Riverton TC 5 November 2017 – R 9 – Chair, Prof G Hall
ID: JCA13726
Meet Title:
Riverton TC - 5 November 2017
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
MConway
Race Date:
2017/11/05
Race Number:
R 9
Decision:
We thus find the breach proved.
Penalty:
The respondent is a busy Southland driver. After credit for his record, which we accept can be described as exemplary considering his number of drives, the penalty is a fine of $350. We also remind Mr Hunter of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
Facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Hunter drove carelessly near the 950 metres of Race 9, THE RYDER PLUMBING AND ROOFING MOBILE PACE, when he was not sufficiently clear of ALEXY, which was checked and broke.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that Mr Hunter was 3 wide driving TIZIANO with ALEXY to his inside. Mr Hunter endeavoured to move to the 2 wide line and, in so doing, came into contact with ALEXY which was checked and broke. Mr Tidmarsh showed a number of video angles and paused a close up shot that demonstrated that there had been contact with the near side foreleg of ALEXY, which had made contact with Mr Hunter’s cart. He said the video showed quite clearly that Mr Hunter was not clear of ALEXY when he shifted in.
Mr Tidmarsh called Mr O’Connell, the driver of ALEXY. He said his horse galloped because Mr Hunter had “come round”. He was happy for Mr Hunter to do so as he would have got a one one sit. He said it was very tight on the bend and that his horse had gone rough when it was placed under pressure due to Mr Hunter’s move. He said he could now see from the video that there was contact. He was not aware of that at the time. In response to questioning, he said he did not believe his horse had “surged” at the time of contact. It was just tense. He was not pushing forward.
Mr Hunter stated that he believed he had already crossed Mr O’Connell before ALEXY broke. He believed ALEXY broke because the horse was worrying because it had been placed under pressure. He said the video demonstrated his cart was in the one one before there was contact. The touching of his wheel happened as the horses were travelling along one out. He said he had made his inwards move and was clear of ALEXY when Mr O’Connell went to go inside of him and that was the reason for the incident. He emphasised it had happened on a bend and the videos demonstrated he was strongly urging his horse forward at the time. He said it was only a “split second” but he believed he had crossed ALEXY before the contact.
Mr Tidmarsh replied that Mr Hunter was not clear of ALEXY when that horse broke and emphasised that Mr O’Connell had said he was going to ease ALEXY to follow Mr Hunter.
Reasons for Decision:
We are satisfied that Mr Hunter was not fully clear of ALEXY when he shifted from 3 to 2 wide. Mr O’Connell was clearly established to Mr Hunter’s inside when Mr Hunter shifted in. The video shows ALEXY’s near side foreleg is established to the inside to Mr Hunter’s wheel when the touching occurs. This supports the informant’s case that the respondent had not fully completed his inwards manoeuvre when the touching occurred and was insufficiently clear of Mr O’Connell at this time. In our view, Mr Hunter had not reached the parked position until after the touching had occurred.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced the respondent’s record, which he described as “exemplary”. Mr Hunter has had 181 drives last season and 28 this season.
Mr Tidmarsh described the breach as being towards mid range given the effect on ALEXY’s chances and he also pointed out Mr N Williamson had had to shift wider to avoid that horse.
Mr Hunter submitted that a fine at the lower end was appropriate.
Reasons for Penalty:
Mr Hunter’s carelessness resulted in interference to ALEXY with that horse breaking. We believe the breach is mid-range. Mr Hunter’s actions extinguished the chances of ALEXY when the horse was about to take up a favoured position in the field. Mr N Williamson was also inconvenienced.
The starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide is a fine of $500.
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: 5cabe21ee966759ae34fb740c4afe6b5
informantnumber: A9765
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 10/11/2017
hearing_title: Riverton TC 5 November 2017 - R 9 - Chair, Prof G Hall
charge:
facts:
Mr Tidmarsh, Stipendiary Steward, alleged that Mr Hunter drove carelessly near the 950 metres of Race 9, THE RYDER PLUMBING AND ROOFING MOBILE PACE, when he was not sufficiently clear of ALEXY, which was checked and broke.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Tidmarsh demonstrated on the videos that Mr Hunter was 3 wide driving TIZIANO with ALEXY to his inside. Mr Hunter endeavoured to move to the 2 wide line and, in so doing, came into contact with ALEXY which was checked and broke. Mr Tidmarsh showed a number of video angles and paused a close up shot that demonstrated that there had been contact with the near side foreleg of ALEXY, which had made contact with Mr Hunter’s cart. He said the video showed quite clearly that Mr Hunter was not clear of ALEXY when he shifted in.
Mr Tidmarsh called Mr O’Connell, the driver of ALEXY. He said his horse galloped because Mr Hunter had “come round”. He was happy for Mr Hunter to do so as he would have got a one one sit. He said it was very tight on the bend and that his horse had gone rough when it was placed under pressure due to Mr Hunter’s move. He said he could now see from the video that there was contact. He was not aware of that at the time. In response to questioning, he said he did not believe his horse had “surged” at the time of contact. It was just tense. He was not pushing forward.
Mr Hunter stated that he believed he had already crossed Mr O’Connell before ALEXY broke. He believed ALEXY broke because the horse was worrying because it had been placed under pressure. He said the video demonstrated his cart was in the one one before there was contact. The touching of his wheel happened as the horses were travelling along one out. He said he had made his inwards move and was clear of ALEXY when Mr O’Connell went to go inside of him and that was the reason for the incident. He emphasised it had happened on a bend and the videos demonstrated he was strongly urging his horse forward at the time. He said it was only a “split second” but he believed he had crossed ALEXY before the contact.
Mr Tidmarsh replied that Mr Hunter was not clear of ALEXY when that horse broke and emphasised that Mr O’Connell had said he was going to ease ALEXY to follow Mr Hunter.
reasonsfordecision:
We are satisfied that Mr Hunter was not fully clear of ALEXY when he shifted from 3 to 2 wide. Mr O’Connell was clearly established to Mr Hunter’s inside when Mr Hunter shifted in. The video shows ALEXY’s near side foreleg is established to the inside to Mr Hunter’s wheel when the touching occurs. This supports the informant’s case that the respondent had not fully completed his inwards manoeuvre when the touching occurred and was insufficiently clear of Mr O’Connell at this time. In our view, Mr Hunter had not reached the parked position until after the touching had occurred.
Decision:
We thus find the breach proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Tidmarsh produced the respondent’s record, which he described as “exemplary”. Mr Hunter has had 181 drives last season and 28 this season.
Mr Tidmarsh described the breach as being towards mid range given the effect on ALEXY’s chances and he also pointed out Mr N Williamson had had to shift wider to avoid that horse.
Mr Hunter submitted that a fine at the lower end was appropriate.
reasonsforpenalty:
Mr Hunter’s carelessness resulted in interference to ALEXY with that horse breaking. We believe the breach is mid-range. Mr Hunter’s actions extinguished the chances of ALEXY when the horse was about to take up a favoured position in the field. Mr N Williamson was also inconvenienced.
The starting point in the JCA Penalty Guide is a fine of $500.
penalty:
The respondent is a busy Southland driver. After credit for his record, which we accept can be described as exemplary considering his number of drives, the penalty is a fine of $350. We also remind Mr Hunter of his obligations under the Rules of Harness Racing.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr L Tidmarsh - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr H Hunter - Open Horseman
Otherperson: Mr O'Connell - Open Horseman
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b43b38853a3032b9f3c8cba8d59d1f1d
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 9
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: ae60342896ee79f9420ea5337b2dc20d
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 05/11/2017
meet_title: Riverton TC - 5 November 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: riverton-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: MConway
meet_pm2: none
name: Riverton TC