NZ Metro TC 15 November 2013 – R 9 (instigating a protest)
ID: JCA13299
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 15 November 2013
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2013/11/15
Race Number:
R9
Decision:
The protest was dismissed.
It was ordered that dividends and stake monies be paid in accordance with the judge’s placings (as above).
Facts:
Following the running of Race 9, “Woodlands” New Zealand Free-For-All (Group 1), an information instigating a protest was filed by Mrs K M Gath, Licensed Driver (Australia), as the driver of CARIBBEAN BLASTER, placed 3rd by the judge, against EASY ON THE EYE (P C Ferguson), placed 2nd by the judge, on the grounds that “EASY ON THE EYE shifted outwards in the final stages and in doing so effected [sic] the chances of CARIBBEAN BLASTER”.
Mrs Gath was present at the hearing of the information, as was the trainer of the horse, Mr A P Gath.
Mr P C Ferguson, driver of EASY ON THE EYE, was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he was representing the connections of that horse at the protest hearing. Part-owner, Mr K G Breckon, was also present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(8) The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to Rule 1003 thereof place any horse which:
(a) may have gained an advantage by any conduct or interference prohibited by any preceding provision of this Rule and/or
(b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses – immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
The judge’s placings were:
1st 10 Pembrook Benny
2nd 5 Easy On The Eye
3rd 11 Caribbean Blaster
4th 9 Franco Ledger
5th 3 Fly Like An Eagle
The margin between 2nd and 3rd was a nose.
Submissions for Decision:
Mrs Gath alleged that, approximately 30-40 metres from the winning post, EASY ON THE EYE shifted out and “made contact”. At that stage, she said, she believed that she was going to beat that horse and run 2nd. She felt that the “bump” cost her momentum. Mrs Gath said that it was close to the winning post and it was not severe. The wheels of the two sulkies “came together”. Mrs Gath referred to side-on and head-on video replays of the final stages of the race.
The Committee asked Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, for his opinion as to the proximity to the finishing line where the contact took place. The distance from the final pylon to the finishing line was 13.9 metres so, on that basis, it would be 6 or 7 metres, he submitted. Mrs Gath conceded that it was closer to the finishing line than the 30-40 metres that she had originally estimated.
Mrs Gath submitted that any contact will affect momentum.
Mr Gath submitted that it appeared that the wheel of CARIBBEAN BLASTER was behind the wheel of EASY ON THE EYE which would halt momentum. He referred to the nose margin. The contact was not major contact, but the margin was very small, he submitted.
Mr Ferguson said that, prior to the 100 metres, his horse was laying in and he was conscious of the runners on his inside. He corrected his horse back to its correct line, he said, and short of the line he was holding the horse outside him (CARIBBEAN BLASTER). Mrs Gath was making a run at the same time and, he submitted, any contact was as much the result of her horse moving in as it was his horse moving out. He said that he was not aware of any contact at the time and he felt that he was holding CARIBBEAN BLASTER “quite comfortably” and the line came up in plenty of time. He said that carts often came together when the racing was tight. The sulkies or stays did not “lock”, he said. There was plenty of room for CARIBBEAN BLASTER to get past when his horse was running in.
Mr Breckon submitted that the incident took place so close to the line that it made no difference. CARIBBEAN BLASTER was not going any better that EASY ON THE EYE at the finishing line, he said.
Mr N G McIntyre, Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, was asked for his assessment of the situation. He said that it was clear that Mr Ferguson had relieved the pressure to FLY LIKE AN EAGLE (M Purdon) on his inner. While there was a “bump” to CARIBBEAN BLASTER, due to the close proximity to the winning post he could not be satisfied that that horse would have beaten EASY ON THE EYE. That was for the Committee to determine, he said.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee found that, over the final stages of the race, EASY ON THE EYE had drifted in. Mr Ferguson, quite properly, took corrective action to relieve pressure on the inside runners. In steering his horse out, there was very brief contact between the sulkies of Mr Ferguson’s horse and CARIBBEAN BLASTER on his outside. Mrs Gath and Mr McIntyre both categorised the contact as a “bump” and Mr Ferguson said that he was not aware of any contact at the time. It was able to be established from the video replays that contact took place only 6 to 7 metres from the finishing line. Whilst the margin between the two horses at the finish was only a nose, it did not appear to the Committee that CARIBBEAN BLASTER’s progress was impeded and, further, it appeared that EASY ON THE EYE was maintaining its margin over the final stages.
Essentially, the question for the Committee was, but for the contact or “bump” 6 to 7 metres from the finishing line, would CARIBBEAN BLASTER have otherwise beaten EASY ON THE EYE? We would have needed to be satisfied on a balance of probabilities that it would have done so. That test requires us to be satisfied that it was more probable than not. For the reasons given above, we were not so satisfied.
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: 5ea6a7e22e16e9888377ee2ca60f9702
informantnumber: A1568
horsename: Easy On The Eye
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 18/11/2013
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 15 November 2013 - R 9 (instigating a protest)
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 9, “Woodlands” New Zealand Free-For-All (Group 1), an information instigating a protest was filed by Mrs K M Gath, Licensed Driver (Australia), as the driver of CARIBBEAN BLASTER, placed 3rd by the judge, against EASY ON THE EYE (P C Ferguson), placed 2nd by the judge, on the grounds that “EASY ON THE EYE shifted outwards in the final stages and in doing so effected [sic] the chances of CARIBBEAN BLASTER”.
Mrs Gath was present at the hearing of the information, as was the trainer of the horse, Mr A P Gath.
Mr P C Ferguson, driver of EASY ON THE EYE, was present at the hearing of the information and he indicated that he was representing the connections of that horse at the protest hearing. Part-owner, Mr K G Breckon, was also present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(8) The Judicial Committee may in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed pursuant to Rule 1003 thereof place any horse which:
(a) may have gained an advantage by any conduct or interference prohibited by any preceding provision of this Rule and/or
(b) may have interfered with, or whose horseman may have interfered with, the progress or chance of any other horse or horses – immediately after any horse from which it may have gained an advantage or whose chances or progress may have been affected thereby.
The judge’s placings were:
1st 10 Pembrook Benny
2nd 5 Easy On The Eye
3rd 11 Caribbean Blaster
4th 9 Franco Ledger
5th 3 Fly Like An Eagle
The margin between 2nd and 3rd was a nose.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mrs Gath alleged that, approximately 30-40 metres from the winning post, EASY ON THE EYE shifted out and “made contact”. At that stage, she said, she believed that she was going to beat that horse and run 2nd. She felt that the “bump” cost her momentum. Mrs Gath said that it was close to the winning post and it was not severe. The wheels of the two sulkies “came together”. Mrs Gath referred to side-on and head-on video replays of the final stages of the race.
The Committee asked Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N G McIntyre, for his opinion as to the proximity to the finishing line where the contact took place. The distance from the final pylon to the finishing line was 13.9 metres so, on that basis, it would be 6 or 7 metres, he submitted. Mrs Gath conceded that it was closer to the finishing line than the 30-40 metres that she had originally estimated.
Mrs Gath submitted that any contact will affect momentum.
Mr Gath submitted that it appeared that the wheel of CARIBBEAN BLASTER was behind the wheel of EASY ON THE EYE which would halt momentum. He referred to the nose margin. The contact was not major contact, but the margin was very small, he submitted.
Mr Ferguson said that, prior to the 100 metres, his horse was laying in and he was conscious of the runners on his inside. He corrected his horse back to its correct line, he said, and short of the line he was holding the horse outside him (CARIBBEAN BLASTER). Mrs Gath was making a run at the same time and, he submitted, any contact was as much the result of her horse moving in as it was his horse moving out. He said that he was not aware of any contact at the time and he felt that he was holding CARIBBEAN BLASTER “quite comfortably” and the line came up in plenty of time. He said that carts often came together when the racing was tight. The sulkies or stays did not “lock”, he said. There was plenty of room for CARIBBEAN BLASTER to get past when his horse was running in.
Mr Breckon submitted that the incident took place so close to the line that it made no difference. CARIBBEAN BLASTER was not going any better that EASY ON THE EYE at the finishing line, he said.
Mr N G McIntyre, Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward, was asked for his assessment of the situation. He said that it was clear that Mr Ferguson had relieved the pressure to FLY LIKE AN EAGLE (M Purdon) on his inner. While there was a “bump” to CARIBBEAN BLASTER, due to the close proximity to the winning post he could not be satisfied that that horse would have beaten EASY ON THE EYE. That was for the Committee to determine, he said.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee found that, over the final stages of the race, EASY ON THE EYE had drifted in. Mr Ferguson, quite properly, took corrective action to relieve pressure on the inside runners. In steering his horse out, there was very brief contact between the sulkies of Mr Ferguson’s horse and CARIBBEAN BLASTER on his outside. Mrs Gath and Mr McIntyre both categorised the contact as a “bump” and Mr Ferguson said that he was not aware of any contact at the time. It was able to be established from the video replays that contact took place only 6 to 7 metres from the finishing line. Whilst the margin between the two horses at the finish was only a nose, it did not appear to the Committee that CARIBBEAN BLASTER’s progress was impeded and, further, it appeared that EASY ON THE EYE was maintaining its margin over the final stages.
Essentially, the question for the Committee was, but for the contact or “bump” 6 to 7 metres from the finishing line, would CARIBBEAN BLASTER have otherwise beaten EASY ON THE EYE? We would have needed to be satisfied on a balance of probabilities that it would have done so. That test requires us to be satisfied that it was more probable than not. For the reasons given above, we were not so satisfied.
Decision:
The protest was dismissed.
It was ordered that dividends and stake monies be paid in accordance with the judge’s placings (as above).
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Protest
Rules: 869(8)
Informant: K M Gath, Licensed Driver (Australia)
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: A P Gath, Trainer of Caribbean Blaster, K G Breckon, Part-Owner of Easy On The Eye
Respondent: P C Ferguson, Licensed Open Horseman
StipendSteward:
raceid: 69579254cdca3f1624ae24bd7b7c5bd9
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6a55373ea6b3b9160aa9da74decd42ca
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 15/11/2013
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 15 November 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC