NZ Metropolitan TC 4 February 2021 – R 1 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA17929
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 4 February 2021
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2021/02/04
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Ms Blake having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Ms Blake’s Advanced Amateur Driver’s licence is suspended from after the conclusion of racing today up to and including 4 April 2021 – 2 months. In addition, Ms Blake is fined the sum of $300.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Hydroflow (Amateur Drivers) Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, against Licensed Advanced Amateur driver, Ms S Blake, alleging that, as the driver of FLAMBOYANT in the race, she drove carelessly in that “she shifted inwards in the early stages and checked ROYAL JESTER (A N Edge)”
Ms Blake had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that she admitted the breach and she confirmed this at the hearing, at which she was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No driver shall in any race drive:-
(b) carelessly
Mr Renault showed a video replay of the incident, which occurred some 200 metres after the start of the 2600 metres mobile start race. He pointed out the runners, FLAMBOYANT, driven by Ms Blake, and to her inside ROYAL JESTER, driven by Mr Edge. Ms Blake had drawn barrier position 3 on the second row and attempted to shift down into a position closer to the marker line. Approaching the bend out of the straight, she did shift inwards and make contact with the front legs of ROYAL JESTER as the passing lane ended. ROYAL JESTER broke as a result of the contact, Mr Renault said. Three or four other runners were inconvenienced. Ms Blake had made an error of judgement, not realising that there were two other runners to her inside, Mr Renault said.
Ms Blake said that she did not make a conscious decision to shift down. The horse was pulling hard – it was its first start after a spell – and she was not to wanting to go forward and be 3-wide. She had been aware that Mr Edge was to her inside at one stage, but having to hold on to her drive and hitting the bend, the horse did “veer inwards a little bit”. She was not making excuses, she said, and should have been more aware of Mr Edge’s presence. He did yell to her, but it was too late to avoid the incident.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said that this was Ms Blake’s first drive for the season. Last season, she had two drives and, in the 2018/2019 season, she had one drive.
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine or a 10-drives suspension. Stewards do seek a suspension in a case involving careless driving shifting ground. To be meaningful, he submitted, a period of suspension alone is not a sufficient penalty and should be coupled with a fine. He submitted that, in this case, an appropriate penalty might be a suspension of between 2-3 months coupled with a fine of between $200-$300.
Ms Blake asked the Committee to show leniency. FLAMBOYANT, trained by her, is her only amateur horse. She and her partner get offered drives, but this will probably be their last season. Subject to the horse continuing to race, she would love to be able to drive until the end of the season, she said.
Reasons for Penalty:
It has been said many times before that it is difficult to arrive at a penalty, in many instances, in the case of an amateur driver, particularly in a case in which a suspension is the appropriate penalty. This case is no exception. The Penalty Guide is only helpful to a point.
The Committee could not contemplate a term of suspension of, perhaps, 12 months if the Penalty Guide were strictly adhered to. Therefore, a combined penalty, as submitted by Mr Renault, makes more sense.
Taking into account the aggravating factor of the consequences of Ms Blake’s carelessness and the mitigating factors of her previous good record (albeit being from very few drives in the last 2-3 seasons) and frank admission of the breach, the Committee has decided on a 2 month suspension, based roughly on 4 drives, plus a fine of $300, based roughly on 6 drives.
This penalty is consistent with the penalty handed down earlier at this meeting to another Licensed Advanced Amateur driver for a breach, in similar circumstances, in the same race.
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: d91ece1e4a7a6a04a380233de31037f7
informantnumber: A13641
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/02/2021
hearing_title: NZ Metropolitan TC 4 February 2021 - R 1 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, Hydroflow (Amateur Drivers) Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, against Licensed Advanced Amateur driver, Ms S Blake, alleging that, as the driver of FLAMBOYANT in the race, she drove carelessly in that “she shifted inwards in the early stages and checked ROYAL JESTER (A N Edge)”
Ms Blake had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the Information form indicating that she admitted the breach and she confirmed this at the hearing, at which she was present.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No driver shall in any race drive:-
(b) carelessly
Mr Renault showed a video replay of the incident, which occurred some 200 metres after the start of the 2600 metres mobile start race. He pointed out the runners, FLAMBOYANT, driven by Ms Blake, and to her inside ROYAL JESTER, driven by Mr Edge. Ms Blake had drawn barrier position 3 on the second row and attempted to shift down into a position closer to the marker line. Approaching the bend out of the straight, she did shift inwards and make contact with the front legs of ROYAL JESTER as the passing lane ended. ROYAL JESTER broke as a result of the contact, Mr Renault said. Three or four other runners were inconvenienced. Ms Blake had made an error of judgement, not realising that there were two other runners to her inside, Mr Renault said.
Ms Blake said that she did not make a conscious decision to shift down. The horse was pulling hard – it was its first start after a spell – and she was not to wanting to go forward and be 3-wide. She had been aware that Mr Edge was to her inside at one stage, but having to hold on to her drive and hitting the bend, the horse did “veer inwards a little bit”. She was not making excuses, she said, and should have been more aware of Mr Edge’s presence. He did yell to her, but it was too late to avoid the incident.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Ms Blake having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said that this was Ms Blake’s first drive for the season. Last season, she had two drives and, in the 2018/2019 season, she had one drive.
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine or a 10-drives suspension. Stewards do seek a suspension in a case involving careless driving shifting ground. To be meaningful, he submitted, a period of suspension alone is not a sufficient penalty and should be coupled with a fine. He submitted that, in this case, an appropriate penalty might be a suspension of between 2-3 months coupled with a fine of between $200-$300.
Ms Blake asked the Committee to show leniency. FLAMBOYANT, trained by her, is her only amateur horse. She and her partner get offered drives, but this will probably be their last season. Subject to the horse continuing to race, she would love to be able to drive until the end of the season, she said.
reasonsforpenalty:
It has been said many times before that it is difficult to arrive at a penalty, in many instances, in the case of an amateur driver, particularly in a case in which a suspension is the appropriate penalty. This case is no exception. The Penalty Guide is only helpful to a point.
The Committee could not contemplate a term of suspension of, perhaps, 12 months if the Penalty Guide were strictly adhered to. Therefore, a combined penalty, as submitted by Mr Renault, makes more sense.
Taking into account the aggravating factor of the consequences of Ms Blake’s carelessness and the mitigating factors of her previous good record (albeit being from very few drives in the last 2-3 seasons) and frank admission of the breach, the Committee has decided on a 2 month suspension, based roughly on 4 drives, plus a fine of $300, based roughly on 6 drives.
This penalty is consistent with the penalty handed down earlier at this meeting to another Licensed Advanced Amateur driver for a breach, in similar circumstances, in the same race.
penalty:
Ms Blake’s Advanced Amateur Driver’s licence is suspended from after the conclusion of racing today up to and including 4 April 2021 – 2 months. In addition, Ms Blake is fined the sum of $300.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Blake - Licensed Advanced Amateur Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9b5256095efd2c65b2c304f2f310c2bf
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 2e0f3c09a61d50ee20ba00693f9e743a
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 04/02/2021
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 4 February 2021
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC