NZ Metropolitan TC 22 December 2017 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA13452
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 22 December 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
HWeston
Race Date:
2017/12/22
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Holmes having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Holmes was fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Happy Birthday Wormy Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr NM Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr RD Holmes, alleging that Mr Holmes, as the driver of KIWIS ARE FLYING in the race, “drove carelessly when shifting inwards when not clear of DE LANCOME (J R Dunn) near the 1800 metres resulting in DE LANCOME striking markers and breaking”.
Mr Holmes was present at the hearing of the Information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Ydgren showed video replays of the incident, approximately 150 metres after the start of the 1950 metres mobile start event. He pointed out DE LANCOME, driven by Mr Dunn, which had drawn barrier position 1 on the second row, behind the leader STILL OF THE NIGHT (D J Keast). He also pointed out KIWIS ARE FLYING, driven by Mr Holmes, improving in 2nd position to the outside of the leader, and being driven forward.
Mr Ydgren explained that Mr Holmes had attempted to drop into the position behind the leader which was occupied by Mr Dunn. In doing so, Mr Holmes forced Mr Dunn in, with Mr Dunn’s runner being forced over and to make contact with several pylons, then pace roughly and break. Mr Ydgren submitted, with reference to the side-on video replay, that Mr Holmes was not clear of Mr Dunn’s runner when he shifted inwards. Mr Holmes had clearly restricted the racing room of Mr Dunn, Mr Ydgren submitted. Mr Dunn’s horse recovered but lost considerable ground and raced at the rear of the field, having lost a good position, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Holmes did not wish to make any comment on the incident, other than to say that at the time he had thought there was room but he accepted that he had tightened Mr Dunn’s runner.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine. Mr Holmes had been fined $350 on 29 June 2017 for careless driving striking a wheel. He has had 157 drives since that breach which represents a good record. The present breach occurred only six days short of the “reset” period of 6 months and, he submitted, Mr Holmes should be regarded as a “first offender” on that basis.
Because another runner had its chances significantly affected as a result of Mr Holmes’s actions, the starting point should be uplifted, Mr Ydgren submitted, to $650. Against that, Mr Holmes was entitled to credit for his good record and admission of the breach. He submitted that an appropriate penalty would be a fine in the range of $450 to $500. The degree of carelessness was just above mid-range, he said.
Mr Holmes confirmed that he did not wish to receive a suspension with the amount of racing at this time of year.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee agreed that it was unreasonable to regard this as a second breach within 6 months by Mr Holmes having regard to, firstly, to the fact that the 6-months reset period had almost expired and, secondly, the number of drives that Mr Holmes has had since that last breach at the end of June.
We therefore took, as a starting point for penalty, a $500 fine as suggested by the Penalty Guide for a first breach. It was a significant aggravating factor that Mr Holmes’s carelessness had severely interfered with another runner in the race, which we considered warranted an uplift in the $500 starting point to $600. Relevant mitigating factors were Mr Holmes’s creditable record and his very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considered that a discount of $100 was appropriate.
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: 3911412ac733fb1c83018d4f8405d066
informantnumber: A8985
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 25/12/2017
hearing_title: NZ Metropolitan TC 22 December 2017 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Happy Birthday Wormy Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr NM Ydgren, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr RD Holmes, alleging that Mr Holmes, as the driver of KIWIS ARE FLYING in the race, “drove carelessly when shifting inwards when not clear of DE LANCOME (J R Dunn) near the 1800 metres resulting in DE LANCOME striking markers and breaking”.
Mr Holmes was present at the hearing of the Information and he indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive-
(b) carelessly.
Mr Ydgren showed video replays of the incident, approximately 150 metres after the start of the 1950 metres mobile start event. He pointed out DE LANCOME, driven by Mr Dunn, which had drawn barrier position 1 on the second row, behind the leader STILL OF THE NIGHT (D J Keast). He also pointed out KIWIS ARE FLYING, driven by Mr Holmes, improving in 2nd position to the outside of the leader, and being driven forward.
Mr Ydgren explained that Mr Holmes had attempted to drop into the position behind the leader which was occupied by Mr Dunn. In doing so, Mr Holmes forced Mr Dunn in, with Mr Dunn’s runner being forced over and to make contact with several pylons, then pace roughly and break. Mr Ydgren submitted, with reference to the side-on video replay, that Mr Holmes was not clear of Mr Dunn’s runner when he shifted inwards. Mr Holmes had clearly restricted the racing room of Mr Dunn, Mr Ydgren submitted. Mr Dunn’s horse recovered but lost considerable ground and raced at the rear of the field, having lost a good position, Mr Ydgren said.
Mr Holmes did not wish to make any comment on the incident, other than to say that at the time he had thought there was room but he accepted that he had tightened Mr Dunn’s runner.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Holmes having admitted the charge, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10-drives suspension or a $500 fine. Mr Holmes had been fined $350 on 29 June 2017 for careless driving striking a wheel. He has had 157 drives since that breach which represents a good record. The present breach occurred only six days short of the “reset” period of 6 months and, he submitted, Mr Holmes should be regarded as a “first offender” on that basis.
Because another runner had its chances significantly affected as a result of Mr Holmes’s actions, the starting point should be uplifted, Mr Ydgren submitted, to $650. Against that, Mr Holmes was entitled to credit for his good record and admission of the breach. He submitted that an appropriate penalty would be a fine in the range of $450 to $500. The degree of carelessness was just above mid-range, he said.
Mr Holmes confirmed that he did not wish to receive a suspension with the amount of racing at this time of year.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee agreed that it was unreasonable to regard this as a second breach within 6 months by Mr Holmes having regard to, firstly, to the fact that the 6-months reset period had almost expired and, secondly, the number of drives that Mr Holmes has had since that last breach at the end of June.
We therefore took, as a starting point for penalty, a $500 fine as suggested by the Penalty Guide for a first breach. It was a significant aggravating factor that Mr Holmes’s carelessness had severely interfered with another runner in the race, which we considered warranted an uplift in the $500 starting point to $600. Relevant mitigating factors were Mr Holmes’s creditable record and his very frank admission of the breach. For those factors, the Committee considered that a discount of $100 was appropriate.
penalty:
Mr Holmes was fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr NM Ydgren - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr RD Holmes - Licensed Open Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 2e549e1b26ae140b4ab4b33e5a9319b1
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R2
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 38dd2a0eea971b1c3a9d7a4aa294178c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/12/2017
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 22 December 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: HWeston
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC