NZ Metropolitan TC 7 July 2017 – R 2 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA10877
Meet Title:
NZ Metro TC - 7 July 2017
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
DJackson
Race Date:
2017/07/07
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
Mr Close having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Close was fined the sum of $250.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Hydroflow Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr RD Close, alleging that, as the driver of FRANCO TAI in the race, he “drove carelessly passing the 400 metres when permitting his horse to strike the sulky wheel of GUNPOWDER (LA Lester) which punctured in consequence”.
Mr Close 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 Renault showed to the hearing a video replay of the final 600 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Close, driving FRANCO TAI, racing in last position in the 11-horse field as the field left the back straight for the final time. Directly in front of him was GUNPOWDER (LA Lester), racing one-off the markers. Passing the 400 metres, Miss Lester could be seen looking down and to her left, having sustained a punctured sulky tyre as a result of Mr Close’s runner getting too close to her wheel, Mr Renault submitted. Mr Close’s horse had been travelling well but had been held up and got too close to the wheel of GUNPOWDER, he said.
Shortly thereafter, the tyre of the inside wheel of Miss Lester’s sulky came away from the rim, causing the wheel to “lock up” and causing Miss Lester to have to take a hold of the horse, Mr Renault said.
Mr Close submitted that it was not apparent from the video that his horse had put in a “rough stride” or changed its action but, he accepted, Miss Lester’s runner did sustain a puncture and that his was the only horse behind her. He was totally unaware that he had struck Miss Lester’s wheel until he was summoned to the Stewards’ Room and shown the videos. A driver usually knows when he has struck a wheel, he said.
Mr Renault said that Miss Lester had been spoken to by the Stewards after the race and she confirmed that she had felt the contact and that the tyre had deflated immediately at the point in the race where she had looked down.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Close has had 330 drives in the season to date and last season had a total of 425 drives. He is a very busy driver and has an excellent record with no breaches of the Rule during the past 12 months, Mr Renault said.
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives’ suspension or a $500 fine. The level of carelessness, on this occasion, was “at the lower end” and, having regard to Mr Close’s good record and his admission of the breach, Stewards submitted that a fine of $300 was appropriate, Mr Renault said.
Mr Close asked the Committee to consider his good record and the fact that the contact was not discernible from the video replays. He did not wish the Committee to consider a suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine, a suspension not being appropriate in this case. Mr Close’s carelessness was at the very low end and, accordingly, the Committee reduced the starting point to $400. There were then two significant mitigating factors to take into account in determining penalty. Firstly, Mr Close’s record which, we agreed with Mr Renault, was excellent. Secondly, we have given a greater than usual discount for Mr Close’s very frank admission of the breach in circumstances where the video evidence was not necessarily compelling. The Committee decided that the combination of those two mitigating factors warranted a discount from the starting point, in this case, of $150.
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: 16488074573f519ebe25b8cc1d480761
informantnumber: A09614
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/07/2017
hearing_title: NZ Metropolitan TC 7 July 2017 - R 2 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 2, Hydroflow Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr SP Renault, against Licensed Open Driver, Mr RD Close, alleging that, as the driver of FRANCO TAI in the race, he “drove carelessly passing the 400 metres when permitting his horse to strike the sulky wheel of GUNPOWDER (LA Lester) which punctured in consequence”.
Mr Close 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 Renault showed to the hearing a video replay of the final 600 metres of the race. He pointed out Mr Close, driving FRANCO TAI, racing in last position in the 11-horse field as the field left the back straight for the final time. Directly in front of him was GUNPOWDER (LA Lester), racing one-off the markers. Passing the 400 metres, Miss Lester could be seen looking down and to her left, having sustained a punctured sulky tyre as a result of Mr Close’s runner getting too close to her wheel, Mr Renault submitted. Mr Close’s horse had been travelling well but had been held up and got too close to the wheel of GUNPOWDER, he said.
Shortly thereafter, the tyre of the inside wheel of Miss Lester’s sulky came away from the rim, causing the wheel to “lock up” and causing Miss Lester to have to take a hold of the horse, Mr Renault said.
Mr Close submitted that it was not apparent from the video that his horse had put in a “rough stride” or changed its action but, he accepted, Miss Lester’s runner did sustain a puncture and that his was the only horse behind her. He was totally unaware that he had struck Miss Lester’s wheel until he was summoned to the Stewards’ Room and shown the videos. A driver usually knows when he has struck a wheel, he said.
Mr Renault said that Miss Lester had been spoken to by the Stewards after the race and she confirmed that she had felt the contact and that the tyre had deflated immediately at the point in the race where she had looked down.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Close having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Close has had 330 drives in the season to date and last season had a total of 425 drives. He is a very busy driver and has an excellent record with no breaches of the Rule during the past 12 months, Mr Renault said.
Mr Renault referred to the Penalty Guide starting point of a 10 drives’ suspension or a $500 fine. The level of carelessness, on this occasion, was “at the lower end” and, having regard to Mr Close’s good record and his admission of the breach, Stewards submitted that a fine of $300 was appropriate, Mr Renault said.
Mr Close asked the Committee to consider his good record and the fact that the contact was not discernible from the video replays. He did not wish the Committee to consider a suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty, the Committee took the Penalty Guide starting point of a $500 fine, a suspension not being appropriate in this case. Mr Close’s carelessness was at the very low end and, accordingly, the Committee reduced the starting point to $400. There were then two significant mitigating factors to take into account in determining penalty. Firstly, Mr Close’s record which, we agreed with Mr Renault, was excellent. Secondly, we have given a greater than usual discount for Mr Close’s very frank admission of the breach in circumstances where the video evidence was not necessarily compelling. The Committee decided that the combination of those two mitigating factors warranted a discount from the starting point, in this case, of $150.
penalty:
Mr Close was fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr RD Close - Licensed Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 6bd66792fc22c1d73f56fcfab3fce617
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: 63d7627e4663613bba6c9b3a85497494
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/07/2017
meet_title: NZ Metro TC - 7 July 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: nz-metro-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: DJackson
meet_pm2: none
name: NZ Metro TC