Oamaru HRC 7 May 2016 – R 8 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA12026
Meet Title:
Oamaru HRC - 7 May 2016
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
PKnowles
Race Date:
2016/05/07
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
Penalty:
Facts:
Following the running of race 8 the “Amity Lodge Motel Junior Drivers Trot” Information A1681 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) by Junior Driver Ms K Butt. The Information stated “you drove carelessly by allowing your horse to strike the sulky wheel of “Soney Beatt” which caused your horse and “Soney Beatt” to break”. Ms Butt signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it saying that she did not wish to be present for the hearing. Mr Renault confirmed to the Committee that Ms Butt had been offered the services of a senior horseman to assist her during the hearing but said that once she had viewed the film of the incident she had immediately admitted the breach and said the hearing could be held without her being present. After considering the matter the Committee agreed to go ahead with the hearing but we believe the practice of allowing Junior Drivers to not attend hearings should be discouraged.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault used the side-on film of the horses racing down the back straight the first time to highlight the incident. He said Ms Tomlinson was leading the race with “Soney Beatt” with Ms Butt and “The Best Beg” trailing behind her. He said as Ms Butt shifted outwards to improve her position to the outside of the leader her horse’s inner front leg struck the wheel of Ms Tomlinson’s horse causing her own horse to break. He said “Soney Beatt” then began to over race and also broke. Mr Renault said both horses drifted back through the field and were not persevered with.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault said Ms Butt had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months and had had 169 drives so far this season and 196 last season. He said the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. He said Ms Butt was a Junior Driver, had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity, had a clear record in relation to this Rule and he submitted a fine of $300 was an appropriate penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and the supporting submissions from Mr Renault. It is very clear that as Ms Butt shifted out from the trail behind Ms Tomlinson the inner front leg of her horse struck Ms Tomlinson’s sulky and broke. That also then caused Ms Tomlinson’s horse to over race and break with both horses losing all chance. The Committee believes the severity of the carelessness to be close to mid range.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. The Committee notes Ms Butt has admitted the breach and has not breached the careless driving Rule in the previous 12 months and believes that justifies some reduction in penalty from the starting point. However, an aggravating factor is that not only did Ms Butt cause her own horse to break but also another with both then dropping right back through the field and not being preserved with. We do not consider the fact that Ms Butt is a Junior Driver to be a mitigating factor in coming to our decision on the penalty to be imposed. We believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
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: 305cb28fe1cfc83e66d97e5c80649d2f
informantnumber: A1681
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/05/2016
hearing_title: Oamaru HRC 7 May 2016 - R 8 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 8 the “Amity Lodge Motel Junior Drivers Trot” Information A1681 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr S Renault alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) by Junior Driver Ms K Butt. The Information stated “you drove carelessly by allowing your horse to strike the sulky wheel of “Soney Beatt” which caused your horse and “Soney Beatt” to break”. Ms Butt signed the Information admitting the breach and also endorsed it saying that she did not wish to be present for the hearing. Mr Renault confirmed to the Committee that Ms Butt had been offered the services of a senior horseman to assist her during the hearing but said that once she had viewed the film of the incident she had immediately admitted the breach and said the hearing could be held without her being present. After considering the matter the Committee agreed to go ahead with the hearing but we believe the practice of allowing Junior Drivers to not attend hearings should be discouraged.
Rule 869(3)(b) states:- “No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault used the side-on film of the horses racing down the back straight the first time to highlight the incident. He said Ms Tomlinson was leading the race with “Soney Beatt” with Ms Butt and “The Best Beg” trailing behind her. He said as Ms Butt shifted outwards to improve her position to the outside of the leader her horse’s inner front leg struck the wheel of Ms Tomlinson’s horse causing her own horse to break. He said “Soney Beatt” then began to over race and also broke. Mr Renault said both horses drifted back through the field and were not persevered with.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault said Ms Butt had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months and had had 169 drives so far this season and 196 last season. He said the JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. He said Ms Butt was a Junior Driver, had admitted the breach at the earliest opportunity, had a clear record in relation to this Rule and he submitted a fine of $300 was an appropriate penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the films of the incident and the supporting submissions from Mr Renault. It is very clear that as Ms Butt shifted out from the trail behind Ms Tomlinson the inner front leg of her horse struck Ms Tomlinson’s sulky and broke. That also then caused Ms Tomlinson’s horse to over race and break with both horses losing all chance. The Committee believes the severity of the carelessness to be close to mid range.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $500 fine or a 10 drive suspension. The Committee notes Ms Butt has admitted the breach and has not breached the careless driving Rule in the previous 12 months and believes that justifies some reduction in penalty from the starting point. However, an aggravating factor is that not only did Ms Butt cause her own horse to break but also another with both then dropping right back through the field and not being preserved with. We do not consider the fact that Ms Butt is a Junior Driver to be a mitigating factor in coming to our decision on the penalty to be imposed. We believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms K Butt - Junior Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 930f90a155c2bbc09ed78b6cf4656649
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 9682586abed8d29ba4fcaeb0331f1d20
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/05/2016
meet_title: Oamaru HRC - 7 May 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: oamaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: PKnowles
meet_pm2: none
name: Oamaru HRC