confusion at the start of Race 7.
Mr May said that a lot of the field had played up at the start. He acknowledged that he had not “done his homework” on this occasion – he thought that he was starting inside CURVE (G D Smith) which had drawn Unruly 1. Mr Smith was incorrectly in 6 and Mr May said that he thought he was in 5. His horse had struggled to get on the gate. The horse does have “issues” and he was being “careful” with it. Mr May agreed with the comment of the Chairman that it was one of the worst starts one would see.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide which provided a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $400 fine. He stated that a fine of that order was not appropriate given the mitigating factors, Mr May’s admission of the breach and his good record, he not having a breach of the Rule on his record. Mr May is a very senior driver, he said. He submitted that a fine of between $100 and $200 was appropriate.
Mr May submitted that a fine at the lower end of the scale was appropriate having regard to the involvement of the other drivers, Messrs Smith and Pash.
Reasons for Penalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee had regard to Mr May’s frank admission of the breach and his previous good record. The Committee accepted that the breach was out of character for Mr May. The Committee also took into account that the start was not a good one with at least two other runners out of position at the release point. This was, clearly, a contributing factor. Having regard to those matters, the Committee took the view that a fine considerably smaller that that suggested by the Penalty Guide was called for. The Committee noted Mr Renault’s submission.
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: 6e3e3fd88f9ea55dfd9f5725dd4cd88f
informantnumber: A5181
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 24/05/2012
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 10 June 2012 - R 7
charge:
Coming to starting gate out of position.
facts:
Following the running of Race 7, Seacross Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr R T May, alleging a breach of Rule 857 (7) (d) in that as the driver of VIEWFIELD APACHE in the race, he “came to the starting point out of position”.
Mr May was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 857 provides as follows:
(7) No horseman shall:-
(d) come to the starting gate out of position.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
The Committee noted that VIEWFIELD APACHE had drawn to start from barrier position 6 on the second row at the 2400 metres mobile start.
Mr Renault referred to the video replays of the start of the race and submitted that Mr May had clearly started out of position – he started from barrier position 5 on the second row behind the mobile gate at the 2400 metres starting point. When questioned, Mr May had told the Stewards that he believed that he was to start from 5, Mr Renault said. There were clear “mitigating factors”, Mr Renault submitted. He referred to the evidence given at the earlier protest hearing relating to the confusion at the start of Race 7.
Mr May said that a lot of the field had played up at the start. He acknowledged that he had not “done his homework” on this occasion – he thought that he was starting inside CURVE (G D Smith) which had drawn Unruly 1. Mr Smith was incorrectly in 6 and Mr May said that he thought he was in 5. His horse had struggled to get on the gate. The horse does have “issues” and he was being “careful” with it. Mr May agreed with the comment of the Chairman that it was one of the worst starts one would see.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr May having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide which provided a starting point for a breach of the Rule of a $400 fine. He stated that a fine of that order was not appropriate given the mitigating factors, Mr May’s admission of the breach and his good record, he not having a breach of the Rule on his record. Mr May is a very senior driver, he said. He submitted that a fine of between $100 and $200 was appropriate.
Mr May submitted that a fine at the lower end of the scale was appropriate having regard to the involvement of the other drivers, Messrs Smith and Pash.
reasonsforpenalty:
In arriving at penalty, the Committee had regard to Mr May’s frank admission of the breach and his previous good record. The Committee accepted that the breach was out of character for Mr May. The Committee also took into account that the start was not a good one with at least two other runners out of position at the release point. This was, clearly, a contributing factor. Having regard to those matters, the Committee took the view that a fine considerably smaller that that suggested by the Penalty Guide was called for. The Committee noted Mr Renault’s submission.
penalty:
Mr May was fined the sum of $150.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 857(7)(d)
Informant: SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: RT May - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0dd303a9ed08c883da38191fc0972729
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: 6ab39880f8aaf08dee8c9e015019d5c3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 10/06/2012
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 10 June 2012
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: PWilliams
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC