Timaru HRC 7 October 2018 – R 1 – Chair, Mr D Anderson
ID: JCA16050
Meet Title:
Timaru HRC - 7 October 2018
Meet Chair:
DAnderson
Meet Committee Member 1:
GClapp
Race Date:
2018/10/07
Race Number:
R 1
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr Low’s licence to drive is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including racing on the 21 December 2018.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Supreme Equine Feeds Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Amateur Driver, Mr Low, alleging that “Mr Low (WESTAR SAM) drove carelessly near the 600 metres when allowing his horse to contact the sulky wheel of LIVING LEGEND".
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
(b) carelessly
Mr Low confirmed to the Committee that he did not admit this breach of the Rules and he had a clear understanding of the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Renault with the assistance of Mrs Tibbs used the race films to identify Mr Low driving WESTAR SAM in the 1x1 position approaching the 600 metres. They used all available films to show WESTAR SAM appear to touch LIVING LEGEND’S (Mr M Stratford) wheel and gallop checking XMAS BAY (Mr T Quate). Mr Renault then showed the Committee several slow motion close up replays of the incident which were of very clear quality. He said the Steward’s opinion was that this case was straightforward and he had nothing further to add.
Mr Renault was asked by the Committee if the tyre of LIVING LEGEND was punctured. He said it was not.
Mr Low submitted that his horse put a couple of “roughies in” but he was positive that he did not touch a wheel. He said it may look like he was very close to it on the films but said “you always know if you hit one”. He asked if he could call Mr M Stratford the driver of LIVING LEGEND as his witness.
In response to Mr Low’s questions Mr Stratford said he was unaware anything had happened behind him. He said he didn’t feel or hear any contact to his wheel or disc and would have expected to, had there been contact.
Mr Renault then asked Mr Stratford who had now viewed the films, if he was still of this opinion. Mr Stratford said it does look fairly close but that he didn’t hear anything.
Mr Low finished his defence by using the films to show that his horse’s head had been right behind the helmet of Mr Stratford and said this would ensure that he couldn’t hit a wheel. He added his horse was driving straight and didn’t have a tendency to throw its legs outwards. He said “I know it does look like I clipped it but I’ll swear black and blue I didn’t “.
Mr Renault in response to Mr Low’s assessment showed a front on film which he contended showed WESTAR SAM’S hoof directly behind the wheel of LIVING LEGEND.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence presented to it. The Stewards alleged that Mr Low drove carelessly by allowing his horse to contact the sulky wheel of LIVING LEGEND near the 600m.
Mr Low was certain that he had not.
The video evidence was compelling. It clearly shows WESTAR SAM’S leg striking the wheel and then recoiling back slightly. The strike was not of great force but it was enough to break WESTAR SAMS’S stride who galloped and checked another runner.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Low was having his third drive for this season and he had driven on 19 occasions last season. He said Mr Low had an excellent record under this rule which deserved some credit.
Mr Renault said the Stewards note the JCA penalty guidelines for a driver hitting a wheel, is a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine. He said not only had Mr Low diminished his chances, but also that of a trailing runner, and stated this should incur an uplift of penalty. He said that Mr Low’s record was a factor and the Stewards would be seeking a fine of $300.
Mr Low asked if he could take a suspension instead of a fine.
Mr Renault said as with Amateur Driver penalties, at two drives per month, this would equate to a three-month suspension for this case.
Mr Low had no submissions to make on penalty and when deferment was discussed he said it was not needed.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee, carefully considered all the evidence and submissions available to them. We have adopted the JCA penalty guideline which is a six-drive suspension.
The Committee considered this to be a low-range breach with mid-range consequences. The aggravating factor being two horses had their chances diminished.
In mitigation we considered Mr Lows excellent record and reflected on the small margin of error that had occurred.
The Committee after considering the combination of the above factors imposed a 5-drive suspension which equates to 2 and ½ months for an Amateur Driver, as an appropriate penalty.
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: b42c1238eddb9ca97d7678c73efa4984
informantnumber: A09995
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 08/10/2018
hearing_title: Timaru HRC 7 October 2018 - R 1 - Chair, Mr D Anderson
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the Supreme Equine Feeds Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Renault, against Amateur Driver, Mr Low, alleging that “Mr Low (WESTAR SAM) drove carelessly near the 600 metres when allowing his horse to contact the sulky wheel of LIVING LEGEND".
Rule 869 provides as follows:
(2) No horseman in any race shall drive: -
(b) carelessly
Mr Low confirmed to the Committee that he did not admit this breach of the Rules and he had a clear understanding of the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Renault with the assistance of Mrs Tibbs used the race films to identify Mr Low driving WESTAR SAM in the 1x1 position approaching the 600 metres. They used all available films to show WESTAR SAM appear to touch LIVING LEGEND’S (Mr M Stratford) wheel and gallop checking XMAS BAY (Mr T Quate). Mr Renault then showed the Committee several slow motion close up replays of the incident which were of very clear quality. He said the Steward’s opinion was that this case was straightforward and he had nothing further to add.
Mr Renault was asked by the Committee if the tyre of LIVING LEGEND was punctured. He said it was not.
Mr Low submitted that his horse put a couple of “roughies in” but he was positive that he did not touch a wheel. He said it may look like he was very close to it on the films but said “you always know if you hit one”. He asked if he could call Mr M Stratford the driver of LIVING LEGEND as his witness.
In response to Mr Low’s questions Mr Stratford said he was unaware anything had happened behind him. He said he didn’t feel or hear any contact to his wheel or disc and would have expected to, had there been contact.
Mr Renault then asked Mr Stratford who had now viewed the films, if he was still of this opinion. Mr Stratford said it does look fairly close but that he didn’t hear anything.
Mr Low finished his defence by using the films to show that his horse’s head had been right behind the helmet of Mr Stratford and said this would ensure that he couldn’t hit a wheel. He added his horse was driving straight and didn’t have a tendency to throw its legs outwards. He said “I know it does look like I clipped it but I’ll swear black and blue I didn’t “.
Mr Renault in response to Mr Low’s assessment showed a front on film which he contended showed WESTAR SAM’S hoof directly behind the wheel of LIVING LEGEND.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence presented to it. The Stewards alleged that Mr Low drove carelessly by allowing his horse to contact the sulky wheel of LIVING LEGEND near the 600m.
Mr Low was certain that he had not.
The video evidence was compelling. It clearly shows WESTAR SAM’S leg striking the wheel and then recoiling back slightly. The strike was not of great force but it was enough to break WESTAR SAMS’S stride who galloped and checked another runner.
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Renault stated that Mr Low was having his third drive for this season and he had driven on 19 occasions last season. He said Mr Low had an excellent record under this rule which deserved some credit.
Mr Renault said the Stewards note the JCA penalty guidelines for a driver hitting a wheel, is a 6-drive suspension or a $300 fine. He said not only had Mr Low diminished his chances, but also that of a trailing runner, and stated this should incur an uplift of penalty. He said that Mr Low’s record was a factor and the Stewards would be seeking a fine of $300.
Mr Low asked if he could take a suspension instead of a fine.
Mr Renault said as with Amateur Driver penalties, at two drives per month, this would equate to a three-month suspension for this case.
Mr Low had no submissions to make on penalty and when deferment was discussed he said it was not needed.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee, carefully considered all the evidence and submissions available to them. We have adopted the JCA penalty guideline which is a six-drive suspension.
The Committee considered this to be a low-range breach with mid-range consequences. The aggravating factor being two horses had their chances diminished.
In mitigation we considered Mr Lows excellent record and reflected on the small margin of error that had occurred.
The Committee after considering the combination of the above factors imposed a 5-drive suspension which equates to 2 and ½ months for an Amateur Driver, as an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Mr Low’s licence to drive is suspended from the conclusion of racing today up to and including racing on the 21 December 2018.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Renault - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr W Low - Amateur Driver
Otherperson: Mrs C Tibbs - Stipendiary Steward, Mr D Wadley - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 67bd5b234f7e3eacbe3f7260542a85c7
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: f06a127e7a9a778a63cddc22f3875f84
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 07/10/2018
meet_title: Timaru HRC - 7 October 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: timaru-hrc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: DAnderson
meet_pm1: GClapp
meet_pm2: none
name: Timaru HRC