Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v M McNab – Decision dated 7 February 2017 – Chair, Mr A Dooley

hearingid: 113897d4b657b0d8350f9cb6d942a650

informantnumber:

horsename:

hearing_racingtype:

startdate: no date provided

newcharge:

plea:

penaltyrequired:

decisiondate: 07/02/2017

hearing_title: Non Raceday Inquiry RIU v M McNab - Decision dated 7 February 2017 - Chair, Mr A Dooley

charge:

facts:

appealdecision: NO LINKED APPEAL DECISION

isappeal:

submissionsfordecision:

reasonsfordecision:

Decision:

BEFORE A NON RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

OF THE JUDICIAL CONTROL AUTHORITY

UNDER THE RACING ACT 2003

IN THE MATTER OF the New Zealand Rules of Thoroughbred Racing

BETWEEN RACING INTEGRITY UNIT (RIU)

Informant

AND MICHAEL J McNAB

Licensed Class A Jockey

Respondent

Information: A8671

Appearing: Mr W Robinson – Stipendiary Steward

Mr J Oatham – Chief Stipendiary Steward

Mr M Cameron – Class A Rider

Mr M McNab – Class A Rider

Mr A Rodley – Agent assisting Mr McNab

Date of hearing: 4 February 2017

Venue: Te Rapa Racecourse

Judicial Committee: Mr A Dooley, Chairman – Mr B Scott, Committee Member

Charge:

The Informant, Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham, alleged that on 29 January 2017 at a race meeting conducted by the Auckland Racing Club at Ellerslie in Race 5, Karaka Million, Mr McNab permitted his mount OSCAR EIGHT to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of GLOBAL THINKING which was checked near the 200 metres. An alleged breach of rule 638(1)(d) of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Rules of Racing.

Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.

Mr McNab acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed that he denied the breach.

The proposed procedure for the hearing was explained to Mr McNab and Mr Rodley and they had no concerns or objections.

Mr Oatham produced a letter dated 2 February from Mr M Godber, General Manager for the Racing Integrity Unit, authorising the filing of the Information pursuant to Rule 903(2) (d).

Submissions:

The following are the salient points of the hearing.

The Committee granted Mr Rodley’s request to be present at the hearing only because the charge was categorised as a Non Raceday Inquiry.

Mr Oatham said he would be calling 2 witnesses namely Stipendiary Steward, Mr W Robinson and Mr M Cameron, rider of GLOBAL THINKING. He said there were 4 video angles of the incident available to the hearing.

Mr Robinson identified on the video footage that Mr McNab angled his mount out when continuing to ride forward near the 200 metres. In doing so he took the rightful line of GLOBAL THINKING when barely ¾ of a length clear. He identified there was a gap available for Mr McNab but in his opinion Mr McNab had no intention of taking that gap because he allowed his mount to shift outwards. He identified on the back-on film that Mr Cameron was forced to check his mount when Mr McNab shifted out. He said that Mr McNab was never the required distance clear when shifting ground.

Under cross examination Mr McNab asked Mr Robinson what he would have done in the same situation. Mr Robinson said he would have stopped riding and straightened his mount when it was shifting ground.

Mr Oatham then called Mr Cameron as a witness. Mr Cameron confirmed that he received interference at the 200 metres from Mr McNab’s mount OSCAR EIGHT. He said that Mr McNab was just over 1 length clear when shifting out. Mr Cameron acknowledged that his mount was checked and he acknowledged that he was entitled to hold his ground.

In answer to questions from the Committee, Mr Cameron reiterated that he received pressure from Mr McNab who was racing on his inside. Mr Cameron stated that “he moved out of the way” of Mr McNab which in his view made the check look worse than it was.

Mr McNab submitted the check that GLOBAL THINKING received was minor and in his opinion it did not warrant a careless riding charge. He said GLOBAL THINKING was a $120 chance in the race and the horse was “gone” when the check happened. He believed that GLOBAL THINKING moved in when being ridden forward with the whip near the 200 metres.

Mr Rodley and Mr McNab identified on the films that STAR TREASURE ridden by Mr Du Plessis shifted out early in the straight. They said this resulted in GLOBAL THINKING moving out towards HASAHALO. At this point the Committee reminded Mr McNab the charge relates to the 200 metres and the shift they identified occurred at the 300 metres. Significantly at the 300 metres OSCAR EIGHT was racing 4 horse widths away from STAR TREASURE.

Mr Rodley reiterated that GLOBAL THINKING was a $120 chance in the race and it was weakening at the time of the incident. He said the incident did not cost GLOBAL THINKING a better placing. He also believed that GLOBAL THINKING moved in near the 200 metres.

Mr Rodley said that Mr McNab had shifted outwards near the 200 metres for safety reasons. However, when invited to show the Committee on the video footage where Mr McNab’s safety was at risk he was unable to do so.

The Committee advised Mr Rodley that “interference” is defined as: a horse crossing another horse without being at least its own length and one other clear length in front of such other horse at the time of crossing.

In summing up Oatham said it was clearly not acceptable for a rider to shift out into another horse’s line when only ¾ of a length clear. He said the interference that occurred early in the home straight was irrelevant to the charge. He said it was abundantly clear that Mr McNab was only ¾ of a length clear when Mr Cameron was checked at the 200 metres. He highlighted that Mr Cameron had to take evasive action otherwise he would have been in danger of clipping a heel. He stated that it was irrelevant what a horse was paying on the tote and advised that stake money was paid back to last place in the Karaka Million. He concluded by saying the video footage supports Mr Robinson’s interpretation of the incident.

Mr McNab in summing up said there were a lot of contributing factors with a lot going on in the race and stated that it should not be all put onto him. He said Mr Cameron “read what was happening” and Mr Cameron did not clip a heel.

Mr Rodley in summing up said the incident did not cost GLOBAL THINKING anything.

Reasons for Decision:

The Committee carefully considered all of the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage of the alleged incident. We established that Mr McNab allowed his mount to shift out at least 3 horse widths in the home straight. As a result GLOBAL THINKING was checked near the 200 metres when Mr McNab was only ¾ of a length clear of that runner. It was evident that when OSCAR EIGHT was shifting ground outwards Mr McNab continued to ride his mount forward and he made no attempt to straighten his mount.

It was obvious on the back-on film that Mr Cameron recognised Mr McNab was shifting outwards and he took a hold of his mount and turned his horse head outwards to avoid clipping a heel. It was fortunate that Mr Cameron was an experienced rider.

We were satisfied that there was no video evidence to support the statement that GLOBAL THINKING shifted in near the 200 metres. We do not accept there were contributing factors in this case.

Decision:

Accordingly, the Committee find the charge proved.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms McNab’s record which showed 5 previous breaches in the last 12 months, the most recent being 1 January which incurred a 5 day suspension. He said the level of carelessness was well and truly mid–range. He said a further aggravating fact was the incident occurred in a million dollar race. Mr Oatham submitted a term of suspension in the 5 to 7 day range.

Mr McNab submitted that he has been riding all over the country and asked the Committee to factor that into his penalty. Mr McNab requested a 7 day deferment to his suspension because he had engagements at Te Rapa on 11 February.

Mr Oatham was able to provide Mr McNab’s record of riding at Christchurch.

Mr Rodley asked the Committee to take into account that Mr McNab’s suspension would include the Avondale Guineas/Avondale Cup.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees recommends that the starting point for careless riding is a 5 day suspension. This is adjusted based on mitigating and aggravating factors.

We believe there were no mitigating factors.

Rule 920 (2) provides: On finding a breach proved the Judicial Committee may impose any penalty provided by these Rules. In imposing a penalty provided in these Rules the Judicial Committee may have regard to such matters as it considers appropriate including:

(a) the status of the Race;

(b) the stake payable in respect of the Race;

(c) any consequential effects upon any person or horse as a result of the breach of the Rule; and/or

(d) the need to maintain integrity and public confidence in racing.

We applied an uplift of 2 days for the aggravating factors. These being Mr McNab’s poor record under this Rule, the level of carelessness was mid–range and the breach occurred in a million dollar Listed race.

When reviewing the incident we observed that Mr McNab allowed his mount to shift out 3 horse widths while still riding forward. In doing so it was evident that Mr Cameron the rider of GLOBAL THINKING turned his mount’s head outwards to avoid the heels of OSCAR EIGHT. The films show that Mr McNab was at best only ¾ of a length clear when the check occurred.

When fixing an appropriate penalty the Committee had regard for the fact that Mr McNab’s suspension would include the Group 2 Avondale Cup-Guineas meeting at Ellerslie.

After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considered an appropriate suspension was 7 days.

Penalty:

The Committee grant Mr McNab’s request to seek a deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).

Accordingly, Mr McNab had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 11 February and conclude after racing on 24 February 2017 (7 days).

That period of suspension encompasses meetings at

16 February – Christchurch
17 February – Wanganui
18 February – Ellerslie – Feature or Taranaki – Premier 2
19 February – Gisborne
22 February – Avondale
23 February – Wairoa
24 February - Christchurch

Costs:

The RIU made no application for costs.

As this charge was heard on a raceday, there will be no order for JCA costs.

Adrian Dooley          Bryan Scott

Chairman                 Committee Member

7 February 2017

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: