Archive Decision

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Otaki-Maori RC 21 February 2015 – R 4

ID: JCA16083

Applicant:
Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey

Information Number:
A6798

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless riding

Rules:
638(1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Otaki-Maori RC - 21 February 2015

Meet Chair:
PWilliams

Meet Committee Member 1:
NMoffatt

Race Date:
2015/02/21

Race Number:
R4

Decision:

As Mr Johnson admitted the breach the charge is found proved.

Penalty:

Mr Johnson is suspended for 4 riding days from Wednesday 25 February 2015 to the close of racing on Saturday 28 February 2015 – the 4 days being Waikato (25 February), Marton (26 February), Central Otago (27 February) and Hastings/Ellerslie (28 February).

Facts:

Following the running of race 4, the “Hunting and Fishing Otaki Handicap”, Information A6798 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Goodwin under Rule 638(1)(d). The Information stated “Mr Johnson allowed “Shezastunna” to shift in soon after the start and cause a check to “Attica”. Mr Johnson signed the Information stating he admitted the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the rule under which he was charged.

Rule 638 (1) (d) states “A rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be .....careless”.

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Goodwin, using the head-on film of the race just after the horses left the barriers, highlighted Mr Johnson, who had jumped from gate 6, gradually angling his mount across the field. He said as Mr Johnson continued to move across Mr Bradley on “City Chic” was to his inside and slightly behind him. Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson could be seen to look to his inside but continue on his inwards movement. He said by this time Mr Bradley was established on the inside of Mr Johnson who continued moving in until Mr Bradley called out to him. Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson then pulled off but too late to stop Mr Bradley being dictated inwards onto Mr Smith on “Pirinitete” who in turn was dictated inwards onto “Attica” ridden by Mr Hutchings. Mr Goodwin also showed the rear view of the incident to highlight the inwards movement of Mr Bradley and Mr Smith onto Mr Hutchings caused by Mr Johnson. He said Mr Hutchings was clearly denied his rightful line of running and had to check his horse.

Mr Johnson said as he was moving across he did look to his inside but didn’t immediately realize Mr Bradley was up inside him. He conceded he carried on moving across until he heard Mr Bradley call out. He said as soon as he heard the call he straightened his horse but accepted that “by then the damage had been done”.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson’s last breach of the careless riding rule was on 21 June 2014 when he received a 5 day suspension. He said Mr Johnson was a busy rider whose riding record was therefore very good. He said he rode throughout the South Island and Central Districts and from time to time in the Northern Region. He said the Stewards considered the severity of the interference to be in the mid-range but did not submit what he believed was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Johnson made no submissions on penalty other than to say that whether he rode at the upcoming Auckland Cup carnival was dependant on how his ride in the Group 1 race later in the afternoon went. After consideration he said he did not wish to defer any suspension he was given.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has reviewed films of the incident and taken into account all the submissions made. The films clearly show that soon after the start Mr Johnson commenced angling his horse across to a position closer to the rail. The film showed Mr Johnson look to his inside but continue to come across. During that movement Mr Bradley, who was slightly behind him, became established on Mr Johnson’s inside at which point Mr Johnson should have straightened his mount. He failed to do so and it was only when Mr Bradley called out and Mr Johnson looked back for a second time that he straightened up. By then, and by his own admission, his inwards movement meant Mr Bradley was dictated inwards onto Mr Smith’s horse which in turn led to ”Attica” and Mr Hutchings receiving a significant check.

The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of the careless riding rule is 5 riding days. Having taken into account the aggravating factors above we have also taken into account Mr Johnson’s admittance of the breach and also that this is his third breach of this rule in the past 12 months. However, Mr Johnson is in the top 5 jockeys in the country this season in terms of the number of rides he has had (over 400) and as such we consider his riding record to be very good. We believe the severity of the interference is in the mid range.

We have also reviewed the JCA’s list of penalties imposed on jockey in recent months to ensure, as best we can, a general consistency with those decisions.

The Committee believes the interference caused must be reflected in an appropriate penalty which we have decided is a period of suspension. From a starting point of 5 days we have reduced that by 1 day in recognition of Mr Johnson’s very good riding record and his admittance of the breach of the rule.

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: b988e3dedbcc0268b31ee6a5fa080d24


informantnumber: A6798


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 11/02/2015


hearing_title: Otaki-Maori RC 21 February 2015 - R 4


charge:


facts:

Following the running of race 4, the “Hunting and Fishing Otaki Handicap”, Information A6798 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr N Goodwin under Rule 638(1)(d). The Information stated “Mr Johnson allowed “Shezastunna” to shift in soon after the start and cause a check to “Attica”. Mr Johnson signed the Information stating he admitted the breach and at the beginning of the hearing confirmed that was correct and also that he understood the rule under which he was charged.

Rule 638 (1) (d) states “A rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be .....careless”.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Goodwin, using the head-on film of the race just after the horses left the barriers, highlighted Mr Johnson, who had jumped from gate 6, gradually angling his mount across the field. He said as Mr Johnson continued to move across Mr Bradley on “City Chic” was to his inside and slightly behind him. Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson could be seen to look to his inside but continue on his inwards movement. He said by this time Mr Bradley was established on the inside of Mr Johnson who continued moving in until Mr Bradley called out to him. Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson then pulled off but too late to stop Mr Bradley being dictated inwards onto Mr Smith on “Pirinitete” who in turn was dictated inwards onto “Attica” ridden by Mr Hutchings. Mr Goodwin also showed the rear view of the incident to highlight the inwards movement of Mr Bradley and Mr Smith onto Mr Hutchings caused by Mr Johnson. He said Mr Hutchings was clearly denied his rightful line of running and had to check his horse.

Mr Johnson said as he was moving across he did look to his inside but didn’t immediately realize Mr Bradley was up inside him. He conceded he carried on moving across until he heard Mr Bradley call out. He said as soon as he heard the call he straightened his horse but accepted that “by then the damage had been done”.


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Mr Johnson admitted the breach the charge is found proved.

sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Goodwin said Mr Johnson’s last breach of the careless riding rule was on 21 June 2014 when he received a 5 day suspension. He said Mr Johnson was a busy rider whose riding record was therefore very good. He said he rode throughout the South Island and Central Districts and from time to time in the Northern Region. He said the Stewards considered the severity of the interference to be in the mid-range but did not submit what he believed was an appropriate penalty.

Mr Johnson made no submissions on penalty other than to say that whether he rode at the upcoming Auckland Cup carnival was dependant on how his ride in the Group 1 race later in the afternoon went. After consideration he said he did not wish to defer any suspension he was given.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has reviewed films of the incident and taken into account all the submissions made. The films clearly show that soon after the start Mr Johnson commenced angling his horse across to a position closer to the rail. The film showed Mr Johnson look to his inside but continue to come across. During that movement Mr Bradley, who was slightly behind him, became established on Mr Johnson’s inside at which point Mr Johnson should have straightened his mount. He failed to do so and it was only when Mr Bradley called out and Mr Johnson looked back for a second time that he straightened up. By then, and by his own admission, his inwards movement meant Mr Bradley was dictated inwards onto Mr Smith’s horse which in turn led to ”Attica” and Mr Hutchings receiving a significant check.

The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of the careless riding rule is 5 riding days. Having taken into account the aggravating factors above we have also taken into account Mr Johnson’s admittance of the breach and also that this is his third breach of this rule in the past 12 months. However, Mr Johnson is in the top 5 jockeys in the country this season in terms of the number of rides he has had (over 400) and as such we consider his riding record to be very good. We believe the severity of the interference is in the mid range.

We have also reviewed the JCA’s list of penalties imposed on jockey in recent months to ensure, as best we can, a general consistency with those decisions.

The Committee believes the interference caused must be reflected in an appropriate penalty which we have decided is a period of suspension. From a starting point of 5 days we have reduced that by 1 day in recognition of Mr Johnson’s very good riding record and his admittance of the breach of the rule.


penalty:

Mr Johnson is suspended for 4 riding days from Wednesday 25 February 2015 to the close of racing on Saturday 28 February 2015 – the 4 days being Waikato (25 February), Marton (26 February), Central Otago (27 February) and Hastings/Ellerslie (28 February).


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 638(1)(d)


Informant: Mr N Goodwin - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 75ef09b0ec785ad75e587c2acd1e20f3


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: cc107f97caaa3fa4987f461d8c89f3b7


meet_expapproval: approved


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 21/02/2015


meet_title: Otaki-Maori RC - 21 February 2015


meet_expappcomment:


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meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: otaki-maori-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: PWilliams


meet_pm1: NMoffatt


meet_pm2: none


name: Otaki-Maori RC