NZ Metro TC 12 December 2105 – R 1 – Chair, R McKenzie
ID: JCA10756
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 12 December 2015
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2015/12/12
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Mrs Hallett having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mrs Hallett’s licence was suspended for a period of 2 months commencing after the close of racing on Saturday, 12 December 2015, up to and including 12 February 2016. She may drive again on 13 February 2016. In addition, Mrs Hallett was fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Bishopdale/Bush Inn TAB’s & Tavern Harewood Amateur Drivers Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Advanced Amateur Driver, Mrs M Hallett, alleging a breach of Rule 868 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of BILLY JACK in the race, she “failed to give BILLY JACK full opportunity to obtain the best possible finishing place by failing to improve off the back of THE FLYING SCOTSMAN which was tiring when it was both reasonable and permissible to do so”.
Mrs Hallett was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach. The Committee was informed that she had received advice from Mr D J Butt, Licensed Public Trainer/Open Horseman before pleading to the charge.
Rule 868 provides as follows:
(2) Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place”.
Mr Ydgren explained to the Committee that the leader, at the time, was THE FLYING SCOTSMAN (P A Wallace), being trailed by REDMARO (G A Cook) and BILLY JACK, driven by Mrs Hallett, racing 3-back. He showed video replays of the final 400-500 metres of the race and pointed out those three runners. Mr Ydgren continued that Mr Cook had been able to ease out from behind the tiring leader and improve into the 2-wide line, shifting SPECIAL DELIGHT (S Blake) out to a 3-wide position. Mrs Hallett did not follow Mr Cook out when there was a clear run for her and, as a result, was held up for “a conservative 150 metres”, Mr Ydgren alleged. The video replays showed that Mrs Hallett had been carted back by the “rapidly weakening” THE FLYING SCOTSMAN.
After getting clear, Mrs Hallett’s horse had finished the race off in “a fairly attractive manner”, Mr Ydgren submitted. It had picked up a considerable amount of ground that it had conceded to the leaders. Had she followed Mr Cook through, Mrs Hallett would have been, Mr Ydgren submitted, some 15 metres closer to the leaders than she was when she got into the clear. The opportunity to beat the two leaders had, by then, been lost. It was reasonable to assume that Mrs Hallett’s horse may have won the race, Mr Ydgren submitted.
The Committee noted that BILLY JACK went on to finish in 3rd position, the official margins being a ½ neck between 1st and 2nd and 1½ lengths to 3rd.
Mrs Hallett admitted that she should have followed Mr Cook out but felt, at the time, that he had come out “really quick”.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards were regarding Mrs Hallett’s actions as being merely an error of judgement on her part, possibly the result of her lack of experience, and there was nothing sinister in her actions. Mrs Hallett has had 5 drives in the current season and had 9 in the 2014/2015 season. She does have a clear record under the Rule, he said.
Mr Ydgren referred to the starting point suggested in the Penalty Guide – 15 drives’ suspension or a $750 fine. He referred to the difficulty in assessing an appropriate term of suspension for an amateur driver.
Mr Ydgren referred to the recent case of another amateur driver, B (May 2015), in which the facts were similar. In that case, the breach was admitted and a fine of $400 was imposed along with a suspension for 2 months. He submitted that a similar penalty was appropriate in this case.
Mrs Hallett conceded that she had made a mistake, through her inexperience. Amateur drivers do not get paid, she said. A 2 months’ suspension would be hard enough, she submitted, and a fine on top of that would be quite harsh on someone who does not get paid to drive.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee was aware of the circumstances of the case of B referred to by Mr Ydgren, and agrees with Mr Ydgren that the circumstances of both cases were very similar. The penalty in that case was of considerable assistance to us in fixing penalty in this case.
The principle point of difference between the present case and B is that Mrs Hallett is considerably less experienced than the Respondent in that case – B had had close to 50 drives against Mrs Hallett’s 14.
A combined penalty is required, we believe, to make the penalty, for what is a quite serious driving offence, a meaningful one. It is often difficult to impose a term of suspension, in the case of an amateur driver, that adequately punishes that driver for the particular breach.
Taking the case of B as the starting point, the Committee considered that a 2 months’ suspension was appropriate but that Mrs Hallett should receive some discount for her inexperience, and we fixed that at a reduction of $100 in the fine.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 0b875bf7159cf5709ca2d97ec8e61c07
informantnumber: A8007
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failing to Take Reasonable and Permissible Measures
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/12/2015
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 12 December 2105 - R 1 - Chair, R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Bishopdale/Bush Inn TAB’s & Tavern Harewood Amateur Drivers Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Advanced Amateur Driver, Mrs M Hallett, alleging a breach of Rule 868 (2) (a) in that, as the driver of BILLY JACK in the race, she “failed to give BILLY JACK full opportunity to obtain the best possible finishing place by failing to improve off the back of THE FLYING SCOTSMAN which was tiring when it was both reasonable and permissible to do so”.
Mrs Hallett was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the breach. The Committee was informed that she had received advice from Mr D J Butt, Licensed Public Trainer/Open Horseman before pleading to the charge.
Rule 868 provides as follows:
(2) Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place”.
Mr Ydgren explained to the Committee that the leader, at the time, was THE FLYING SCOTSMAN (P A Wallace), being trailed by REDMARO (G A Cook) and BILLY JACK, driven by Mrs Hallett, racing 3-back. He showed video replays of the final 400-500 metres of the race and pointed out those three runners. Mr Ydgren continued that Mr Cook had been able to ease out from behind the tiring leader and improve into the 2-wide line, shifting SPECIAL DELIGHT (S Blake) out to a 3-wide position. Mrs Hallett did not follow Mr Cook out when there was a clear run for her and, as a result, was held up for “a conservative 150 metres”, Mr Ydgren alleged. The video replays showed that Mrs Hallett had been carted back by the “rapidly weakening” THE FLYING SCOTSMAN.
After getting clear, Mrs Hallett’s horse had finished the race off in “a fairly attractive manner”, Mr Ydgren submitted. It had picked up a considerable amount of ground that it had conceded to the leaders. Had she followed Mr Cook through, Mrs Hallett would have been, Mr Ydgren submitted, some 15 metres closer to the leaders than she was when she got into the clear. The opportunity to beat the two leaders had, by then, been lost. It was reasonable to assume that Mrs Hallett’s horse may have won the race, Mr Ydgren submitted.
The Committee noted that BILLY JACK went on to finish in 3rd position, the official margins being a ½ neck between 1st and 2nd and 1½ lengths to 3rd.
Mrs Hallett admitted that she should have followed Mr Cook out but felt, at the time, that he had come out “really quick”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mrs Hallett having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said that the Stewards were regarding Mrs Hallett’s actions as being merely an error of judgement on her part, possibly the result of her lack of experience, and there was nothing sinister in her actions. Mrs Hallett has had 5 drives in the current season and had 9 in the 2014/2015 season. She does have a clear record under the Rule, he said.
Mr Ydgren referred to the starting point suggested in the Penalty Guide – 15 drives’ suspension or a $750 fine. He referred to the difficulty in assessing an appropriate term of suspension for an amateur driver.
Mr Ydgren referred to the recent case of another amateur driver, B (May 2015), in which the facts were similar. In that case, the breach was admitted and a fine of $400 was imposed along with a suspension for 2 months. He submitted that a similar penalty was appropriate in this case.
Mrs Hallett conceded that she had made a mistake, through her inexperience. Amateur drivers do not get paid, she said. A 2 months’ suspension would be hard enough, she submitted, and a fine on top of that would be quite harsh on someone who does not get paid to drive.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee was aware of the circumstances of the case of B referred to by Mr Ydgren, and agrees with Mr Ydgren that the circumstances of both cases were very similar. The penalty in that case was of considerable assistance to us in fixing penalty in this case.
The principle point of difference between the present case and B is that Mrs Hallett is considerably less experienced than the Respondent in that case – B had had close to 50 drives against Mrs Hallett’s 14.
A combined penalty is required, we believe, to make the penalty, for what is a quite serious driving offence, a meaningful one. It is often difficult to impose a term of suspension, in the case of an amateur driver, that adequately punishes that driver for the particular breach.
Taking the case of B as the starting point, the Committee considered that a 2 months’ suspension was appropriate but that Mrs Hallett should receive some discount for her inexperience, and we fixed that at a reduction of $100 in the fine.
penalty:
Mrs Hallett’s licence was suspended for a period of 2 months commencing after the close of racing on Saturday, 12 December 2015, up to and including 12 February 2016. She may drive again on 13 February 2016. In addition, Mrs Hallett was fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 868(2)
Informant: N M Ydgren, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: M Hallett, Licensed Advanced Amateur Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: ba23cdcce2f503913fe0c12f65677717
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
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race_pm2:
meetid: 29edabcc8b59f0562b2098e5b6c7fd2c
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meetdate: 12/12/2015
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 12 December 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC