R Te Aroha 9 July 2017 – R 3 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA16730
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Racing Te Aroha - 9 July 2017
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2017/07/09
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
As Mr Cole admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cole had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 9 July and conclude after racing on 29 July 2017 (4 North Island riding days which equates to 3 weeks).
That period of suspension encompasses meetings at
15 July – Wellington
21 July – Te Aroha
27 July – Wanganui
29 July – Taumarunui at Rotorua
Facts:
Following the running of race 3, Piako Rural Services Open Hurdle, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 636 (1)(b). The Informant, Mr A Coles, alleged that when riding OLD COUNTESS Mr R Cole failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures from near the 500 metres to ensure he finished in the best possible placing.
Mr Cole acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 636(1) (b) provides:
A person:
(b) being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the Race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the Race or to obtain the best possible finishing place.
Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He highlighted that at the 500 metres OLD COUNTESS was racing in 4th position and at that point there were only 5 horses left in the race. He identified Mr Cole and showed that from the 500 metres he relaxed his ride while all the other riders around him were riding with vigour and in a competitive manner. He said that Mr Cole only started to show some vigour after jumping the last hurdle when he struck his mount with the whip 5 or 6 times. He said the Stewards' contention was that although OLD COUNTESS was giving ground at the 500 metres Mr Cole showed no vigour at all from the 500 metres until the last 125 metres of the race.
Mr Williamson said that there was some chance OLD COUNTESS may have run 4th. He added that the connections and the betting fraternity would have expected Mr Cole to display some vigour between jumping the hurdles.
Mr Williamson advised that during the Stewards' investigation into the incident Mr Cole had stated that OLD COUNTESS was jumping poorly. He said if that was the case Mr Cole should have either stayed in the race and rode competitively or withdrawn his horse from the race.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Williamson stated that you would never know what best possible placing OLD COUNTESS would have finished in because Mr Cole did not ride his horse in a competitive manner. Mr Williamson then acknowledged that it was “highly likely” that OLD COUNTESS may have run 4th if Mr Cole had riding his mount in a competitive manner.
Mr Cole said that OLD COUNTESS was giving ground coming around the corner and he looked behind him only to see WHO CAN TELL. He said that he gave OLD COUNTESS the best chance to get over the final 3 hurdles by “sitting up” and letting his mount “pop over them”. He said that WHO CAN TELL lost a lot of ground when jumping the last hurdle and he said that he had a “brain explosion” and decided to then hit his mount with the whip. In conclusion he stated that OLD COUNTESS had half a chance to run 4th but it was never going to happen.
When asked by the Committee, Mr Cole advised that he had nothing further to add.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Coles advised the Committee that the Stewards had OLD COUNTESS vetted after the race which showed no abnormalities. He said that Mr Williamson had clearly explained the breach and noted that the incident went on for some distance. He said that by Mr Cole’s own admission he had a “brain explosion” and submitted a term of suspension in the vicinity of 2 to 3 weeks. He added that Mr Cole was an up – coming Jumps rider and recognised the short season for jump jockeys.
Mr Cole advised that he had no upcoming engagements in the next 7 days. He asked the Committee to consider imposing a fine instead of a suspension.
In response to a questions from the Committee, Mr Cole said that he had not ridden in the South Island this season. This fact was confirmed by the Stewards. Mr Cole also confirmed that he had no engagements for the Feature jumps meeting at Wellington on 15 July.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented and reviewed the video footage of the incident.
OLD COUNTESS finished in 5th placing and was 3 lengths in arrears of the 4th placed WHO CAN TELL.
The Committee considered Mr Cole’s submission regarding imposing a fine instead of a suspension, however we deemed that it would be inappropriate. In our view a fine would not act as an effective or realistic penalty given the seriousness of the breach and also after analysing the JCA database of penalties under this Rule for jump riders.
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides a starting point for breaches of Rule 636 (1)(b) of 6 calendar weeks. Mr Cole holds a Class D riders license and rides only in high-weight and jumps races. Information sourced from rider profiles on the NZTR website show that Mr Cole has had 29 rides in the current racing season and 97 rides in his career to date. Having regard for the limited opportunities that jumps riders have in a season we have adjusted our starting point downwards from 6 calendar weeks to 3 weeks.
The aggravating factors were that from the 500 metres to the 125 metres Mr Cole sat up motionless on his mount when racing in 4th position. At no stage during that 375 metre distance was OLD COUNTESSS ever tested by Mr Cole. We assessed the level of culpability to be in the mid to high range. The consequential effects as a result of the breach may well have disadvantaged the betting public and the horse’s connections. We note there was a $500 difference in prize money between 4th and 5th place. The betting public who had invested on OLD COUNTESS in a first four bet would be entitled to feel aggrieved at Mr Cole’s lack of actions for such a long distance.
When reviewing the video footage the Committee observed that WHO CAN TELL and OLD COUNTESS jumped the 2nd to last hurdle on level terms. Despite this fact Mr Cole sat motionless on his horse and he allowed WHO CAN TELL to run past him. It was clearly evident that Mr Cole failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the race to obtain the best possible finishing place. It was only after jumping the last hurdle that Mr Cole displayed any form of vigour which was in the final 125 metres of the race.
The mitigating factors were Mr Cole’s clear record under this Rule according to the JCA records and his admission of the breach, albeit it was unsurprising given the compelling video evidence.
After applying an uplift for the aggravating factors and applying a reduction for the mitigating factors the Committee deemed that 3 weeks would be an appropriate penalty.
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: d9ae02caf32120a71c72177b990b6bf8
informantnumber: A8876
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 10/07/2017
hearing_title: R Te Aroha 9 July 2017 - R 3 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 3, Piako Rural Services Open Hurdle, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 636 (1)(b). The Informant, Mr A Coles, alleged that when riding OLD COUNTESS Mr R Cole failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures from near the 500 metres to ensure he finished in the best possible placing.
Mr Cole acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 636(1) (b) provides:
A person:
(b) being the Rider of a horse in a Race, must take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the Race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the Race or to obtain the best possible finishing place.
Mr Williamson demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He highlighted that at the 500 metres OLD COUNTESS was racing in 4th position and at that point there were only 5 horses left in the race. He identified Mr Cole and showed that from the 500 metres he relaxed his ride while all the other riders around him were riding with vigour and in a competitive manner. He said that Mr Cole only started to show some vigour after jumping the last hurdle when he struck his mount with the whip 5 or 6 times. He said the Stewards' contention was that although OLD COUNTESS was giving ground at the 500 metres Mr Cole showed no vigour at all from the 500 metres until the last 125 metres of the race.
Mr Williamson said that there was some chance OLD COUNTESS may have run 4th. He added that the connections and the betting fraternity would have expected Mr Cole to display some vigour between jumping the hurdles.
Mr Williamson advised that during the Stewards' investigation into the incident Mr Cole had stated that OLD COUNTESS was jumping poorly. He said if that was the case Mr Cole should have either stayed in the race and rode competitively or withdrawn his horse from the race.
In response to a question from the Committee, Mr Williamson stated that you would never know what best possible placing OLD COUNTESS would have finished in because Mr Cole did not ride his horse in a competitive manner. Mr Williamson then acknowledged that it was “highly likely” that OLD COUNTESS may have run 4th if Mr Cole had riding his mount in a competitive manner.
Mr Cole said that OLD COUNTESS was giving ground coming around the corner and he looked behind him only to see WHO CAN TELL. He said that he gave OLD COUNTESS the best chance to get over the final 3 hurdles by “sitting up” and letting his mount “pop over them”. He said that WHO CAN TELL lost a lot of ground when jumping the last hurdle and he said that he had a “brain explosion” and decided to then hit his mount with the whip. In conclusion he stated that OLD COUNTESS had half a chance to run 4th but it was never going to happen.
When asked by the Committee, Mr Cole advised that he had nothing further to add.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Cole admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Coles advised the Committee that the Stewards had OLD COUNTESS vetted after the race which showed no abnormalities. He said that Mr Williamson had clearly explained the breach and noted that the incident went on for some distance. He said that by Mr Cole’s own admission he had a “brain explosion” and submitted a term of suspension in the vicinity of 2 to 3 weeks. He added that Mr Cole was an up – coming Jumps rider and recognised the short season for jump jockeys.
Mr Cole advised that he had no upcoming engagements in the next 7 days. He asked the Committee to consider imposing a fine instead of a suspension.
In response to a questions from the Committee, Mr Cole said that he had not ridden in the South Island this season. This fact was confirmed by the Stewards. Mr Cole also confirmed that he had no engagements for the Feature jumps meeting at Wellington on 15 July.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented and reviewed the video footage of the incident.
OLD COUNTESS finished in 5th placing and was 3 lengths in arrears of the 4th placed WHO CAN TELL.
The Committee considered Mr Cole’s submission regarding imposing a fine instead of a suspension, however we deemed that it would be inappropriate. In our view a fine would not act as an effective or realistic penalty given the seriousness of the breach and also after analysing the JCA database of penalties under this Rule for jump riders.
The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides a starting point for breaches of Rule 636 (1)(b) of 6 calendar weeks. Mr Cole holds a Class D riders license and rides only in high-weight and jumps races. Information sourced from rider profiles on the NZTR website show that Mr Cole has had 29 rides in the current racing season and 97 rides in his career to date. Having regard for the limited opportunities that jumps riders have in a season we have adjusted our starting point downwards from 6 calendar weeks to 3 weeks.
The aggravating factors were that from the 500 metres to the 125 metres Mr Cole sat up motionless on his mount when racing in 4th position. At no stage during that 375 metre distance was OLD COUNTESSS ever tested by Mr Cole. We assessed the level of culpability to be in the mid to high range. The consequential effects as a result of the breach may well have disadvantaged the betting public and the horse’s connections. We note there was a $500 difference in prize money between 4th and 5th place. The betting public who had invested on OLD COUNTESS in a first four bet would be entitled to feel aggrieved at Mr Cole’s lack of actions for such a long distance.
When reviewing the video footage the Committee observed that WHO CAN TELL and OLD COUNTESS jumped the 2nd to last hurdle on level terms. Despite this fact Mr Cole sat motionless on his horse and he allowed WHO CAN TELL to run past him. It was clearly evident that Mr Cole failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures throughout the race to obtain the best possible finishing place. It was only after jumping the last hurdle that Mr Cole displayed any form of vigour which was in the final 125 metres of the race.
The mitigating factors were Mr Cole’s clear record under this Rule according to the JCA records and his admission of the breach, albeit it was unsurprising given the compelling video evidence.
After applying an uplift for the aggravating factors and applying a reduction for the mitigating factors the Committee deemed that 3 weeks would be an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Cole had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 9 July and conclude after racing on 29 July 2017 (4 North Island riding days which equates to 3 weeks).
That period of suspension encompasses meetings at
15 July – Wellington
21 July – Te Aroha
27 July – Wanganui
29 July – Taumarunui at Rotorua
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 636(1)(b)
Informant: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr R Cole - Licensed Class D Rider
Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
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race_title: R3
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meetdate: 09/07/2017
meet_title: Racing Te Aroha - 9 July 2017
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