Waikato BOP H 1 July 2018 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA13136
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 1 July 2018
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2018/07/01
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Darby has admitted the breach we find the charge to be proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly we imposed as fine of $200 on Mr Darby.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the TRAC RACING TE AROHA MOBILE PACE 2200m, Mr Muirhead instigated a charge by way of an Information against Amateur Horseman, Mr J Darby. He alleged that Mr Darby 'drove A CHANCE TO DREAM carelessly contacting the sulky wheel of WAINGARO MARA approaching the 1100 metres'.
Mr Darby was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides 'No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.
Using the available films Mr Muirhead identified the horse A CHANCE TO DREAM at about the 1200 metres mark. The horse was in a 3 wide position towards the rear of the field. It was apparent on the films that Mr Darby was easing the horse backwards in an attempt to obtain a better position. As the horse moved inward to get behind WAINGARO MARA it clipped that horse's sulky wheel. This caused A CHANCE TO DREAM to stumble, however it quickly regained its gait. The horse eventually finished well out of the placings and Mr Muirhead said that it was difficult to assess the impact of it making contact with the other horse's sulky wheel.
He added that it was the Stewards position that drivers should be charged if they contacted another horses wheel unless there are extenuating circumstances. Mr Muirhead said that WAINGARO MARA'S tyre had not been ruptured and that there was no discernable effect on its chances as a result of the incident.
Mr Darby said that the connections of A CHANCE TO DREAM had decided that running the race in even quarters towards the lead was the best option for the horse's chances. However, he said that he had ended up 3 wide and had decided he should drop back in the field to try and get a more economical position. He added that he dropped back to be outside WAINGARO MARA which was in 2nd to last place, and then moved his horse inwards. He agreed that he had 'clipped' that horse's sulky wheel but had not deflated the tyre. He acknowledged that it was a miscalculation on his part.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead told the Committee that Mr Darby had a clear record as far as breaches of this Rule was concerned. He added that the incident was at the lower end of the scale, however the fact was that Mr Darby had touched the wheel of the horse ahead of it. Mr Muirhead submitted that fine of $200 woud be an appropriate penalty.
Mr Darby said that he would ask that the Committee 'think low' in respect of his penalty. He said that he did not believe that he had affected WAINGARO MARA'S chances.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee determined that the JCA Penalty Guide proves a starting point of a fine of $300 or a 6 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule. We took into account that Mr Darby had a clear record, and that he admitted the breach. We assessed the incident to be at the very low end of the scale. We took note of penalties imposed on other drivers in similar circumstances which suggested that a fine of $200 would be 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: 480ed4a9dc0a60bed435c4af490e865a
informantnumber: A10572
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Driving
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 01/07/2018
hearing_title: Waikato BOP H 1 July 2018 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the TRAC RACING TE AROHA MOBILE PACE 2200m, Mr Muirhead instigated a charge by way of an Information against Amateur Horseman, Mr J Darby. He alleged that Mr Darby 'drove A CHANCE TO DREAM carelessly contacting the sulky wheel of WAINGARO MARA approaching the 1100 metres'.
Mr Darby was present at the hearing and acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(b) provides 'No horseman in any race shall drive carelessly'.
Using the available films Mr Muirhead identified the horse A CHANCE TO DREAM at about the 1200 metres mark. The horse was in a 3 wide position towards the rear of the field. It was apparent on the films that Mr Darby was easing the horse backwards in an attempt to obtain a better position. As the horse moved inward to get behind WAINGARO MARA it clipped that horse's sulky wheel. This caused A CHANCE TO DREAM to stumble, however it quickly regained its gait. The horse eventually finished well out of the placings and Mr Muirhead said that it was difficult to assess the impact of it making contact with the other horse's sulky wheel.
He added that it was the Stewards position that drivers should be charged if they contacted another horses wheel unless there are extenuating circumstances. Mr Muirhead said that WAINGARO MARA'S tyre had not been ruptured and that there was no discernable effect on its chances as a result of the incident.
Mr Darby said that the connections of A CHANCE TO DREAM had decided that running the race in even quarters towards the lead was the best option for the horse's chances. However, he said that he had ended up 3 wide and had decided he should drop back in the field to try and get a more economical position. He added that he dropped back to be outside WAINGARO MARA which was in 2nd to last place, and then moved his horse inwards. He agreed that he had 'clipped' that horse's sulky wheel but had not deflated the tyre. He acknowledged that it was a miscalculation on his part.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Darby has admitted the breach we find the charge to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead told the Committee that Mr Darby had a clear record as far as breaches of this Rule was concerned. He added that the incident was at the lower end of the scale, however the fact was that Mr Darby had touched the wheel of the horse ahead of it. Mr Muirhead submitted that fine of $200 woud be an appropriate penalty.
Mr Darby said that he would ask that the Committee 'think low' in respect of his penalty. He said that he did not believe that he had affected WAINGARO MARA'S chances.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee determined that the JCA Penalty Guide proves a starting point of a fine of $300 or a 6 drive suspension for a breach of this Rule. We took into account that Mr Darby had a clear record, and that he admitted the breach. We assessed the incident to be at the very low end of the scale. We took note of penalties imposed on other drivers in similar circumstances which suggested that a fine of $200 would be an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Accordingly we imposed as fine of $200 on Mr Darby.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr J M Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr J Darby - Amateur Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 84cdea615188634341c15a60d63b4047
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: a9c43dd354abc857d715936e2cba543b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 01/07/2018
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 1 July 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato