Rangiora HRC 31 December 2010 – R 4
ID: JCA14245
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 31 December 2010
Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2010/12/31
Race Number:
R 4
Decision:
The charge of careless driving (Rule 869 (3) (b)) was found proved. The alternative charge of incompetent driving was dismissed.
Penalty:
Mr Bennett’s Graduation Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 31 December 2010 up to and including 30 March 2011.
Charge:
Following the running of Race 4, Rose & Thistle Tavern (Papanui) Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mrs K R Williams, against Licensed Graduation Horseman, Mr J R Bennett, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (3) (a) or (b) in that Mr Bennett, as the driver of THREE TUNNES in the race, “drove incompetently or in the alternative carelessly when striking the wheel of TAMANISHA (K K Chapman) causing his horse to fall checking CAESARION (S R McNally)”.
Facts:
Mr Bennett was present at the hearing of the information. He was given the opportunity by the Committee, because of the serious nature of the incompetent driving charge, to have the hearing of the information adjourned. Mr Bennett elected to have the hearing proceed. He indicated that he did not admit the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman shall in any race drive:-
(a) incompetently;
(b) carelessly.
Submissions for Decision:
Mrs Williams alleged that Mr Bennett’s horse had hit the wheel of the runner in front and had fallen to the track. She alleged that Mr Bennett had driven incompetently in that a prudent horseman would not have put his horse in the position that he did.
She showed video replays of the relevant part of the race (with approximately 1200 metres to run). She pointed out THREE TUNNES, driven by Mr Bennett, racing 3-wide towards rear of the field. She said that Mr Bennett then shifted down into the 2-wide line on to the back of TAMANISHA. She pointed out the horse racing 5-back on the markers (TOMSINCHARGE) which was racing down in the passing lane. Mr Bennett may have thought there was a gap between that horse and TAMANISHA that he could go into but he was not entitled to do so because TOMSINCHARGE was on his inside and Mr Bennett was already in the one-out line, Mrs Williams said. There was not a full run for him, his horse struck the wheel of TAMANISHA and went down. Mr Bennett had looked for a run between the racing lines, Mrs Williams said.
Mr Bennett stated that OUR BIG MAC (M P Jones) had been looking to move 3-wide and Mr Chapman was looking to follow him. Mr Chapman had not actually moved out but it was a “split-second decision” to go inside Mr Chapman. He had been intending to move 3-wide but had changed his mind when he saw Mr Chapman turn his horse’s head outwards. Mr Bennett pointed this out on the head-on video replay. He admitted that he had made an “assumption”, wishing to take the softest option for his horse, which was having its first start, rather than to go 3-wide. He expressed remorse for what had happened but did not admit that he had driven incompetently.
Mrs Williams conceded, in response to a question from the Committee, that the racing formation ahead of Mr Bennett at the particular stage of the race was somewhat irregular.
Mr Bennett conceded that he had made an error of judgement which may have been careless, but not incompetent, he submitted.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee was clearly satisfied that Mr Bennett drove carelessly when attempting to shift down off the back of TAMANISHA. Mr Bennett had made an “assumption” (to use his own words) that TAMANISHA was about to move into the 3-wide line. Based on that assumption, he elected rather than follow that runner out, to move inwards and remain in the 2-wide line. However, Mr Chapman did not move out, as anticipated, but Mr Bennett had already commenced to shift inside Mr Chapman where there was, at best, half a gap but not one that a reasonably prudent driver would have attempted to take. As a consequence, Mr Bennett’s horse struck the wheel of TAMANISHA and fell to the track in a nasty incident.
Often, it can be a fine line between driving which is careless and driving which is incompetent. In this case, it was difficult for the Committee to place the driving clearly within one category over the other. Because of the difficulty that the Committee had in doing this, it has given Mr Bennett the benefit of that doubt. However, it was by a very narrow margin indeed that the Committee has deemed Mr Bennett’s driving to be careless rather than incompetent. It was a quite bad error of judgement. Mr Bennett had, effectively, admitted that his driving had been careless.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mrs Williams submitted that the present case was more serious than the usual case of carelessness in striking a wheel. She pointed out that Mr Bennett’s horse fell and two other horses received interference in the incident.
She said that the Stipendiary Stewards were seeking a suspension of Mr Bennett’s licence. She explained that Mr Bennett did not drive often – he drove only his own horses. Mr Bennett said that he has two horses racing currently. In the current season, he has had 14 drives and, in the 2009/2010 season, had a total of 12 drives. It was a driver error justifying a suspension, Mrs Williams submitted.
Mr Bennett informed the Committee that his own preference would be for a suspension. Mrs Williams’ submission was for a suspension of 1-2 months, based on Mr Bennett’s only having 1-2 drives per month. Mr Bennett accepted that he only had 1-2 drives per month.
Mrs Williams submitted that 1 month equated to approximately 8 drives, for a driver having 2 drives per week.
Reasons for Penalty:
In deciding penalty, the Committee took into account, as aggravating factors that Mr Bennett’s carelessness resulted in his own horse’s falling and two other runners receiving interference. The carelessness was, in the Committee’s view, at the high end of a scale of seriousness in this case because it resulted in a fall. The Committee was satisfied that, in all of the circumstances, a suspension was called for.
The Committee had to determine what an appropriate term of suspension was. This was not a simple exercise having regard to the infrequency with which Mr Bennett drives. Any term of suspension needed to adequately reflect the seriousness of the offending and to act as sufficient deterrent.
The Committee decided that the term of suspension should involve, as a minimum, 6-8 drives. Anything less would be overly lenient, in the Committee’s view. In Mr Bennett’s case, 6-8 drives would equate to no less than a 3 months’ suspension.
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: 6b72181df0f2a1d99967b1f43eca2aaf
informantnumber: 69336
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/12/2010
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 31 December 2010 - R 4
charge:
Following the running of Race 4, Rose & Thistle Tavern (Papanui) Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mrs K R Williams, against Licensed Graduation Horseman, Mr J R Bennett, alleging a breach of Rule 869 (3) (a) or (b) in that Mr Bennett, as the driver of THREE TUNNES in the race, “drove incompetently or in the alternative carelessly when striking the wheel of TAMANISHA (K K Chapman) causing his horse to fall checking CAESARION (S R McNally)”.
facts:
Mr Bennett was present at the hearing of the information. He was given the opportunity by the Committee, because of the serious nature of the incompetent driving charge, to have the hearing of the information adjourned. Mr Bennett elected to have the hearing proceed. He indicated that he did not admit the charge.
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(3) No horseman shall in any race drive:-
(a) incompetently;
(b) carelessly.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mrs Williams alleged that Mr Bennett’s horse had hit the wheel of the runner in front and had fallen to the track. She alleged that Mr Bennett had driven incompetently in that a prudent horseman would not have put his horse in the position that he did.
She showed video replays of the relevant part of the race (with approximately 1200 metres to run). She pointed out THREE TUNNES, driven by Mr Bennett, racing 3-wide towards rear of the field. She said that Mr Bennett then shifted down into the 2-wide line on to the back of TAMANISHA. She pointed out the horse racing 5-back on the markers (TOMSINCHARGE) which was racing down in the passing lane. Mr Bennett may have thought there was a gap between that horse and TAMANISHA that he could go into but he was not entitled to do so because TOMSINCHARGE was on his inside and Mr Bennett was already in the one-out line, Mrs Williams said. There was not a full run for him, his horse struck the wheel of TAMANISHA and went down. Mr Bennett had looked for a run between the racing lines, Mrs Williams said.
Mr Bennett stated that OUR BIG MAC (M P Jones) had been looking to move 3-wide and Mr Chapman was looking to follow him. Mr Chapman had not actually moved out but it was a “split-second decision” to go inside Mr Chapman. He had been intending to move 3-wide but had changed his mind when he saw Mr Chapman turn his horse’s head outwards. Mr Bennett pointed this out on the head-on video replay. He admitted that he had made an “assumption”, wishing to take the softest option for his horse, which was having its first start, rather than to go 3-wide. He expressed remorse for what had happened but did not admit that he had driven incompetently.
Mrs Williams conceded, in response to a question from the Committee, that the racing formation ahead of Mr Bennett at the particular stage of the race was somewhat irregular.
Mr Bennett conceded that he had made an error of judgement which may have been careless, but not incompetent, he submitted.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee was clearly satisfied that Mr Bennett drove carelessly when attempting to shift down off the back of TAMANISHA. Mr Bennett had made an “assumption” (to use his own words) that TAMANISHA was about to move into the 3-wide line. Based on that assumption, he elected rather than follow that runner out, to move inwards and remain in the 2-wide line. However, Mr Chapman did not move out, as anticipated, but Mr Bennett had already commenced to shift inside Mr Chapman where there was, at best, half a gap but not one that a reasonably prudent driver would have attempted to take. As a consequence, Mr Bennett’s horse struck the wheel of TAMANISHA and fell to the track in a nasty incident.
Often, it can be a fine line between driving which is careless and driving which is incompetent. In this case, it was difficult for the Committee to place the driving clearly within one category over the other. Because of the difficulty that the Committee had in doing this, it has given Mr Bennett the benefit of that doubt. However, it was by a very narrow margin indeed that the Committee has deemed Mr Bennett’s driving to be careless rather than incompetent. It was a quite bad error of judgement. Mr Bennett had, effectively, admitted that his driving had been careless.
Decision:
The charge of careless driving (Rule 869 (3) (b)) was found proved. The alternative charge of incompetent driving was dismissed.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mrs Williams submitted that the present case was more serious than the usual case of carelessness in striking a wheel. She pointed out that Mr Bennett’s horse fell and two other horses received interference in the incident.
She said that the Stipendiary Stewards were seeking a suspension of Mr Bennett’s licence. She explained that Mr Bennett did not drive often – he drove only his own horses. Mr Bennett said that he has two horses racing currently. In the current season, he has had 14 drives and, in the 2009/2010 season, had a total of 12 drives. It was a driver error justifying a suspension, Mrs Williams submitted.
Mr Bennett informed the Committee that his own preference would be for a suspension. Mrs Williams’ submission was for a suspension of 1-2 months, based on Mr Bennett’s only having 1-2 drives per month. Mr Bennett accepted that he only had 1-2 drives per month.
Mrs Williams submitted that 1 month equated to approximately 8 drives, for a driver having 2 drives per week.
reasonsforpenalty:
In deciding penalty, the Committee took into account, as aggravating factors that Mr Bennett’s carelessness resulted in his own horse’s falling and two other runners receiving interference. The carelessness was, in the Committee’s view, at the high end of a scale of seriousness in this case because it resulted in a fall. The Committee was satisfied that, in all of the circumstances, a suspension was called for.
The Committee had to determine what an appropriate term of suspension was. This was not a simple exercise having regard to the infrequency with which Mr Bennett drives. Any term of suspension needed to adequately reflect the seriousness of the offending and to act as sufficient deterrent.
The Committee decided that the term of suspension should involve, as a minimum, 6-8 drives. Anything less would be overly lenient, in the Committee’s view. In Mr Bennett’s case, 6-8 drives would equate to no less than a 3 months’ suspension.
penalty:
Mr Bennett’s Graduation Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the close of racing on 31 December 2010 up to and including 30 March 2011.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(a) and (b)
Informant: KR Williams - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: JR Bennett - Licensed Graduation Driver
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 0181b70e43f71bb0123633b81e1ca013
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race_title: R 4
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meetdate: 31/12/2010
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 31 December 2010
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name: Rangiora HRC