Rangiora HRC 20 December 2015 – R 5 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA11586
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 20 December 2015
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2015/12/20
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
As Mr Lowe had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Lowe was suspended from the close of racing 20 December 2015 up to and including 31 July 2016. Mr Lowe was also fined the sum of $400.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Kenny Moore -Clean Up Canterbury Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Open Horseman, Mr A Lowe, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(a) in that he allowed WANDERING STAR to race in the incorrect gait (pace) for approximately 2000m during the race and in the opinion of the Stewards was incompetent in his actions.
Rule 869(3)(a) reads as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(a) incompetently;
Mr Lowe had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. Mr Lowe also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he was being charged.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays to show that Mr Lowe, driving WANDERING STAR who drew four at the start, tangle away and go into a trot over the early stages. Shortly afterwards WANDERING STAR went a little rough and switched over to a pace which Mr Lowe recognised and rectified by taking hold of the horse and correcting the horse back to a trotting gait. WANDERING START then continued on in a trot briefly until near the 2200m the horse switched back into a pace and continued on in the race, improving through the field in a pacing gait, until the 200m. Mr Renault said that near the 200m WANDERING STAR went rough and switched back into a trot.
Mr Renault stated that WANDERING STAR had paced for approximately 2000m during the race with Mr Lowe not noticing that the horse was in the incorrect gait.
Mr Lowe stated to the Committee that WANDERING STAR had a high action which made it difficult for him to recognise that the horse was in the incorrect gait. He also said that he had previously been charged with failing to take reasonable steps to return WANDERING STAR to it proper gait recently. He stated that WANDERING STAR is a difficult horse to ascertain whether or not it was in the correct gait when he was driving it.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Lowe had admitted the breach at the first opportunity but his record showed 2 breaches of r.870(2)(b), in that he failed to take all reasonable steps to return WANDERING STAR to its correct gait on 18 January 2015 at Oamaru where he was fined the sum of $200 and at Ashburton on 31 May 2015 where he was fined $400.
Mr Renault submitted that Mr Lowe was being charged on this occasion with incompetent driving due to the 2 previous charges under r. 870(2)(b) in the previous 12 months with the same horse WANDERING STAR. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 80 drives or a $4000 fine. Mr Lowe, he said, has had 7 drives so far this season with 13 drives in total last season. He stated that it would be difficult to calculate a meaningful penalty with this case and submitted that a combination suspension and fine could be considered as penalty. He submitted that a suspension of 6 months and a fine of between $400 and $500 be considered.
Mr Lowe stated that he would like the penalty to be less than Mr Renault's submission of a 6-month suspension and $400 to $500 fine. He said he could understand why he was charged and submitted that he had been driving since the early 1980’s and had very good record which should be taken into consideration.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr Lowes frank admission of the breach as a mitigating factor. Against this we took into account, as an aggravating factor, that his record under r.870 (2)(b) with similar facts, was his previous 2 breaches under that rule was with the same horse, WANDERING STAR. We took into consideration Mr Renault's submission of a combination 6-month suspension and $400 to $500 fine.
In calculating a meaningful penalty, we took into account the fact that Mr Lowe only drove on average over the previous 18 months, once a month. After taking all factors into consideration the Committee decided that a combined suspension and fine was required in this case and therefore determined that a suspension until 31 July 2016 and a $400 was 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: 1e56c6d0da68ac91c03442507f20f714
informantnumber: A6622
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rule 869(3)(a)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 28/12/2015
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 20 December 2015 - R 5 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the Kenny Moore -Clean Up Canterbury Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Open Horseman, Mr A Lowe, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(a) in that he allowed WANDERING STAR to race in the incorrect gait (pace) for approximately 2000m during the race and in the opinion of the Stewards was incompetent in his actions.
Rule 869(3)(a) reads as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(a) incompetently;
Mr Lowe had endorsed the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. Mr Lowe also confirmed he understood the Rule under which he was being charged.
Mr Renault gave evidence and showed video replays to show that Mr Lowe, driving WANDERING STAR who drew four at the start, tangle away and go into a trot over the early stages. Shortly afterwards WANDERING STAR went a little rough and switched over to a pace which Mr Lowe recognised and rectified by taking hold of the horse and correcting the horse back to a trotting gait. WANDERING START then continued on in a trot briefly until near the 2200m the horse switched back into a pace and continued on in the race, improving through the field in a pacing gait, until the 200m. Mr Renault said that near the 200m WANDERING STAR went rough and switched back into a trot.
Mr Renault stated that WANDERING STAR had paced for approximately 2000m during the race with Mr Lowe not noticing that the horse was in the incorrect gait.
Mr Lowe stated to the Committee that WANDERING STAR had a high action which made it difficult for him to recognise that the horse was in the incorrect gait. He also said that he had previously been charged with failing to take reasonable steps to return WANDERING STAR to it proper gait recently. He stated that WANDERING STAR is a difficult horse to ascertain whether or not it was in the correct gait when he was driving it.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Lowe had admitted this breach of the Rules it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Lowe had admitted the breach at the first opportunity but his record showed 2 breaches of r.870(2)(b), in that he failed to take all reasonable steps to return WANDERING STAR to its correct gait on 18 January 2015 at Oamaru where he was fined the sum of $200 and at Ashburton on 31 May 2015 where he was fined $400.
Mr Renault submitted that Mr Lowe was being charged on this occasion with incompetent driving due to the 2 previous charges under r. 870(2)(b) in the previous 12 months with the same horse WANDERING STAR. He stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of 80 drives or a $4000 fine. Mr Lowe, he said, has had 7 drives so far this season with 13 drives in total last season. He stated that it would be difficult to calculate a meaningful penalty with this case and submitted that a combination suspension and fine could be considered as penalty. He submitted that a suspension of 6 months and a fine of between $400 and $500 be considered.
Mr Lowe stated that he would like the penalty to be less than Mr Renault's submission of a 6-month suspension and $400 to $500 fine. He said he could understand why he was charged and submitted that he had been driving since the early 1980’s and had very good record which should be taken into consideration.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration Mr Lowes frank admission of the breach as a mitigating factor. Against this we took into account, as an aggravating factor, that his record under r.870 (2)(b) with similar facts, was his previous 2 breaches under that rule was with the same horse, WANDERING STAR. We took into consideration Mr Renault's submission of a combination 6-month suspension and $400 to $500 fine.
In calculating a meaningful penalty, we took into account the fact that Mr Lowe only drove on average over the previous 18 months, once a month. After taking all factors into consideration the Committee decided that a combined suspension and fine was required in this case and therefore determined that a suspension until 31 July 2016 and a $400 was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Lowe was suspended from the close of racing 20 December 2015 up to and including 31 July 2016. Mr Lowe was also fined the sum of $400.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(a)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr A Lowe - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9944acd67700ac8797305f2dd8ecae72
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f4369f45b74e84720dae3f53d0390538
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/12/2015
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 20 December 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Rangiora HRC