Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v M J Reynolds – Decision dated 30 September 2016 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve

hearingid: d833b7fa88fd83aeb3a045796240d0e7

informantnumber:

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea:

penaltyrequired:

decisiondate: 03/10/2016

hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v M J Reynolds - Decision dated 30 September 2016 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve

charge:

facts:

appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

BEFORE A JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY

UNDER THE RACING ACT 2003

AND IN THE MATTER of the New Zealand Rules of Harness Racing

BETWEEN THE RACING INTEGRITY UNIT (RIU)

Informant

AND MADISON J REYNOLDS

Licensed Junior Driver

Respondent

Information: A3739

Appearing: Mr J Muirhead, Stipendiary Steward

Mr MJ Reynolds, Licensed Junior Driver

Mr Z Butcher, Senior Horseman assisting Mr Reynolds

Date of Hearing: 30 September 2016

Venue: Alexandra Park Raceway

Judicial Committee: Mr A Godsalve, Chairman - Mr G Jones, Committee Member

Date of Decision: 30 September 2016

Charge:

The Informant, Mr Muirhead, Stipendiary Steward, alleges that on the 22nd day of September at the Harness Racing Waikato Incorporated meeting Mr Reynolds failed to comply with a direction or instruction of a Stipendiary Steward to attend an inquiry.

Rule 303 (2)

No person or body who holds a permit or licence under these Rules and no owner, trainer, breeder, stablehand, unlicensed apprentice or racing manager shall misconduct himself or fail to comply with any request, direction, or instruction of any Stipendiary Steward, Racecourse Inspector or Starter.

PENALTY PROVISIONS

GENERAL PENALTIES

Rule 1003 (1)

A person who commits a breach of any Rule shall (subject to the provisions of Rule 111 (1), 113 (5), 507 (3), 1001 or 1004 hereof) be liable to the following penalties:

(a) A fine not exceeding $10,000 and/or

(b) Suspension from holding or obtaining a licence for a period not exceeding 12 months; and/or

(c) disqualification for a period not exceeding 12 months

In addition to or in substitution of any penalty imposed pursuant to sub-rule (1) hereof, any horse connected with the breach of the Rule may be scratched or disqualified from any race and/or disqualified for a period not exceeding 12 months.

Mr Reynolds, together with Mr Butcher acknowledged that he understood the nature of the charge and that he admitted the breach.

The proposed procedure for the hearing was explained to Mr Reynolds and he had no concerns or objections.

Note: Prior to his submissions on the facts surrounding this matter being commenced Mr Muirhead produced for the Committee a copy of an email between Stipendiary Steward Mr B Van Kan and himself. This email was dated 26 September 2016. Mr Reynolds and Mr Butcher acknowledged that they had seen this document prior to the hearing, and did not object to its production as evidence. They further confirmed to the Committee that they would not require Mr Van Kan to appear personally as they did not challenge the contents of that document.

Summary of Facts by the Informant

Mr Muirhead stated that on the evening of 22 September 2016 he was on duty as a Stipendiary Steward at the Harness Racing Waikato race meeting at Cambridge. He said that in Race 5, the Morrinsville Lions Club Mobile, Mr Reynolds had driven the horse RAPTORS FLIGHT which was a hot favourite with punters. The horse had finished second in that race. Mr Muirhead referred to the copy of an email referred to earlier, which he produced as evidence, and said the matters contained in that document explained the reasons for this charge being preferred.

The contents of that email are as follows:

Ben Van Kan

To John Muirhead

After Race 5. The Morrinsville Lions Club Maiden Mobile Race was completed John Muirhead advised me that he would like to see Madison Reynolds with a senior horseman to assist him. I went and informed Madison Reynolds that Mr J Muirhead would like to see him with a senior horseman.

After Race 6 I went to the stable area and advised Sean Grayling that John Muirhead would like to see him and he needed a senior horseman. Madison Reynolds was present at that time. They both knew they were required to go to the Stipendiary Stewards room.

Prior to Race 9 I was in the stable area and I ran into Madison Reynolds. I asked him “if he had been to see John Muirhead? “He said “Not at this stage”. I said “You should get it done”.

After the last race when Mr Reynolds failed to appear I rang him on his mobile phone number xxxxxxxxxxxx four times but there was no reply.

Ben

Mr Muirhead added that he himself had attempted to ring Mr Reynolds that evening without success. When he eventually spoke to Mr Reynolds the next day he said Mr Reynolds had told him he had ‘forgotten’ to report to him the evening before. He added that the Stipendiary Stewards had eventually confirmed that the reason for their initial reasons for enquiring into the performance of RAPTORS FLIGHT had been satisfactorily explained.

Submission by the Respondent

Mr Reynolds told the Committee that he agreed with the facts as outlined by Mr Muirhead. In explanation he advised the Committee that after he was asked for the first time to appear before a Stewards enquiry, he simply forgot about it. He said Mr Van Kan informed him on a further two occasions that he was required to attend, but again he forgot. He added that as he was loading the horses onto the truck to leave the course, his employer Mr B Purdon mentioned that he had received a message from Mr Muirhead but by that time it was too late. Mr Reynolds said he had put his mobile phone into a gear bag and that was why he had not responded to calls to it.

In response to a question from the Committee Mr Reynolds acknowledged that the reasons the Stewards may have wanted to speak to him may have been of some importance.

Penalty Submissions by the Informant

Mr Muirhead submitted that breaches of this nature have generally attracted fines of between $400 to $1500 and on occasions there have been suspensions. He said Mr Reynolds had not been an active driver having had 8 drives last season and only 2 so far this season.

Mr Muirhead submitted that the Stewards viewed the breach as a serious matter requiring a suspension of between 6 to 8 weeks. He said that the Stewards as a matter of principle suggest that a fine under these circumstances would be inappropriate. He added that licence holders have an obligation to attend Stewards enquiries.

Penalty Submissions by the Respondent

Mr Reynolds stated that he is employed by Mr Barry Purdon. He said that Mr Purdon’s current Junior Driver (Mr S Grayling) was soon to progress to being a Senior Driver and would leave Mr Purdon’s employment. As a result, Mr Reynolds added, he was hoping to get more drives from the stable in the future. Mr Reynolds said he accepted that he had done the wrong thing and that he would have to ‘serve his time’. He added that a period of suspension of between 6 to 8 weeks would hurt, however he agreed that it would be a fair penalty. He told the Committee that he was not in a financial position to pay a fine.

Mr Butcher, who is also employed by Mr Purdon, confirmed that Mr Reynolds would soon have the opportunity to get more drives from the stable. He said that a suspension of Mr Reynolds driving licence would be a more preferable penalty as he was on a low weekly wage and to date his earnings from race driving were minimal.

Reasons for Penalty

The JCA Penalty Guide does not provide a starting point or any other suggested penalty for a breach of this Rule. It suggests that penalties for breaches of Rules similar to the one in question are ‘fact dependant’.

The Committee take the view that this breach is of a serious nature, especially given the fact that Mr Reynolds is a relatively inexperienced industry participant in New Zealand. We are aware that Mr Reynolds has had some success as a driver in Australia before coming to work in New Zealand.

It is clear that people involved in the Harness industry are obliged to follow instructions from Stipendiary Stewards and these obligations are not ‘discretionary’ on their part.

We take into account Mr Reynolds' admission of the breach today, and that he has no prior breaches of any type in New Zealand.

In reaching what we consider to be an appropriate penalty the Committee ascertained the penalties which had been imposed on other occasions for breaches of this Rule. This breach is specific in that it deals with failing to comply with a direction or instruction of a Stipendiary Steward where other recent breaches of similar Rules were of a different nature.

The Committee agrees with Mr Muirhead that this matter should be dealt with by way of a suspension. Given that both Mr Reynolds and Mr Butcher have told us that Mr Reynolds could reasonably expect to increase his raceday driving opportunities in the future we have used a formula of 1 drive per meeting at the upcoming Harness meetings at Alexandra Park and Cambridge Raceway. We have not factored in any meetings apart from at these venues as we have not been given any evidence that Mr Reynolds would attempt to obtain drives at those meetings. His penalty must be one that is ‘meaningful’, and to that event we believe that he should not be able to drive at race meetings for approximately 6 weeks.

Penalty

We impose a period of suspension of Mr Reynolds' license to begin after racing on 30th September 2016 and conclude after racing on 17 November 2016.

AJ Godsalve           GR Jones

Chairman               Committee Member

sumissionsforpenalty:

reasonsforpenalty:

penalty:

hearing_type: Non-race day

Rules:

Informant:

JockeysandTrainer:

Otherperson:

PersonPresent:

Respondent:

StipendSteward:

raceid:

race_expapproval:

racecancelled:

race_noreport:

race_emailed1:

race_emailed2:

race_title:

submittochair:

race_expappcomment:

race_km:

race_otherexp:

race_chair:

race_pm1:

race_pm2:

meetid:

meet_expapproval:

meet_noreport:

waitingforpublication:

meet_emailed1:

meet_emailed2:

meetdate: no date provided

meet_title:

meet_expappcomment:

meet_km:

meet_otherexp:

tracklocation:

meet_racingtype:

meet_chair:

meet_pm1:

meet_pm2:

name: