Oamaru HRC 18 January 2015 – R 1
ID: JCA15891
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 18 January 2015
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2015/01/18
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
We are satisfied that in taking such little action for some 250 metres that Mr Lowe has failed to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait. We find the charge proved.
Penalty:
We fine Mr Lowe the sum of $200 and remind him of his professional obligations.
Facts:
Mr Ydgren alleged in race 1 the MORRISONS SADDLERY & FEED TROT Mr Lowe allowed his horse WANDERING STAR to pace between the 1250 and 1000 metres marks and in so doing he failed to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
The relevant rules are:
870(1) When any horse breaks from its gait in any race its horseman shall immediately take all reasonable steps to return it to its proper gait and where clearance exists immediately take such horse clear of the field.
(2) The following shall be a breach of sub-rule (1) hereof:
(b) failure to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Ydgren demonstrated on the video that Mr Lowe was racing on the inner towards the rear of the field. He attempted to shift outwards and in so doing WANDERING STAR switched into a pace. He said it was not until Mr Lowe heavily restrained the horse after about 250 metres that WANDERING STAR went back in to a trot. He demonstrated Mr Lowe was sitting fairly upright in the sulky and had looked down numerous times to determine the horse’s gait, and had lightly taken hold of the horse on a couple of occasions. He said the horse had immediately switched into a trot when finally firmly restrained and that the respondent should have adopted this action much sooner than he did. He pointed out that while WANDERING STAR had first lost ground when switching gait, it had not lost any further ground when pacing for over 200 metres.
Mr Lowe said he was aware the horse was pacing and that it had a habit of switching gaits, although he thought he had ironed out this trait through a change of shoeing and the use of elbow boots. He said he had eased WANDERING STAR back a couple of times to get the horse to change gait but had not been successful. He said he had been brought up to be as kind as possible to a horse and he was trying not to place undue pressure on its mouth. He was also concerned the horse might take fright if restrained too forcefully. He agreed with Mr Ydgren that he had looked a few times to see whether the horse was pacing but it was difficult to see because of the dust sheet. He also acknowledged that when he had finally taken firm action, the horse had switched gait immediately.
Reasons for Decision:
We accept that Mr Lowe was aware that WANDERING STAR had switched to a pace and had made two attempts to return the horse to a pace through gently endeavouring to restrain it. It was evident he was unaware whether these actions had been successful as he could be seen on the video to be attempting to check the horse’s gait by looking left and right. It appeared that he was uncertain as to whether the horse had switched back to a trot or not. WANDERING STAR did lose ground when it first paced but for much of the time it paced it was keeping up with the field.
The little action the respondent took until the horse had paced some 250 metres was ineffective. He needed to take a stronger hold earlier. It was only when he finally took a firm hold of WANDERING STAR that the horse returned to its correct gait. It did so immediately on being firmly restrained.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Ydgren produced Mr Lowe’s record. Mr Lowe has had 48 drives this and the last two seasons. His record is clear and Mr Ydgren described it as being very good. He believed the breach was towards the lower end of the range and observed there were few breaches of this rule from which to obtain guidance as to penalty. He submitted a fine of around $300 was appropriate.
Mr Lowe said he was making good progress with the horse and wanted to be able to keep driving it. He submitted that a fine at the lower end should be imposed.
Reasons for Penalty:
We believe the breach is towards the bottom end of the scale. Mr Lowe was aware the horse was pacing and has taken some steps, although these were ineffective, to endeavour to return the horse to its correct gait before finally taking a firm hold.
We note the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of $400 or eight drives for failing to take a breaking horse clear of the field, which is a somewhat related rule. We have also regard to Mr Lowe’s very good record. We believe a fine at the lower end of the scale is 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: e16c7a02484bf7c9ccdc9be281ce4e28
informantnumber: A1453
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/01/2015
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 18 January 2015 - R 1
charge:
facts:
Mr Ydgren alleged in race 1 the MORRISONS SADDLERY & FEED TROT Mr Lowe allowed his horse WANDERING STAR to pace between the 1250 and 1000 metres marks and in so doing he failed to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
The relevant rules are:
870(1) When any horse breaks from its gait in any race its horseman shall immediately take all reasonable steps to return it to its proper gait and where clearance exists immediately take such horse clear of the field.
(2) The following shall be a breach of sub-rule (1) hereof:
(b) failure to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Ydgren demonstrated on the video that Mr Lowe was racing on the inner towards the rear of the field. He attempted to shift outwards and in so doing WANDERING STAR switched into a pace. He said it was not until Mr Lowe heavily restrained the horse after about 250 metres that WANDERING STAR went back in to a trot. He demonstrated Mr Lowe was sitting fairly upright in the sulky and had looked down numerous times to determine the horse’s gait, and had lightly taken hold of the horse on a couple of occasions. He said the horse had immediately switched into a trot when finally firmly restrained and that the respondent should have adopted this action much sooner than he did. He pointed out that while WANDERING STAR had first lost ground when switching gait, it had not lost any further ground when pacing for over 200 metres.
Mr Lowe said he was aware the horse was pacing and that it had a habit of switching gaits, although he thought he had ironed out this trait through a change of shoeing and the use of elbow boots. He said he had eased WANDERING STAR back a couple of times to get the horse to change gait but had not been successful. He said he had been brought up to be as kind as possible to a horse and he was trying not to place undue pressure on its mouth. He was also concerned the horse might take fright if restrained too forcefully. He agreed with Mr Ydgren that he had looked a few times to see whether the horse was pacing but it was difficult to see because of the dust sheet. He also acknowledged that when he had finally taken firm action, the horse had switched gait immediately.
reasonsfordecision:
We accept that Mr Lowe was aware that WANDERING STAR had switched to a pace and had made two attempts to return the horse to a pace through gently endeavouring to restrain it. It was evident he was unaware whether these actions had been successful as he could be seen on the video to be attempting to check the horse’s gait by looking left and right. It appeared that he was uncertain as to whether the horse had switched back to a trot or not. WANDERING STAR did lose ground when it first paced but for much of the time it paced it was keeping up with the field.
The little action the respondent took until the horse had paced some 250 metres was ineffective. He needed to take a stronger hold earlier. It was only when he finally took a firm hold of WANDERING STAR that the horse returned to its correct gait. It did so immediately on being firmly restrained.
Decision:
We are satisfied that in taking such little action for some 250 metres that Mr Lowe has failed to take all reasonable steps to return the horse to its proper gait. We find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Ydgren produced Mr Lowe’s record. Mr Lowe has had 48 drives this and the last two seasons. His record is clear and Mr Ydgren described it as being very good. He believed the breach was towards the lower end of the range and observed there were few breaches of this rule from which to obtain guidance as to penalty. He submitted a fine of around $300 was appropriate.
Mr Lowe said he was making good progress with the horse and wanted to be able to keep driving it. He submitted that a fine at the lower end should be imposed.
reasonsforpenalty:
We believe the breach is towards the bottom end of the scale. Mr Lowe was aware the horse was pacing and has taken some steps, although these were ineffective, to endeavour to return the horse to its correct gait before finally taking a firm hold.
We note the Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of $400 or eight drives for failing to take a breaking horse clear of the field, which is a somewhat related rule. We have also regard to Mr Lowe’s very good record. We believe a fine at the lower end of the scale is appropriate.
penalty:
We fine Mr Lowe the sum of $200 and remind him of his professional obligations.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 870(2)(b)
Informant: Mr N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A Lowe - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: fd7c6214da67112bc1648d5905b88ff3
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 84f387d1241780fefb233875f4d58b66
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 18/01/2015
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 18 January 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