NZ Metropolitan TC – 20 December 2019 – R 6 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA17928
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 20 December 2019
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
OJarvis
Meet Committee Member 2:
SChing
Race Date:
2019/12/20
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
Mr Burgess having admitted the charge, it is found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Burgess is fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Information No. 12352 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Holder of Licence to Train, Mr G J Burgess, alleging that Mr Burgess, as the trainer of DIAMOND EDITION, an acceptor for Race 6, Hygain & Mitavite Feeds Mobile Pace, “failed to scratch DIAMOND EDITION by the prescribed time”.
Mr Burgess had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that the breach was denied.
Rule 834 (2) provides as follows:
(a) After the official right of re-entry time no person shall scratch a horse from a race unless there are sufficient circumstance which warrant the horse being scratched full details of which shall be given to the Stipendiary Stewards in writing.
Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, told the Committee that Stewards had received a veterinary certificate the previous day from Dr Gareth Fitch, from Canterbury Equine Clinic, in respect of DIAMOND EDITION, trained by Mr Burgess, certifying the horse as unfit to race at today’s meeting. The details were then entered into the system for a scratching penalty of 5 days.
It came to the attention of Stewards on race morning that the horse was still in the field for Race 6. At 8.15am, Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr Ydgren, contacted Mr Burgess to enquire why the Club had not been notified of the scratching of the horse. Mr Burgess explained that he understood that no action was required on his part and that the veterinarian would be notifying the scratching of the horse. Scratchings for the meeting were required to be notified by 5.00pm the previous evening, Mr Renault said. The horse was officially scratched at 8.15am this morning, when Mr Burgess phoned the Club Secretary.
It had been an oversight on Mr Burgess’ part, Mr Renault said. Such a breach would normally be dealt with under the minor infringement scheme, incurring a $200 fine. Mr Burgess had asked to be given the opportunity to give an explanation to the Committee, Mr Renault said.
Mr Burgess confirmed that he had thought that the veterinarian sending in a certificate would “automatically” scratch the horse. He checked last evening at 6.00pm and noticed that the horse was still in the field. He then texted the veterinarian who confirmed that the certificate had been sent that morning at 11.00am. There was nothing he could do at 6.00pm, he said. It was not until Mr Ydgren had phoned him on race morning that he realised that he had “made a blue”. Mr Burgess said that in 30 years of training horses, this had not happened to him before.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said that no other runner had been denied a start, as the balloted horse in the race, MADIBA, had been scratched on Wednesday.
Mr Renault confirmed that it has always been the trainer’s responsibility to notify a scratching. Stewards had assumed that, following receipt of the certificate, the horse would then be scratched. Mr Renault referred to the earlier similar case of Taylor and said that the fine in that case had been $200.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee notes that the penalty under the minor infringement scheme for a breach of the rule is a fine of $200. Mr Burgess is asking the Committee to extend some leniency in the circumstances, in that he has made a genuine error and has a clear record extending over a very long period. The Committee can see no grounds to persuade us to depart from the $200 fine. A breach of the Rule is usually the result of an oversight and, while Mr Burgess’s record is impressive, it is not a factor that we can take into account. By definition, a breach of the rule is a “minor infringement” for which, in our view, a fine of $200 is the appropriate penalty
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: d8bf7cab69e17c7e34a27ca4d51bc302
informantnumber: A12352
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Late Notification of Scratching
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 23/12/2019
hearing_title: NZ Metropolitan TC - 20 December 2019 - R 6 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Information No. 12352 was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N M Ydgren, against Holder of Licence to Train, Mr G J Burgess, alleging that Mr Burgess, as the trainer of DIAMOND EDITION, an acceptor for Race 6, Hygain & Mitavite Feeds Mobile Pace, “failed to scratch DIAMOND EDITION by the prescribed time”.
Mr Burgess had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that the breach was denied.
Rule 834 (2) provides as follows:
(a) After the official right of re-entry time no person shall scratch a horse from a race unless there are sufficient circumstance which warrant the horse being scratched full details of which shall be given to the Stipendiary Stewards in writing.
Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, told the Committee that Stewards had received a veterinary certificate the previous day from Dr Gareth Fitch, from Canterbury Equine Clinic, in respect of DIAMOND EDITION, trained by Mr Burgess, certifying the horse as unfit to race at today’s meeting. The details were then entered into the system for a scratching penalty of 5 days.
It came to the attention of Stewards on race morning that the horse was still in the field for Race 6. At 8.15am, Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr Ydgren, contacted Mr Burgess to enquire why the Club had not been notified of the scratching of the horse. Mr Burgess explained that he understood that no action was required on his part and that the veterinarian would be notifying the scratching of the horse. Scratchings for the meeting were required to be notified by 5.00pm the previous evening, Mr Renault said. The horse was officially scratched at 8.15am this morning, when Mr Burgess phoned the Club Secretary.
It had been an oversight on Mr Burgess’ part, Mr Renault said. Such a breach would normally be dealt with under the minor infringement scheme, incurring a $200 fine. Mr Burgess had asked to be given the opportunity to give an explanation to the Committee, Mr Renault said.
Mr Burgess confirmed that he had thought that the veterinarian sending in a certificate would “automatically” scratch the horse. He checked last evening at 6.00pm and noticed that the horse was still in the field. He then texted the veterinarian who confirmed that the certificate had been sent that morning at 11.00am. There was nothing he could do at 6.00pm, he said. It was not until Mr Ydgren had phoned him on race morning that he realised that he had “made a blue”. Mr Burgess said that in 30 years of training horses, this had not happened to him before.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Burgess having admitted the charge, it is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said that no other runner had been denied a start, as the balloted horse in the race, MADIBA, had been scratched on Wednesday.
Mr Renault confirmed that it has always been the trainer’s responsibility to notify a scratching. Stewards had assumed that, following receipt of the certificate, the horse would then be scratched. Mr Renault referred to the earlier similar case of Taylor and said that the fine in that case had been $200.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee notes that the penalty under the minor infringement scheme for a breach of the rule is a fine of $200. Mr Burgess is asking the Committee to extend some leniency in the circumstances, in that he has made a genuine error and has a clear record extending over a very long period. The Committee can see no grounds to persuade us to depart from the $200 fine. A breach of the Rule is usually the result of an oversight and, while Mr Burgess’s record is impressive, it is not a factor that we can take into account. By definition, a breach of the rule is a “minor infringement” for which, in our view, a fine of $200 is the appropriate penalty
penalty:
Mr Burgess is fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 834(2)(a)
Informant: Mr NM Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr CJ Burgess - Holder of Licence to Train
Otherperson: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b9729ce380fce22236baac7b53e307b3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0bfaca3cc90c37be65be30f187b0a22b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/12/2019
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 20 December 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: OJarvis
meet_pm2: SChing
name: NZ Metro TC