Rangiora HRC 27 May 2018 – R 1 – Chair, Mr D Anderson
ID: JCA17043
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 27 May 2018
Meet Chair:
DAnderson
Meet Committee Member 1:
DJackson
Race Date:
2018/05/27
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
Mr Darby having admitted the breach; the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Darby’s Amateur drivers licence is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including racing on the 31 October 2018. (5 Months)
Mr Darby is also fined the sum of $200.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Tavern Harewood NZ Amateur Drivers Champs HT 2 Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis, against Amateur Driver L Darby, alleging that “Mr Darby drove carelessly near the 400 metres by allowing his horse to shift up the track and make contact with OPAWA MACH causing both runners to break and check trailing runners.”
Mr Darby confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with and indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
(b) carelessly
Mr Wallis with the assistance of Mr Quirk used the race films to identify Mr Darby driving GAME CHANGER leading the field passing the 400 metres. Mr Wallis contended that shortly after this point GAME CHANGER who was hanging in slightly, began to tire, ran up the track and made solid contact with OPAWA MACH which resulted in both horses galloping and checking three other trailing horses. He said at no stage did it appear that Mr Darby had made any effort to straighten his horse.
Mr Darby agreed that his horse was tiring but had steered well throughout the race. He said the horse wears full blinds and suggested when his horse sighted OPAWA MACH, it may have contributed to the horse not keeping his line.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis said Mr Darby had driven only 3 times last season and to date 5 times this season. He said the Stewards would be seeking a suspension for this breach which is in the high-end range. He suggested an uplift from the 10-drive starting point to 18 drives as a consequence of several horses losing their chance. He believed Mr Darby could be given some discount for admitting the breach, his record, and his inexperience. He said a 14-drive suspension would be appropriate. He explained that penalties for amateur drivers are calculated at 2 drives per month and this would equate to a 7-month suspension for Mr Darby.
Mr Darby said this proposed penalty seemed very severe. He said his involvement in harness racing is more than a hobby and it would be difficult to gain experience if he were to be suspended until next year. He asked the Committee to consider a combination of a fine and a suspension as penalty.
Mr J Darby submitted, without detracting from the seriousness of the charge, any lengthy period of suspension for an amateur driver from his area would impact on the ability of his association to provide races for clubs.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The aggravating factors are several horses had their chance to win extinguished at a critical time in the race. We believe Mr Darby has been extraordinary slow to react to what was unfolding in front of him and this falls well below the standard of driving expected on race day.
The Committee did note that the first horse affected OPAWA MACH regained its gait quickly and finished in second place.
The mitigating factors are Mr Darby’s good record, his admission of the breach, lack of experience and his professionalism at the hearing.
In regard to the respondent’s submissions on penalty we found they had some merit.
The JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point for this rule of a 10 Drive suspension or a $500 fine and after applying the aggravating and mitigating factors and submissions we determined that a 10-drive suspension and a $200 fine is 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: c5dc854e3240cbd8f4b546cd6e709c37
informantnumber: A10805
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 29/05/2018
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 27 May 2018 - R 1 - Chair, Mr D Anderson
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Tavern Harewood NZ Amateur Drivers Champs HT 2 Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis, against Amateur Driver L Darby, alleging that “Mr Darby drove carelessly near the 400 metres by allowing his horse to shift up the track and make contact with OPAWA MACH causing both runners to break and check trailing runners.”
Mr Darby confirmed that he understood the rule he was being charged with and indicated that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
(b) carelessly
Mr Wallis with the assistance of Mr Quirk used the race films to identify Mr Darby driving GAME CHANGER leading the field passing the 400 metres. Mr Wallis contended that shortly after this point GAME CHANGER who was hanging in slightly, began to tire, ran up the track and made solid contact with OPAWA MACH which resulted in both horses galloping and checking three other trailing horses. He said at no stage did it appear that Mr Darby had made any effort to straighten his horse.
Mr Darby agreed that his horse was tiring but had steered well throughout the race. He said the horse wears full blinds and suggested when his horse sighted OPAWA MACH, it may have contributed to the horse not keeping his line.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Mr Darby having admitted the breach; the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis said Mr Darby had driven only 3 times last season and to date 5 times this season. He said the Stewards would be seeking a suspension for this breach which is in the high-end range. He suggested an uplift from the 10-drive starting point to 18 drives as a consequence of several horses losing their chance. He believed Mr Darby could be given some discount for admitting the breach, his record, and his inexperience. He said a 14-drive suspension would be appropriate. He explained that penalties for amateur drivers are calculated at 2 drives per month and this would equate to a 7-month suspension for Mr Darby.
Mr Darby said this proposed penalty seemed very severe. He said his involvement in harness racing is more than a hobby and it would be difficult to gain experience if he were to be suspended until next year. He asked the Committee to consider a combination of a fine and a suspension as penalty.
Mr J Darby submitted, without detracting from the seriousness of the charge, any lengthy period of suspension for an amateur driver from his area would impact on the ability of his association to provide races for clubs.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The aggravating factors are several horses had their chance to win extinguished at a critical time in the race. We believe Mr Darby has been extraordinary slow to react to what was unfolding in front of him and this falls well below the standard of driving expected on race day.
The Committee did note that the first horse affected OPAWA MACH regained its gait quickly and finished in second place.
The mitigating factors are Mr Darby’s good record, his admission of the breach, lack of experience and his professionalism at the hearing.
In regard to the respondent’s submissions on penalty we found they had some merit.
The JCA Penalty Guide has a starting point for this rule of a 10 Drive suspension or a $500 fine and after applying the aggravating and mitigating factors and submissions we determined that a 10-drive suspension and a $200 fine is an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Darby’s Amateur drivers licence is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including racing on the 31 October 2018. (5 Months)
Mr Darby is also fined the sum of $200.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr L Darby - Amateur Driver
Otherperson: Mr J Darby - President of the North Island Amateur Drivers Association, Mr R Quirk - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: debd387df8f4e62ff78701eed9dc98fb
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: 079e19ad8d9c44265f00975cf961f4bb
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waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 27/05/2018
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 27 May 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: DAnderson
meet_pm1: DJackson
meet_pm2: none
name: Rangiora HRC