Reefton TC 30 December 2019 – R 8 – Chair, Mr S Ching
ID: JCA17392
Meet Title:
Reefton TC - 30 December 2019
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
DAnderson
Race Date:
2019/12/30
Race Number:
R8
Decision:
As Mr Smith had admitted the breach, the charge was therefore found proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Smith was fined the sum of $250.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Open Horseman, Mr G Smith, alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) in that he failed to maintain a straight course in the run home.
Rule 869(4)) reads as follows.
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
Mr Smith had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also acknowledged that he understood the Rule he was being charged with.
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to show Mr Smith, driving JUST HOLLA, positioned as the lead horse and on the pylons as the field entered the home straight. He pointed out Mr Smith, who allowed his horse to drift out approximately 3 horse widths over the early stages of the straight, before straightening and again, closer to the finish, allowing his horse to shift out on a second occasion, approximately ½ a horse width, putting MISS DAYTONA into restricted room just prior to the line.
Mr Renault added that this did not have any effect on MISS DAYTONA chances. He also pointed out on the replays that the horse on the outside of MISS DAYTONA, contributed to the final incident due to it shifting in and adding to the tightening.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Smith’s driving statistics showed that he had driven on 145 occasions this season to date, with 442 drives last season. He stated that Mr Smith had a clear record in regard to this Rule and had admitted the breach.
Mr Renault stated that the JCA Penalty Guide provided for a breach of this rule, a starting point of a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine.
Mr Renault submitted that the breach was low to mid and a fine of between $250 to $300 be considered as penalty in this case.
Reasons for Penalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of $300 for a mid-range breach of this Rule.
The Committee also assessed this breach as low to mid and adopted a $300 starting point. We determined that there were no aggravating factors to consider, therefore no uplift in penalty warranted.
There were however mitigating factors to consider, being Mr Smith’s clear record and his admission of the breach, which warranted a combined discount. This discount we set at $50. We therefore determined that a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
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: ddfae3d44486e8d85d77e4876cc86b3e
informantnumber: A13108
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to maintain a straight course in the home run
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 31/12/2019
hearing_title: Reefton TC 30 December 2019 - R 8 - Chair, Mr S Ching
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault against Open Horseman, Mr G Smith, alleging a breach of Rule 869(4) in that he failed to maintain a straight course in the run home.
Rule 869(4)) reads as follows.
(4) No horseman shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress.
Mr Smith had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted which he confirmed at the hearing. He also acknowledged that he understood the Rule he was being charged with.
Mr Renault gave evidence and used video coverage to show Mr Smith, driving JUST HOLLA, positioned as the lead horse and on the pylons as the field entered the home straight. He pointed out Mr Smith, who allowed his horse to drift out approximately 3 horse widths over the early stages of the straight, before straightening and again, closer to the finish, allowing his horse to shift out on a second occasion, approximately ½ a horse width, putting MISS DAYTONA into restricted room just prior to the line.
Mr Renault added that this did not have any effect on MISS DAYTONA chances. He also pointed out on the replays that the horse on the outside of MISS DAYTONA, contributed to the final incident due to it shifting in and adding to the tightening.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Smith had admitted the breach, the charge was therefore found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Smith’s driving statistics showed that he had driven on 145 occasions this season to date, with 442 drives last season. He stated that Mr Smith had a clear record in regard to this Rule and had admitted the breach.
Mr Renault stated that the JCA Penalty Guide provided for a breach of this rule, a starting point of a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine.
Mr Renault submitted that the breach was low to mid and a fine of between $250 to $300 be considered as penalty in this case.
reasonsforpenalty:
The JCA Penalty Guide provides a starting point of $300 for a mid-range breach of this Rule.
The Committee also assessed this breach as low to mid and adopted a $300 starting point. We determined that there were no aggravating factors to consider, therefore no uplift in penalty warranted.
There were however mitigating factors to consider, being Mr Smith’s clear record and his admission of the breach, which warranted a combined discount. This discount we set at $50. We therefore determined that a fine of $250 was an appropriate penalty in this case.
penalty:
Accordingly, Mr Smith was fined the sum of $250.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(4)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Smth- Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 3aff1920bec1efb00472f165330c52fb
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f466ddd06e8f75c3c61439f4aa01b89f
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 30/12/2019
meet_title: Reefton TC - 30 December 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: reefton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: DAnderson
meet_pm2: none
name: Reefton TC