Rangiora HRC – 3 January 2020 – R 5 – Chair, Mr R McKenzie
ID: JCA11233
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 3 January 2020
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing
Race Date:
2020/01/03
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
The charge is dismissed.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, Levelhead Insulation Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Ms CM Tibbs, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr GL Ross, alleging that Mr Ross, as the driver of CLIVE in the race, drove carelessly in that “near the 300 metres he allowed his runner of contact the sulky tyre of PINUP BOY (B N Orange) which punctured.”
Mr Ross was present at the hearing of the Information and he indicated that he understood the Rule and the charge, and that he denied the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
Submissions for Decision:
Ms Tibbs told the Committee that no clear video evidence was available to the hearing but said that Mr Orange had reported to Stewards that he had sustained a flat tyre at the 300 metres. She showed on a video replay that Mr Orange had come out from 2-wide to 3-wide and that Mr Ross, following him, had come out at the same time. Mr Orange could be seen to look to his right at that point, Ms Tibbs said.
Mr Ross submitted that there was no clear evidence of any contact. He was not aware of any contact at that point and neither was it apparent from any change in the gait of his horse.
Mr Orange confirmed that he had reported a flat tyre to the Stewards following the race. It had not been “struck” but rather “brushed”, and the sulky tyre had not deflated until after the finish, so it had no bearing on his placing, he said.
Mr Orange said he felt that any contact was not sufficient to cause the tyre to deflate, in his opinion. He said that a tyre can be brushed in any race when runners are jostling for position. He said that he and Mr Ross had come out at the same time and Mr Ross’s runner had “slightly brushed past it”. The brushing was “ever so minute” and he believed it was a “racing incident”, Mr Orange said. He had looked around to see who was coming, he said.
Reasons for Decision:
In this case, the available video replays were not at all helpful in showing the alleged contact, at approximately at the 300 metres. Therefore, the Stewards had to rely, principally, on the evidence of driver, Mr Orange.
Mr Orange gave evidence that he felt a “brushing” at the 300 metres, at the same time as Mr Ross eased his runner out from behind him. It is likely that it was at this point that the damage was done to Mr Orange’s sulky tyre. Mr Orange’s evidence was that the tyre did not deflate until after the finishing line. He said that, for that reason, his chances were not affected although, of course, that is not relevant to the issue of whether Mr Ross drove carelessly.
In the absence of any satisfactory video evidence, and in the light of Mr Orange’s evidence that he did not feel that his wheel had been “contacted”, as alleged in the Information, but rather “brushed”, and he was not prepared to say that any contact from Mr Ross’s runner was the cause of his tyre deflating, the Committee cannot be satisfied to the required standard of a balance of probabilities that Mr Ross’s runner had contacted the sulky tyre of Mr Orange’s runner causing the tyre to deflate as alleged. There is considerable doubt as to precisely what happened and Mr Ross is entitled to the benefit of that doubt.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: 12e730636aa4b649b4ba217b3cb8efe9
informantnumber: A13112
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 0
decisiondate: 06/01/2020
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC - 3 January 2020 - R 5 - Chair, Mr R McKenzie
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, Levelhead Insulation Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Ms CM Tibbs, against Licensed Graduation Driver, Mr GL Ross, alleging that Mr Ross, as the driver of CLIVE in the race, drove carelessly in that “near the 300 metres he allowed his runner of contact the sulky tyre of PINUP BOY (B N Orange) which punctured.”
Mr Ross was present at the hearing of the Information and he indicated that he understood the Rule and the charge, and that he denied the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(b) carelessly.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Ms Tibbs told the Committee that no clear video evidence was available to the hearing but said that Mr Orange had reported to Stewards that he had sustained a flat tyre at the 300 metres. She showed on a video replay that Mr Orange had come out from 2-wide to 3-wide and that Mr Ross, following him, had come out at the same time. Mr Orange could be seen to look to his right at that point, Ms Tibbs said.
Mr Ross submitted that there was no clear evidence of any contact. He was not aware of any contact at that point and neither was it apparent from any change in the gait of his horse.
Mr Orange confirmed that he had reported a flat tyre to the Stewards following the race. It had not been “struck” but rather “brushed”, and the sulky tyre had not deflated until after the finish, so it had no bearing on his placing, he said.
Mr Orange said he felt that any contact was not sufficient to cause the tyre to deflate, in his opinion. He said that a tyre can be brushed in any race when runners are jostling for position. He said that he and Mr Ross had come out at the same time and Mr Ross’s runner had “slightly brushed past it”. The brushing was “ever so minute” and he believed it was a “racing incident”, Mr Orange said. He had looked around to see who was coming, he said.
reasonsfordecision:
In this case, the available video replays were not at all helpful in showing the alleged contact, at approximately at the 300 metres. Therefore, the Stewards had to rely, principally, on the evidence of driver, Mr Orange.
Mr Orange gave evidence that he felt a “brushing” at the 300 metres, at the same time as Mr Ross eased his runner out from behind him. It is likely that it was at this point that the damage was done to Mr Orange’s sulky tyre. Mr Orange’s evidence was that the tyre did not deflate until after the finishing line. He said that, for that reason, his chances were not affected although, of course, that is not relevant to the issue of whether Mr Ross drove carelessly.
In the absence of any satisfactory video evidence, and in the light of Mr Orange’s evidence that he did not feel that his wheel had been “contacted”, as alleged in the Information, but rather “brushed”, and he was not prepared to say that any contact from Mr Ross’s runner was the cause of his tyre deflating, the Committee cannot be satisfied to the required standard of a balance of probabilities that Mr Ross’s runner had contacted the sulky tyre of Mr Orange’s runner causing the tyre to deflate as alleged. There is considerable doubt as to precisely what happened and Mr Ross is entitled to the benefit of that doubt.
Decision:
The charge is dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Ms CM Tibbs - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr GL Ross - Licensed Graduation Driver
Otherperson: Mr BN Orange - Licensed Open Driver
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 067b48ef094c981398ff6b4932e0aa8b
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: cfae268cefa332c7c98e3af2f743cab8
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 03/01/2020
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 3 January 2020
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: RMcKenzie
meet_pm1: SChing
meet_pm2: none
name: Rangiora HRC