NZ Metro TC 22 May 2015 – R 5
ID: JCA17249
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 22 May 2015
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2015/05/22
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
Miss Lester having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Miss Lester’s Junior Driver’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 22 May 2015 up to and including Sunday, 7 June 2015 – 3 driving days.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, Certified Builders Association of NZ Junior Drivers Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss L A Lester, alleging that Miss Lester, as the driver of GROOMSMAN in the race, “near the 1500 metres shifted her position outwards causing SANDVIK STAR (R D Close) to be take to a 4-wide position”.
Miss Lester was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the charge. She was assisted at the hearing by Mr M J House, Licensed Public Trainer.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
(6) Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof:-
(b) a horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track;
(c) a horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.
Mr Ydgren referred to video replays and pointed out Miss Lester, driving GROOMSMAN, towards the rear of the field in the 2-wide line with SANDVIK STAR (R D Close) on her back. Mr Close then improved his position and Miss Lester shifted outwards to 3-wide, taking Mr Close out to a 4-wide position. Mr Ydgren pointed out on the video replays that, at the point where Miss Lester commenced her outward movement, the nose of Mr Close’s horse was, clearly, in line with or past the sulky wheel of GROOMSMAN and his horse was obviously improving or going forward.
Mr House also referred to the video replays and submitted that, at the moment when Mr Close began to improve his position, there was only a “half stride” in it. He submitted that Miss Lester’s horse was very slow to react and turned its head to go in. Mr Close’s horse was accelerating so fast. Miss Lester could be seen to be attempting to come out before Mr Close got to her wheel. Mr Close could have elected to go back in but elected not to do so, Mr House said. If Miss Lester’s horse had not been so slow to react, he submitted, Mr Close would have been on her back. It was no more than a racing incident, he said, and not intentional.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren said that Miss Lester has a clear record under all Rules. She has had 16 drives to date in the current season and had 39 and 36 in the 2013/2014 and 2012/2013 seasons respectively. Miss Lester was entitled to some credit for her early admission of the breach, Mr Ydgren said.
He referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point of a $250 fine or as 5 drives’ suspension. Mr Ydgren said that Miss Lester would have, on average, one drive per meeting. He said that Miss Lester had expressed a preference for a suspension and that Stewards would not oppose this. On that basis, the Stewards submitted that an appropriate penalty was a term of suspension covering the Ashburton meeting on 31 May and the two days of the Nelson meeting on 5 and 7 June, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Ydgren said, in Miss Lester’s favour, that her horse had been slow to react and Mr Close had “come at speed”. However, he refuted any suggestion that Mr Close was, in any way, responsible for the incident, as suggested by Mr House. Mr Close had raced 4-wide for approximately 150 metres but another runner had come out in front of Miss Lester which had made the situation worse. He assessed the level of the breach at low-to-mid range.
The 3 days’ suspension that the Stewards were submitting would equate to 3 or 4 drives or a $200 fine, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr House asked the Committee to consider Miss Lester’s good record and the mitigating factors that he had put forward in his submissions. He accepted that a 3 days’ suspension was a fair penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee noted that the Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a fine of $250 or a 5 drives’ suspension. There were a number of mitigating factors – Miss Lester’s admission of the breach, her clear record under the Rule and the low-end nature of the breach as referred to above. The Committee had regard to Mr House’s submission that Miss Lester would prefer a suspension rather that a fine. It considered that a 3-days’ suspension was an appropriate term.
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: efec21d8d20768629cd0ed8cae8850ff
informantnumber: A1477
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Pushout Rule
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 27/05/2015
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 22 May 2015 - R 5
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, Certified Builders Association of NZ Junior Drivers Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Licensed Junior Driver, Miss L A Lester, alleging that Miss Lester, as the driver of GROOMSMAN in the race, “near the 1500 metres shifted her position outwards causing SANDVIK STAR (R D Close) to be take to a 4-wide position”.
Miss Lester was present at the hearing of the information and she indicated that she admitted the charge. She was assisted at the hearing by Mr M J House, Licensed Public Trainer.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
(6) Subject to sub-rule (4) hereof:-
(b) a horse making a forward movement during any race shall not be forced to race wider on the track;
(c) a horse during a race shall not move ground outwards once the nose of the wider runner coming forward is in line with or past its sulky wheel and until the wider runner going forward is fully past.
Mr Ydgren referred to video replays and pointed out Miss Lester, driving GROOMSMAN, towards the rear of the field in the 2-wide line with SANDVIK STAR (R D Close) on her back. Mr Close then improved his position and Miss Lester shifted outwards to 3-wide, taking Mr Close out to a 4-wide position. Mr Ydgren pointed out on the video replays that, at the point where Miss Lester commenced her outward movement, the nose of Mr Close’s horse was, clearly, in line with or past the sulky wheel of GROOMSMAN and his horse was obviously improving or going forward.
Mr House also referred to the video replays and submitted that, at the moment when Mr Close began to improve his position, there was only a “half stride” in it. He submitted that Miss Lester’s horse was very slow to react and turned its head to go in. Mr Close’s horse was accelerating so fast. Miss Lester could be seen to be attempting to come out before Mr Close got to her wheel. Mr Close could have elected to go back in but elected not to do so, Mr House said. If Miss Lester’s horse had not been so slow to react, he submitted, Mr Close would have been on her back. It was no more than a racing incident, he said, and not intentional.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Miss Lester having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren said that Miss Lester has a clear record under all Rules. She has had 16 drives to date in the current season and had 39 and 36 in the 2013/2014 and 2012/2013 seasons respectively. Miss Lester was entitled to some credit for her early admission of the breach, Mr Ydgren said.
He referred to the Penalty Guide which recommended a starting point of a $250 fine or as 5 drives’ suspension. Mr Ydgren said that Miss Lester would have, on average, one drive per meeting. He said that Miss Lester had expressed a preference for a suspension and that Stewards would not oppose this. On that basis, the Stewards submitted that an appropriate penalty was a term of suspension covering the Ashburton meeting on 31 May and the two days of the Nelson meeting on 5 and 7 June, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Ydgren said, in Miss Lester’s favour, that her horse had been slow to react and Mr Close had “come at speed”. However, he refuted any suggestion that Mr Close was, in any way, responsible for the incident, as suggested by Mr House. Mr Close had raced 4-wide for approximately 150 metres but another runner had come out in front of Miss Lester which had made the situation worse. He assessed the level of the breach at low-to-mid range.
The 3 days’ suspension that the Stewards were submitting would equate to 3 or 4 drives or a $200 fine, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr House asked the Committee to consider Miss Lester’s good record and the mitigating factors that he had put forward in his submissions. He accepted that a 3 days’ suspension was a fair penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee noted that the Penalty Guide provides a starting point of a fine of $250 or a 5 drives’ suspension. There were a number of mitigating factors – Miss Lester’s admission of the breach, her clear record under the Rule and the low-end nature of the breach as referred to above. The Committee had regard to Mr House’s submission that Miss Lester would prefer a suspension rather that a fine. It considered that a 3-days’ suspension was an appropriate term.
penalty:
Miss Lester’s Junior Driver’s licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 22 May 2015 up to and including Sunday, 7 June 2015 – 3 driving days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(4)&(6)(b)&(c)
Informant: N M Ydgren, Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: L A Lester, Licensed Junior Driver
Otherperson: M J House, Licensed Public Trainer
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 7923d27922059a1616645609fabc38f1
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: 25438a716ee5ca357f355fe8a36134c3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/05/2015
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 22 May 2015
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