Nelson HRC 12 January 2018 – R 5 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA11397
Meet Title:
Nelson HRC - 12 January 2018
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2018/01/12
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
Penalty:
Mr May is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday 17 January 2018 to the close of racing on Sunday 21 January 2018 – the 2 days being the Marlborough HRC meetings on 19 and 21 January 2018. The Wyndham HRC meeting on 18 January 2018 was not considered as part of the suspension as Mr May was not intending to drive at that meeting.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the “Town & Country Vets/Nelson OTB Mobile Pace” Information A10214 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 857(7)(c) by Open Horseman Mr R May. The Information stated “R May (Freak Like Me) rushed ahead of the inside arm of the mobile in the score up resulting in a false start being declared”.
Mr May signed the Information admitting the breach and also that he did not wish to attend the hearing. At the start of the hearing Mr Wallis said that when serving the Information on Mr May he advised Mr May that he would be seeking a penalty of an 8 drives suspension or $400 fine. Mr Wallis said that Mr May then told him that he would prefer a suspension to a fine as he had already been fined earlier in the day for a breach of the careless driving Rule. Mr Wallis also said that having heard the size of the penalty being sought by the Stewards Mr May still confirmed he did not wish to attend the hearing.
Rule 857(7)(c) states:- “No horseman shall rush ahead of the inside or outside of the gate”.
Mr Wallis used the side-on and head-on films of the start to explain what had happened. He said “Freak Like Me” was drawn on the inside of the front line and as the field got to the start point the horse’s head could be clearly seen in front of the mobile arm. He said the horse was pacing kindly for driver but Mr May but was not following the mobile arm correctly and, as a result, the starter declared a false start. Mr Wallis said that “De Lancome” which was drawn 2 was slightly to the inside of where it should have been but there was still plenty of room for Mr May to assume the correct position behind the mobile. To questions from the Committee Mr Wallis said in reviewing the films of earlier starts today he was able to confirm the mobile for Race 5 was correctly positioned on the track and that there were no problems with the barrier arm. In any event, however, it was the responsibility of Mr May to ensure he was in the correct position behind the mobile at the point of dispatch.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis said Mr May was a very busy horseman having had 281 drives so far this season, 677 last season and 656 in 2015/2016 and had not previously breached this Rule. Mr Wallis said this was a rare breach of this Rule and there was no starting point for a penalty in the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines. He said for this reason the Stewards had decided to submit that the starting point penalty should be the same as for Rule 857(7)(d) – coming into the starting gate out of position – ie 8 drives or a $400 fine. He said that as Mr May had indicated he would prefer a suspension to a fine the Stewards were seeking a suspension of 2 days. Mr Wallis also said Mr May had said that he would like any suspension imposed to be deferred until after the Timaru HRC meeting on 17 January 2018.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on and head-on films of the start of the race which clearly shows the head of “Freak Like Me” in front of the mobile arm at the point of dispatch which led to the starter declaring a false start. The Committee is satisfied the mobile arm was correctly positioned in the run up to the start and that the horse was pacing kindly throughout the score up.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines do not state the starting point for a breach of this Rule and the Committee notes the reasoning behind the Stewards' submission for a penalty of a 2 day suspension. The Committee records its surprise that Mr May chose not to appear having, to us, surprisingly accepted that he was going to be suspended. Had he chosen to appear at the hearing he may have persuaded the Committee to impose a different penalty than the 2 day suspension the Stewards are now seeking. Because Mr May has chosen not to attend the hearing we believe this shows he thinks the breach of the Rule today justifies a 2 days suspension and that is what we impose.
We approve Mr May’s request for a deferment of the suspension in terms of Rule 1304(1)(b).
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: 1a3339586f859e406872645152c7380e
informantnumber: A10214
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Being ahead of the gate
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/01/2018
hearing_title: Nelson HRC 12 January 2018 - R 5 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the “Town & Country Vets/Nelson OTB Mobile Pace” Information A10214 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Wallis alleging a breach of Rule 857(7)(c) by Open Horseman Mr R May. The Information stated “R May (Freak Like Me) rushed ahead of the inside arm of the mobile in the score up resulting in a false start being declared”.
Mr May signed the Information admitting the breach and also that he did not wish to attend the hearing. At the start of the hearing Mr Wallis said that when serving the Information on Mr May he advised Mr May that he would be seeking a penalty of an 8 drives suspension or $400 fine. Mr Wallis said that Mr May then told him that he would prefer a suspension to a fine as he had already been fined earlier in the day for a breach of the careless driving Rule. Mr Wallis also said that having heard the size of the penalty being sought by the Stewards Mr May still confirmed he did not wish to attend the hearing.
Rule 857(7)(c) states:- “No horseman shall rush ahead of the inside or outside of the gate”.
Mr Wallis used the side-on and head-on films of the start to explain what had happened. He said “Freak Like Me” was drawn on the inside of the front line and as the field got to the start point the horse’s head could be clearly seen in front of the mobile arm. He said the horse was pacing kindly for driver but Mr May but was not following the mobile arm correctly and, as a result, the starter declared a false start. Mr Wallis said that “De Lancome” which was drawn 2 was slightly to the inside of where it should have been but there was still plenty of room for Mr May to assume the correct position behind the mobile. To questions from the Committee Mr Wallis said in reviewing the films of earlier starts today he was able to confirm the mobile for Race 5 was correctly positioned on the track and that there were no problems with the barrier arm. In any event, however, it was the responsibility of Mr May to ensure he was in the correct position behind the mobile at the point of dispatch.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis said Mr May was a very busy horseman having had 281 drives so far this season, 677 last season and 656 in 2015/2016 and had not previously breached this Rule. Mr Wallis said this was a rare breach of this Rule and there was no starting point for a penalty in the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines. He said for this reason the Stewards had decided to submit that the starting point penalty should be the same as for Rule 857(7)(d) – coming into the starting gate out of position – ie 8 drives or a $400 fine. He said that as Mr May had indicated he would prefer a suspension to a fine the Stewards were seeking a suspension of 2 days. Mr Wallis also said Mr May had said that he would like any suspension imposed to be deferred until after the Timaru HRC meeting on 17 January 2018.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the side-on and head-on films of the start of the race which clearly shows the head of “Freak Like Me” in front of the mobile arm at the point of dispatch which led to the starter declaring a false start. The Committee is satisfied the mobile arm was correctly positioned in the run up to the start and that the horse was pacing kindly throughout the score up.
The JCA Penalty Guidelines do not state the starting point for a breach of this Rule and the Committee notes the reasoning behind the Stewards' submission for a penalty of a 2 day suspension. The Committee records its surprise that Mr May chose not to appear having, to us, surprisingly accepted that he was going to be suspended. Had he chosen to appear at the hearing he may have persuaded the Committee to impose a different penalty than the 2 day suspension the Stewards are now seeking. Because Mr May has chosen not to attend the hearing we believe this shows he thinks the breach of the Rule today justifies a 2 days suspension and that is what we impose.
We approve Mr May’s request for a deferment of the suspension in terms of Rule 1304(1)(b).
penalty:
Mr May is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday 17 January 2018 to the close of racing on Sunday 21 January 2018 – the 2 days being the Marlborough HRC meetings on 19 and 21 January 2018. The Wyndham HRC meeting on 18 January 2018 was not considered as part of the suspension as Mr May was not intending to drive at that meeting.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 857(7)(c)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R May - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4039fabd64d3f91bac3c0ab1a58041d9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: c065febf048dd615ee2f700c54814715
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 12/01/2018
meet_title: Nelson HRC - 12 January 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nelson-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TUtikere
meet_pm2: none
name: Nelson HRC