Rangiora HRC 26 February 2015 – R 1
ID: JCA17664
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 26 February 2015
Meet Chair:
KHales
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2015/02/26
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Bennett has admitted the charge, it is deemed to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr Bennett's Amateur Horseman's licence is therefore suspended from the conclusion of racing on Thursday 26th February until the conclusion of racing on Friday 8th May 2015.
This period of suspension we understand will equate to a suspension of 5 drives. We do not know the dates on which amateur horseman's' races will be held, so for the avoidance of doubt, we record that the period of suspension is for a finite period and not a suspension of a number of drives. If there should be fewer that 5 drives available in that time then that is to Mr Bennett's good fortune. If there are more than 5 drives available in that period, then that is unfortunate.
Facts:
Following the running of the Bishopdale/Bush Inn TAB's & Tavern Harewood Mobile Pace, Mr J Bennett, an amateur driver was charged with careless driving of horse "Brute Ute Anvil".
It was alleged that he drove carelessly when striking the wheel of "Billy Jack" on the home turn.
Video coverage of the incident was shown to the hearing, which coverage was from several different angles. Mr Bennett was at the rear of the field, but with "Billy Jack" on his outside. He went to go on a forward movement but there was insufficient room between him, the horse directly in front of him and "Billy Jack" on his outside. "Billy Jack" also was on a forward move, but Mr Bennett misjudged the available room and as he moved outwards, his horse's off hind leg struck the sulky wheel of "Billy Jack" causing his horse to break from its gait.
Mr Bennett did not have any comment to make to the hearing about the incident.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault advised the hearing that Mr Bennett is a regular competitor in the amateur racing programme, and has a clear record. He submitted that a fine of $250 would be appropriate but as he understood it, Mr Bennett would be submitting that a suspension should be imposed. Mr Renault said that if a suspension was to be imposed that it would need to be in the region of two and a half months, in order to equate to the quantum of the fine that he was submitting should be imposed.
Mr Bennett said that he would like a suspension to be imposed. His reason for this was that he intended to pay the owners of "Brute Ute Anvil" for the veterinary bill which would be incurred for the stitching of the horse's leg. He said that when the horse's leg struck the sulky wheel of "Billy Jack", that it incurred a severe laceration, and he anticipated a veterinary bill in the region of perhaps $2-300, and he did not want to add to his financial burden for the race by also having to pay a fine.
Reasons for Penalty:
The starting point for the imposition of penalty as set out in the Judicial Control Authority's Penalty Guide is a fine of $400 or a suspension of 8 drives. We are informed that there are generally, two Amateur Drivers' races per month in the Canterbury region. An 8 drive suspension for an amateur driver in Canterbury would therefore mean a suspension of four months.
We accept Mr Renault's submission that this was an error of judgement on Mr Bennett's part, and thus there are no aggravating features which would warrant an uplift on the starting point.
However, Mr Bennett is entitled to credit for his early admission of the breach, his clear record and his advice to the hearing that he is meeting the veterinary bill for the stitching and on going treatment of the injury that the horse incurred. For those reasons, we are persuaded that a suspension can be imposed. That suspension will equate to approximately two and a half months.
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: dd99d25c025388827274acec15dfc1de
informantnumber: A4419
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 11/02/2015
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 26 February 2015 - R 1
charge:
facts:
Following the running of the Bishopdale/Bush Inn TAB's & Tavern Harewood Mobile Pace, Mr J Bennett, an amateur driver was charged with careless driving of horse "Brute Ute Anvil".
It was alleged that he drove carelessly when striking the wheel of "Billy Jack" on the home turn.
Video coverage of the incident was shown to the hearing, which coverage was from several different angles. Mr Bennett was at the rear of the field, but with "Billy Jack" on his outside. He went to go on a forward movement but there was insufficient room between him, the horse directly in front of him and "Billy Jack" on his outside. "Billy Jack" also was on a forward move, but Mr Bennett misjudged the available room and as he moved outwards, his horse's off hind leg struck the sulky wheel of "Billy Jack" causing his horse to break from its gait.
Mr Bennett did not have any comment to make to the hearing about the incident.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Bennett has admitted the charge, it is deemed to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault advised the hearing that Mr Bennett is a regular competitor in the amateur racing programme, and has a clear record. He submitted that a fine of $250 would be appropriate but as he understood it, Mr Bennett would be submitting that a suspension should be imposed. Mr Renault said that if a suspension was to be imposed that it would need to be in the region of two and a half months, in order to equate to the quantum of the fine that he was submitting should be imposed.
Mr Bennett said that he would like a suspension to be imposed. His reason for this was that he intended to pay the owners of "Brute Ute Anvil" for the veterinary bill which would be incurred for the stitching of the horse's leg. He said that when the horse's leg struck the sulky wheel of "Billy Jack", that it incurred a severe laceration, and he anticipated a veterinary bill in the region of perhaps $2-300, and he did not want to add to his financial burden for the race by also having to pay a fine.
reasonsforpenalty:
The starting point for the imposition of penalty as set out in the Judicial Control Authority's Penalty Guide is a fine of $400 or a suspension of 8 drives. We are informed that there are generally, two Amateur Drivers' races per month in the Canterbury region. An 8 drive suspension for an amateur driver in Canterbury would therefore mean a suspension of four months.
We accept Mr Renault's submission that this was an error of judgement on Mr Bennett's part, and thus there are no aggravating features which would warrant an uplift on the starting point.
However, Mr Bennett is entitled to credit for his early admission of the breach, his clear record and his advice to the hearing that he is meeting the veterinary bill for the stitching and on going treatment of the injury that the horse incurred. For those reasons, we are persuaded that a suspension can be imposed. That suspension will equate to approximately two and a half months.
penalty:
Mr Bennett's Amateur Horseman's licence is therefore suspended from the conclusion of racing on Thursday 26th February until the conclusion of racing on Friday 8th May 2015.
This period of suspension we understand will equate to a suspension of 5 drives. We do not know the dates on which amateur horseman's' races will be held, so for the avoidance of doubt, we record that the period of suspension is for a finite period and not a suspension of a number of drives. If there should be fewer that 5 drives available in that time then that is to Mr Bennett's good fortune. If there are more than 5 drives available in that period, then that is unfortunate.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869 (3) No Horseman in any race shall drive:-, (b) carelessly
Informant: Mr SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: J Bennett - Amateur Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: ba218e3d1e880b3aa2be750533ad5afe
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 0c4075c12470ec7d222756b4b62043b3
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 26/02/2015
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 26 February 2015
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: KHales
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Rangiora HRC