Archive Decision

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Oamaru HRC 13 September 2015 – R 5 – Chair, Prof G Hall

ID: JCA13961

Applicant:
Mr C Allison – Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr M Anderson – Junior Horseman, Mr J Cox, Open Horseman – Assisting Mr Anderson

Information Number:
A1427

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
careless driving

Rules:
869(3)(b)

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 13 September 2015

Meet Chair:
GHall

Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles

Race Date:
2015/09/13

Race Number:
R4

Decision:

Mr Anderson has admitted the charge. We thus find the charge proved. 

Penalty:

Mr Anderson is fined $300 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing. 

Facts:

Following the running of race 5 the ONE SMART COFFEE JUNIOR DRIVERS TROT the Stewards lodged an information alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that Mr Anderson (OCTOBER RAIN) shifted ground when not sufficiently clear of SHADOW GALLEON (Miss K Butt) causing that horse to break.”

Rule 869(3)(b) reads: No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly.

Mr Anderson admitted the charge and was assisted by Mr Cox.

Mr Allison stated that OCTOBER RAIN was improving wide around the field down the back straight. Approaching the 500m mark Mr Anderson shifted inwards to take the lead and in doing so was not sufficiently clear of SHADOW GALLEON, which struck his inside sulky wheel, causing that horse to break and lose its chances. He said SHADOW GALLEON was three wide with the leaders at the time and in a strong position.

Mr Cox stated Mr Anderson had misjudged the distance when crossing over to the lead. He said OCTOBER RAIN hung in slightly which may have contributed to the incident. Mr Anderson stated he did not hear Miss Butt call out.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Allison said Mr Anderson had two previous careless driving charges from 30 April ($250 Forbury Park) and 10 May (3 days’ suspension Timaru) on his record. He had 92 drives last season and 11 so far this season. He said the breach was mid-range; the interference was at the low end of the scale but as a result SHADOW GALLEON had lost its chances.

Mr Anderson said he had admitted the charge at the first opportunity. He preferred a fine as opposed to a suspension.

Reasons for Penalty:

We regard the breach as mid-range. OCTOBER RAIN has moved in only slightly on the apex of the bend, but the chances of another horse, SHADOW GALLEON were extinguished as a consequence of contact being made. Mr Anderson has simply failed to give Ms Butt sufficient room at a key point in the race. OCTOBER RAIN has continued on to win the race. Were we operating under the “old protest rule”, there is every possibility that OCTOBER RAIN would have been relegated to behind SHADOW GALLEON.

As Mr Anderson’s last breach is outside the four month period by a few days, we are required to treat him as if this is a first breach of the Rule. The JCA Penalty Guide thus recommends a fine of $500 or 2 days’ suspension. That said, we are not prepared to ignore the fact that Mr Anderson has had 2 breaches of this Rule in a short period of time. We thus do not treat him as a driver with an excellent record. We take into account his admission of the breach and his co-operation with the steward’s inquiry. 

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: 853bed1e181af144cd020dd73351e854


informantnumber: A1427


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: careless driving


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 17/09/2015


hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 13 September 2015 - R 5 - Chair, Prof G Hall


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 5 the ONE SMART COFFEE JUNIOR DRIVERS TROT the Stewards lodged an information alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that Mr Anderson (OCTOBER RAIN) shifted ground when not sufficiently clear of SHADOW GALLEON (Miss K Butt) causing that horse to break.”

Rule 869(3)(b) reads: No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly.

Mr Anderson admitted the charge and was assisted by Mr Cox.

Mr Allison stated that OCTOBER RAIN was improving wide around the field down the back straight. Approaching the 500m mark Mr Anderson shifted inwards to take the lead and in doing so was not sufficiently clear of SHADOW GALLEON, which struck his inside sulky wheel, causing that horse to break and lose its chances. He said SHADOW GALLEON was three wide with the leaders at the time and in a strong position.

Mr Cox stated Mr Anderson had misjudged the distance when crossing over to the lead. He said OCTOBER RAIN hung in slightly which may have contributed to the incident. Mr Anderson stated he did not hear Miss Butt call out.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Anderson has admitted the charge. We thus find the charge proved. 


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Allison said Mr Anderson had two previous careless driving charges from 30 April ($250 Forbury Park) and 10 May (3 days’ suspension Timaru) on his record. He had 92 drives last season and 11 so far this season. He said the breach was mid-range; the interference was at the low end of the scale but as a result SHADOW GALLEON had lost its chances.

Mr Anderson said he had admitted the charge at the first opportunity. He preferred a fine as opposed to a suspension.


reasonsforpenalty:

We regard the breach as mid-range. OCTOBER RAIN has moved in only slightly on the apex of the bend, but the chances of another horse, SHADOW GALLEON were extinguished as a consequence of contact being made. Mr Anderson has simply failed to give Ms Butt sufficient room at a key point in the race. OCTOBER RAIN has continued on to win the race. Were we operating under the “old protest rule”, there is every possibility that OCTOBER RAIN would have been relegated to behind SHADOW GALLEON.

As Mr Anderson’s last breach is outside the four month period by a few days, we are required to treat him as if this is a first breach of the Rule. The JCA Penalty Guide thus recommends a fine of $500 or 2 days’ suspension. That said, we are not prepared to ignore the fact that Mr Anderson has had 2 breaches of this Rule in a short period of time. We thus do not treat him as a driver with an excellent record. We take into account his admission of the breach and his co-operation with the steward’s inquiry. 


penalty:

Mr Anderson is fined $300 and reminded of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing. 


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 869(3)(b)


Informant: Mr C Allison – Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr M Anderson – Junior Horseman, Mr J Cox, Open Horseman – Assisting Mr Anderson


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 735097d2197ec175903877eab6416987


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R4


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: 1586b2185aa1ec1c1b86118db0abae56


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 13/09/2015


meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 13 September 2015


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: oamaru-hrc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: GHall


meet_pm1: PKnowles


meet_pm2: none


name: Oamaru HRC