NZ Metro TC 7 July 2011 – R 4
ID: JCA12960
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 7 July 2011
Meet Chair:
KHales
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2011/07/07
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
The charge of careless driving is found to be proved accordingly.
Penalty:
Mr Walkinshaw is suspended from race driving from the conclusion of racing on Thursday 7th July 2011 until the conclusion of racing on Saturday 16th July. That encompasses meetings at Forbury Park 12th July, NZMTC 15th July and Rangiora 16th July 2011.
Charge:
Alleged that Shane Walkinshaw allowed his drive to shift in when not clear near the 900 metres resulting in "Tapestry Franco" being checked and breaking.
Facts:
Mr McIntyre called Ms Glenys Chmiel the driver of "Tapestry Franco" to give evidence. She told the hearing that she was in the "parked" position but trying to ease back. She said that Mr Walkinshaw, who was racing on her outside, came alongside and then "ducked in" across her line when not sufficiently clear. She said that the her horse's off front leg struck the near-side wheel of Mr Walkinshaw's sulky causing her horse to break for a "couple of strides".
Mr Walkinshaw told us that his horse "ducked in". He said that he could see what was happening and that he was trying to move his sulky out of the way by shifting his body weight in the seat, so as to get around the legs of "Tapestry Franco". He said that no other horses were inconvenienced and that he was always going for the position that he was heading for.
Mr Andrew Ray, Stipendiary Steward, showed the video coverage of the incident, which confirmed the positions of the two horses at the relevant time.
Submissions for Decision:
Neither Mr McIntyre or Mr Walkinshaw had further submissions after the evidence had been presented.
Reasons for Decision:
We have considered the evidence carefully. The evidence discloses quite clearly that Mr Walkinshaw moved across Ms Chmiel's line when not sufficiently clear. The result was that her horse's off front leg, struck the near-side wheel of Mr Walkinshaw's sulky and thereby caused "Tapestry Franco" to break from its gait. Mr Walkinshaw told the hearing that he could see what was happening and that he tried to move his sulky across by shifting his body weight in the seat of the sulky. That statement in itself is evidence of the fact that Mr Walkinshaw was not sufficiently clear.
Regrettably, at that time, Mr Walkinshaw had not discharged his obligation to keep clear. We find as a fact that, despite the evidence of Ms Chmiel, that Mr Walkinshaw's horse did not "duck in". That expression implies a sudden movement, and we saw no such evidence on the video coverage to support that proposition. Thus, this committee is satisfied that the Stipendiary Stewards' case has been proved and that Mr Walkinshaw drove carelessly.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr McIntyre said that Mr Walkinshaw had a good record, having only one charge of careless driving against him in the last 12 months, which related to an incident whereby he caused his own horse to break. Mr McIntyre said that in his view, the degree of carelessness was in the medium to high range and submitted that a fine of between $400 - $500 should be imposed.
In response, Mr Walkinshaw said that he drove at most meetings throughout the South Island and averaged between 3 and 5 drives per meeting. He submitted that he preferred a suspension to be imposed.
Reasons for Penalty:
We find that the degree of carelessness was in the medium to high range, which is an aggravating feature. However, credit must be given for Mr Walkinshaw's good record. A suspension is an appropriate penalty in this case. Our starting point for a suspension is that to cover approximately 10 drives, but having regard to Mr Walkinshaw's good record and the fact that there are no other aggravating features of substance, enables us to make the suspension to cover 8 drives.
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: 6e709a57dd14ef0a1f9fce123695df7c
informantnumber: 69475
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 06/07/2011
hearing_title: NZ Metro TC 7 July 2011 - R 4
charge:
Alleged that Shane Walkinshaw allowed his drive to shift in when not clear near the 900 metres resulting in "Tapestry Franco" being checked and breaking.
facts:
Mr McIntyre called Ms Glenys Chmiel the driver of "Tapestry Franco" to give evidence. She told the hearing that she was in the "parked" position but trying to ease back. She said that Mr Walkinshaw, who was racing on her outside, came alongside and then "ducked in" across her line when not sufficiently clear. She said that the her horse's off front leg struck the near-side wheel of Mr Walkinshaw's sulky causing her horse to break for a "couple of strides".
Mr Walkinshaw told us that his horse "ducked in". He said that he could see what was happening and that he was trying to move his sulky out of the way by shifting his body weight in the seat, so as to get around the legs of "Tapestry Franco". He said that no other horses were inconvenienced and that he was always going for the position that he was heading for.
Mr Andrew Ray, Stipendiary Steward, showed the video coverage of the incident, which confirmed the positions of the two horses at the relevant time.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Neither Mr McIntyre or Mr Walkinshaw had further submissions after the evidence had been presented.
reasonsfordecision:
We have considered the evidence carefully. The evidence discloses quite clearly that Mr Walkinshaw moved across Ms Chmiel's line when not sufficiently clear. The result was that her horse's off front leg, struck the near-side wheel of Mr Walkinshaw's sulky and thereby caused "Tapestry Franco" to break from its gait. Mr Walkinshaw told the hearing that he could see what was happening and that he tried to move his sulky across by shifting his body weight in the seat of the sulky. That statement in itself is evidence of the fact that Mr Walkinshaw was not sufficiently clear.
Regrettably, at that time, Mr Walkinshaw had not discharged his obligation to keep clear. We find as a fact that, despite the evidence of Ms Chmiel, that Mr Walkinshaw's horse did not "duck in". That expression implies a sudden movement, and we saw no such evidence on the video coverage to support that proposition. Thus, this committee is satisfied that the Stipendiary Stewards' case has been proved and that Mr Walkinshaw drove carelessly.
Decision:
The charge of careless driving is found to be proved accordingly.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr McIntyre said that Mr Walkinshaw had a good record, having only one charge of careless driving against him in the last 12 months, which related to an incident whereby he caused his own horse to break. Mr McIntyre said that in his view, the degree of carelessness was in the medium to high range and submitted that a fine of between $400 - $500 should be imposed.
In response, Mr Walkinshaw said that he drove at most meetings throughout the South Island and averaged between 3 and 5 drives per meeting. He submitted that he preferred a suspension to be imposed.
reasonsforpenalty:
We find that the degree of carelessness was in the medium to high range, which is an aggravating feature. However, credit must be given for Mr Walkinshaw's good record. A suspension is an appropriate penalty in this case. Our starting point for a suspension is that to cover approximately 10 drives, but having regard to Mr Walkinshaw's good record and the fact that there are no other aggravating features of substance, enables us to make the suspension to cover 8 drives.
penalty:
Mr Walkinshaw is suspended from race driving from the conclusion of racing on Thursday 7th July 2011 until the conclusion of racing on Saturday 16th July. That encompasses meetings at Forbury Park 12th July, NZMTC 15th July and Rangiora 16th July 2011.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(3)(b), No horseman shall in any race drive:, (b) carelessly
Informant: N McIntyre - Stipendiary Steward, A Ray- Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Shane Walkinshaw - Licensed Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0c6bd2c9fa62f6cc2d7790b2c21068cc
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 41a6189be4721f9a1f952f9d0289a13c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/07/2011
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 7 July 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: KHales
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC