Rangiora HRC 31 December 2011 – R 5
ID: JCA10884
Meet Title:
Rangiora HRC - 31 December 2011
Meet Chair:
JPhelan
Meet Committee Member 1:
KHales
Race Date:
2011/12/31
Race Number:
R 5
Decision:
As Mr Geddes had admitted this breach it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
Penalty:
Mr Geddes’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the completion of racing on 31 December 2011 until after the completion of racing on 22 January 2012. This 7 day suspension encompasses the following race days.
6 and 8 January 2012 at Nelson
10 January 2012 at Oamaru
13 and 15 January 2012 at Blenheim
20 January 2012 at NZMTC
22 January 2012 at Banks Peninsula
Charge:
Alleged incompetent driving.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the North Canterbury Trotting Handicap Trot, Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault filed an information against Open Horseman Mr J. B. Geddes alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(a). It was alleged that Mr Geddes, the driver of McBlizzard” (13), had driven incompetently.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(a) (in that) you allowed “McBlizzard” to continue in a pace from the 400m without trying to get the gelding into its correct gait.”
Rule 869(3)(a) reads as follows:
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(a) Incompetently:”
Mr Geddes had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Geddes also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Submissions for Decision:
This was a race for trotters. Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to show that at about the 450 metre mark a breaking horse went back through the field, and as a result “McBlizzard”, which was racing towards the back of the field, broke briefly. This horse then paced from about the 400 metre mark until the end of the race.
It was the Stipendiary Stewards’ case that Mr Geddes was incompetent in not identifying that his horse was pacing, and in not returning it to its proper gait.
Mr Geddes gave evidence that “McBlizzard” was a trotting bred gelding and that he had driven in all but a few of its 21 starts. He said that “McBlizzard” had never paced a step in its life. After the incident where he received interference at about the 450 metre mark, it took some time before he realised the horse was pacing. By this time there was only about 150 metres to run and he was last (but for one straggler) and well out of contention. Mr Geddes said that under the circumstances he saw no point in trying to return “McBlizzard” to its correct gait.
Submissions for Penalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Renault advised that Mr Geddes has a clear record. He referred to a recent case where a Junior Horseman had been suspended for 7 weeks, but in that case the horse had been in its incorrect gait for 2200 metres of a 2600 metre race and had finished in 2nd place. The horse had been disqualified.
Mr Renault submitted that a one month suspension should be imposed in this case.
Mr Geddes made submissions that his horse was out of contention when it broke at about the 450 metre mark, and that being in its incorrect gait had no effect on the outcome of the race.
We adjourned to consider our decision as to penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
In considering the matter of an appropriate penalty we took into consideration three recent similar cases.
The case relating to Junior Horseman “C” on 15 July 2011 is referred to above. “C” does not have a lot of drives, and the breach was aggravated by the fact that his horse paced for most of the race, and finished in 2nd place.
In “A” on 13 February 2011, an experienced and relatively busy driver, was suspended for 5 days and fined $1500-00 for allowing his horse to pace for 1800 metres.
In “P” on 7 June 2011, a Junior Horseman allowed his horse to pace for approximately 1000 metres in a trotting race, and he was suspended for 12 days.
In our view all the above three cases were more serious than this breach. We also took into account that Mr Geddes has a good record and had admitted the breach. It was also very relevant that this breach of the Rules had no effect on the outcome of the race or “McBlizzard’s” chances.
Taking all the above matters into account we decided that a 7 day suspension was appropriate in this case. Mr Geddes was advised of his right to have any suspension delayed until after 7 January 2012, but he chose to have the suspension start immediately.
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: 0519f3e0cecae1e4d2d7a89aeb08ea52
informantnumber: A5344
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 20/12/2011
hearing_title: Rangiora HRC 31 December 2011 - R 5
charge:
Alleged incompetent driving.
facts:
Following the running of Race 5, the North Canterbury Trotting Handicap Trot, Stipendiary Steward Mr S. P. Renault filed an information against Open Horseman Mr J. B. Geddes alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(a). It was alleged that Mr Geddes, the driver of McBlizzard” (13), had driven incompetently.
The charge reads as follows:
“I the above named informant allege that the above named Respondent committed a breach of Rule 869(3)(a) (in that) you allowed “McBlizzard” to continue in a pace from the 400m without trying to get the gelding into its correct gait.”
Rule 869(3)(a) reads as follows:
“(3) No horseman in any race shall drive:-
(a) Incompetently:”
Mr Geddes had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Geddes also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
This was a race for trotters. Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to show that at about the 450 metre mark a breaking horse went back through the field, and as a result “McBlizzard”, which was racing towards the back of the field, broke briefly. This horse then paced from about the 400 metre mark until the end of the race.
It was the Stipendiary Stewards’ case that Mr Geddes was incompetent in not identifying that his horse was pacing, and in not returning it to its proper gait.
Mr Geddes gave evidence that “McBlizzard” was a trotting bred gelding and that he had driven in all but a few of its 21 starts. He said that “McBlizzard” had never paced a step in its life. After the incident where he received interference at about the 450 metre mark, it took some time before he realised the horse was pacing. By this time there was only about 150 metres to run and he was last (but for one straggler) and well out of contention. Mr Geddes said that under the circumstances he saw no point in trying to return “McBlizzard” to its correct gait.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Geddes had admitted this breach it was found to be proved in accordance with Rule 1111(1)(d).
sumissionsforpenalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Renault advised that Mr Geddes has a clear record. He referred to a recent case where a Junior Horseman had been suspended for 7 weeks, but in that case the horse had been in its incorrect gait for 2200 metres of a 2600 metre race and had finished in 2nd place. The horse had been disqualified.
Mr Renault submitted that a one month suspension should be imposed in this case.
Mr Geddes made submissions that his horse was out of contention when it broke at about the 450 metre mark, and that being in its incorrect gait had no effect on the outcome of the race.
We adjourned to consider our decision as to penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
In considering the matter of an appropriate penalty we took into consideration three recent similar cases.
The case relating to Junior Horseman “C” on 15 July 2011 is referred to above. “C” does not have a lot of drives, and the breach was aggravated by the fact that his horse paced for most of the race, and finished in 2nd place.
In “A” on 13 February 2011, an experienced and relatively busy driver, was suspended for 5 days and fined $1500-00 for allowing his horse to pace for 1800 metres.
In “P” on 7 June 2011, a Junior Horseman allowed his horse to pace for approximately 1000 metres in a trotting race, and he was suspended for 12 days.
In our view all the above three cases were more serious than this breach. We also took into account that Mr Geddes has a good record and had admitted the breach. It was also very relevant that this breach of the Rules had no effect on the outcome of the race or “McBlizzard’s” chances.
Taking all the above matters into account we decided that a 7 day suspension was appropriate in this case. Mr Geddes was advised of his right to have any suspension delayed until after 7 January 2012, but he chose to have the suspension start immediately.
penalty:
Mr Geddes’s Open Horseman’s Licence was suspended from after the completion of racing on 31 December 2011 until after the completion of racing on 22 January 2012. This 7 day suspension encompasses the following race days.
6 and 8 January 2012 at Nelson
10 January 2012 at Oamaru
13 and 15 January 2012 at Blenheim
20 January 2012 at NZMTC
22 January 2012 at Banks Peninsula
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(a)
Informant: Mr SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr JB Geddes - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: bfbcf31edb6d9eb22b8376aaaece5ba4
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 5
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: a7472fa204412cd42ec5b319341b316c
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 31/12/2011
meet_title: Rangiora HRC - 31 December 2011
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: rangiora-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: JPhelan
meet_pm1: KHales
meet_pm2: none
name: Rangiora HRC