Waikato BOP H 24 December 2017 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Godsalve
ID: JCA13195
Meet Title:
Harness Racing Waikato - 24 December 2017
Meet Chair:
AGodsalve
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2017/12/24
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As the breach is admitted we find the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a fine of $750 on Mr Purdon.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the GRASS TRACK RACING @ THAMES 13th JAN MOBILE PACE 2700m, Mr Muirhead lodged an Information alleging that Junior Driver Mr N Purdon 'drove FLASH BOY in a manner capable of diminishing its chances of winning when he miscounted the rounds with approximately 1200 metres to run'.
Mr Purdon, assisted by Open Horseman, Mr S Phelan, was present at the hearing. He acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(g) states 'No horseman in any race shall drive in any manner capable of diminishing the chances of his horse winning'.
This race was a Junior Drivers only race over the distance of 2700 metres. At the Cambridge track, that requires the field to start at about the 700 metres mark in the back straight, race to the finishing post and then complete a further two circuits of the track.
Mr Muirhead identified FLASH BOY as the field entered the home straight with just over a circuit to run. The horse was in a 1x1 position. He then pointed out that Mr Purdon had shifted the horse out into a 3 wide position and driven the horse forward quite vigorously with the whip. As he neared the finishing post it was clear that he heard the bell ringing, identifying that the field was starting the final lap. It was clear from the film that Mr Purdon had 'sat up' and stopped driving the horse forward, realising his mistake.
Mr Muirhead added that the 2 leaders ahead of FLASH BOY had been viying for the lead and had run quite quick times prior to this incident. The horse in the trailing position had begun to weaken badly, and in defence of Mr Purdon, Mr Muirhead added that the circumstances were a little unusual.
Mr Purdon said that he accepted Mr Muirhead's interpretation of what had taken place. He confirmed to the Committee that he had previously driven at the Cambridge track and that he had mistakenly 'taken off' as if it was the finish of the race.
Mr Phelan added that Mr Purdon had suffered from a 'brain fade' in an attempt to get handier to the lead and that his actions indicated a 50/50 decision on his part which turned out to be a bad decision.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead drew the Committees attention to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides a fine of $750 or a 15 drive suspension as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. He said that he believed this was a 'one off' breach by Mr Purdon and that the Stewards considered he should be given credit for his admission. He added that Mr Purdon had not breached this Rule before, and submitted that the Committee took into account that he was a Junior Driver.
Mr Purdon, supported by Mr Phelan, asked that the breach be dealt with by way of a fine. Mr Purdon stated that if he was to be suspended from driving he would like a 7 day deferment to allow him to drive at the Auckland meeting on 31st December 2017. He told the Committee that he was based in Christchurch, and was driving in the North Island principally to be involved with horses trained by his father's stables.
The Committee questioned Mr Purdon closely on where in the South Island he usually drove at as we needed to determine which racedays would be included in a suspension if we were to take that path in imposing a meaningful penalty. Mr Purdon told the Committee that as a general rule he was driving between 2 or 3 times per raceday. He said that he would not be driving at other tracks in the North Island and did not anticipate travelling far from his Christchurch base to drive during January 2018.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee confirmed that the starting point provided by the JCA Penalty Guide for a breach of this Rule was a $750 fine or a 15 drive suspension.
We viewed this breach as a serious matter, the horse FLASH BOY had been reasonably well supported by punters and while it eventually finished in 6th placing, its chances of winning or being placed higher were clearly affected by Mr Purdon's actions. We therefore assessed Mr Purdon's culpability to be above mid-range on the level of seriousness. We took note of the fact that Mr Purdon is a fairly experienced Junior Driver. He had, prior to this meeting-driven 198 times in races and won 18 of those. He has also had a Group win (in Australia ) to his credit.
Our initial penalty deliberations were focused therefore on a suspension of his driving license. However we faced some difficulty in pin pointing which upcoming meetings he may be driving at. As stated earlier we considered the breach to be above mid-range, and therefore we would be applying an uplift on the 15 drive suspension if we went along that path. It became evident that if we suspended him from driving, using 2 drives per meeting as a basis, he could be away from driving for some considerable time given the availability of racedays to assess his penalty. We determined therefore that a long suspension from driving in a busy time of the year may be a penalty which outweighed the seriousness of the breach.
We then turned to a fine as a penalty. The starting point, $750, would have to be uplifted due to the reasons stated above, i.e. effect of the breach; his relative experience as a driver, and the need to impose a penalty which would be meaningful and act as a deterrent to other drivers. We then took into account his admission of the breach, his clear record (and quite good driving record overall ) and that he is a Junior Driver. We balanced these factors against the reasons we would have uplifted the starting point to reach a satisfactory 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: 51053a3a69017dedaf420d6d9d702f06
informantnumber: A2638
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Diminishing chances-miscounted rounds
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 27/12/2017
hearing_title: Waikato BOP H 24 December 2017 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Godsalve
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 1, the GRASS TRACK RACING @ THAMES 13th JAN MOBILE PACE 2700m, Mr Muirhead lodged an Information alleging that Junior Driver Mr N Purdon 'drove FLASH BOY in a manner capable of diminishing its chances of winning when he miscounted the rounds with approximately 1200 metres to run'.
Mr Purdon, assisted by Open Horseman, Mr S Phelan, was present at the hearing. He acknowledged that he understood the Rule and that he admitted the breach.
Rule 869(3)(g) states 'No horseman in any race shall drive in any manner capable of diminishing the chances of his horse winning'.
This race was a Junior Drivers only race over the distance of 2700 metres. At the Cambridge track, that requires the field to start at about the 700 metres mark in the back straight, race to the finishing post and then complete a further two circuits of the track.
Mr Muirhead identified FLASH BOY as the field entered the home straight with just over a circuit to run. The horse was in a 1x1 position. He then pointed out that Mr Purdon had shifted the horse out into a 3 wide position and driven the horse forward quite vigorously with the whip. As he neared the finishing post it was clear that he heard the bell ringing, identifying that the field was starting the final lap. It was clear from the film that Mr Purdon had 'sat up' and stopped driving the horse forward, realising his mistake.
Mr Muirhead added that the 2 leaders ahead of FLASH BOY had been viying for the lead and had run quite quick times prior to this incident. The horse in the trailing position had begun to weaken badly, and in defence of Mr Purdon, Mr Muirhead added that the circumstances were a little unusual.
Mr Purdon said that he accepted Mr Muirhead's interpretation of what had taken place. He confirmed to the Committee that he had previously driven at the Cambridge track and that he had mistakenly 'taken off' as if it was the finish of the race.
Mr Phelan added that Mr Purdon had suffered from a 'brain fade' in an attempt to get handier to the lead and that his actions indicated a 50/50 decision on his part which turned out to be a bad decision.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As the breach is admitted we find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead drew the Committees attention to the JCA Penalty Guide which provides a fine of $750 or a 15 drive suspension as a starting point for a breach of this Rule. He said that he believed this was a 'one off' breach by Mr Purdon and that the Stewards considered he should be given credit for his admission. He added that Mr Purdon had not breached this Rule before, and submitted that the Committee took into account that he was a Junior Driver.
Mr Purdon, supported by Mr Phelan, asked that the breach be dealt with by way of a fine. Mr Purdon stated that if he was to be suspended from driving he would like a 7 day deferment to allow him to drive at the Auckland meeting on 31st December 2017. He told the Committee that he was based in Christchurch, and was driving in the North Island principally to be involved with horses trained by his father's stables.
The Committee questioned Mr Purdon closely on where in the South Island he usually drove at as we needed to determine which racedays would be included in a suspension if we were to take that path in imposing a meaningful penalty. Mr Purdon told the Committee that as a general rule he was driving between 2 or 3 times per raceday. He said that he would not be driving at other tracks in the North Island and did not anticipate travelling far from his Christchurch base to drive during January 2018.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee confirmed that the starting point provided by the JCA Penalty Guide for a breach of this Rule was a $750 fine or a 15 drive suspension.
We viewed this breach as a serious matter, the horse FLASH BOY had been reasonably well supported by punters and while it eventually finished in 6th placing, its chances of winning or being placed higher were clearly affected by Mr Purdon's actions. We therefore assessed Mr Purdon's culpability to be above mid-range on the level of seriousness. We took note of the fact that Mr Purdon is a fairly experienced Junior Driver. He had, prior to this meeting-driven 198 times in races and won 18 of those. He has also had a Group win (in Australia ) to his credit.
Our initial penalty deliberations were focused therefore on a suspension of his driving license. However we faced some difficulty in pin pointing which upcoming meetings he may be driving at. As stated earlier we considered the breach to be above mid-range, and therefore we would be applying an uplift on the 15 drive suspension if we went along that path. It became evident that if we suspended him from driving, using 2 drives per meeting as a basis, he could be away from driving for some considerable time given the availability of racedays to assess his penalty. We determined therefore that a long suspension from driving in a busy time of the year may be a penalty which outweighed the seriousness of the breach.
We then turned to a fine as a penalty. The starting point, $750, would have to be uplifted due to the reasons stated above, i.e. effect of the breach; his relative experience as a driver, and the need to impose a penalty which would be meaningful and act as a deterrent to other drivers. We then took into account his admission of the breach, his clear record (and quite good driving record overall ) and that he is a Junior Driver. We balanced these factors against the reasons we would have uplifted the starting point to reach a satisfactory penalty.
penalty:
The Committee therefore imposed a fine of $750 on Mr Purdon.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rule 869(3)g)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr N Pudon - Licensed Junior Horseman
Otherperson: Mr S Phelan - Open Horseman assisting Mr Purdon
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b380d25fac1d1799b725c0a772880313
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
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meetdate: 24/12/2017
meet_title: Harness Racing Waikato - 24 December 2017
meet_expappcomment:
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tracklocation: harness-racing-waikato
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: AGodsalve
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Harness Racing Waikato