Waikato RC 1 July 2017 – R 1 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA13645
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 1 July 2017
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2017/07/01
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Mr Johnson admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
The Committee grant Mr Johnson a 7 day deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, Mr Johnson had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 8 July and conclude after racing on 15 July 2017 (3 days)
That period of suspension encompasses meetings at
12 July – Avondale
14 July – Timaru
15 July – Hamilton / Wellington
9 July – Te Aroha was not included in Mr Johnson’s penalty because the race meeting is scheduled for Highweight / Jump and Amateur riders only.
Facts:
Following the running of race 1, Clarence Street Pak N Save 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 636(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Johnson failed to ride THE BOY WONDER out to the end of the race when there was a reasonable chance of running 4th (finished 5th).
Mr Johnson acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 636(1) (d) provides: A person being the rider of a horse in a race must ride his or her horse out to the end of the race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared.
Mr Williamson advised the Committee the official margin between 4th and 5th was a long head and produced the photo finish as evidence. He said THE BOY WONDER finished in 5th position.
Mr Johnson was shown the photo finish and acknowledged that the official margin between 4th and 5th was a long head.
Mr Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Johnson and showed that he was slapping his horse on the shoulder and said that his mount had a tendency to lay out in the home straight. He highlighted that inside the final 100 metres THE BOY WONDER was a neck in front of the eventual 4th placed horse EENY MEENY MINY MO. He said Mr Johnson relaxed his ride for the last 4 strides and Mr Johnson’s riding style visibly changed when he stopped riding his mount forward. He estimated the breach occurred in the final 30 metres of the race.
Mr Johnson said that his mount was racing just in behind the speed and in his opinion THE BOY WONDER was flat and inclined to lay out. He said he was mindful that JEWEL OF PATCH was racing on his outside and he did not want to cause any interference to that runner. He said his mount was labouring at the end of the race and he did not think the incident cost THE BOY WONDER a better placing.
In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Johnson conceded that after viewing the video footage he believed that he failed to ride his horse out for the final 1 or 2 strides.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Williamson produced Mr Johnson’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule in the last 12 months. He said in mitigation the Stewards concur that THE BOY WONDER was laying out in the home straight and he assessed the horse shifted out 3 to 4 horse widths. He said that Mr Johnson did make a genuine attempt to keep his mount on a straight line. He said while his mount was under pressure, Mr Johnson sat up 1 or 2 strides too early. In doing so it was unknown as to whether THE BOY WONDER would have finished in 4th or 5th place.
Mr Williamson said that similar penalties under this Rule varied from 6 days suspension to $550 fines. He provided the Committee with a list of similar penalties that the Stewards had compiled. He noted that 3 of those 12 penalties compiled had incurred fines. He advised that the difference in prize money between 4th and 5th pace was $500. Mr Williamson submitted a 2 day suspension would be a fitting penalty.
The Committee granted an adjournment to the hearing so Mr Johnson could contact his Agent, Mr Tannahill.
Mr Johnson advised the Committee that he was unable to contact his Agent. However, Mr Johnson said that he was aware Mr Tannahill had booked him to ride everywhere in the next 7 days. In view of that Mr Johnson sought a 7 day deferment to any proposed suspension so he could fulfil his engagements.
Mr Johnson asked the Committee to also consider imposing a fine instead of a suspension because he was chasing rides for the Premiership.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage of the alleged incident. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees has a sliding scale for breaches of this Rule. The starting point relates to the potential placing deemed to have been lost as a result of the breach. A rider potentially missing out on 4th place faces a starting point of 2 weeks suspension.
The Committee considered Mr Johnson’s submission regarding imposing a fine instead of a suspension, however we deemed that it would be inappropriate. In our view a fine would not act as an effective or realistic penalty especially after analysing the JCA database of penalties under this Rule.
It is important to note that the fines which Mr Williamson made reference to were not applicable to this charge. We base this on the fact that 2 of them dated back to 2012 which were prior to the JCA Penalty Guide effective 1 May 2015. The other case in 2016 related to a Jumps Jockey who have limited riding opportunities and historically result in lighter penalties compared to Class A riders.
When reviewing the video footage the Committee observed that THE BOY WONDER did lay out over the final 200 metres of the race. It was clear that 3 strides before the finish line Mr Johnson relaxed his ride and he failed to ride his horse out to the end of the race. It is relevant to note at that point in the race THE BOY WONDER was racing in 4th position and Mr Johnson had an unimpeded run to the finish line.
The Committee consider that the betting public who had invested on a first four and the connections of THE BOY WONDER may well have been disadvantaged by Mr Johnson’s actions.
The Committee calculated the recommended starting point of 2 weeks equates to 6 riding days for Mr Johnson.
The mitigating factors were Mr Johnson’s admission of the breach, his clear record in relation to this Rule and it was evident that THE BOY WONDER was laying out in the home straight with the horse appearing to be given its best. Mr Johnson is a busy rider, we were satisfied this breach was an error of judgement and there was no intent on his part. We assess the degree of culpability was towards the low end. Accordingly, these factors warrant a generous reduction from the starting point.
The Committee was satisfied that Mr Johnson has a recent history of riding throughout the country.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considers an appropriate suspension was 3 days.
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: 53181a33dac4b73e0a87dc4f046c5c67
informantnumber: A9461
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failed to ride his horse out to the end of the race
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 02/07/2017
hearing_title: Waikato RC 1 July 2017 - R 1 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 1, Clarence Street Pak N Save 1200, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 636(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Williamson, alleged that Mr Johnson failed to ride THE BOY WONDER out to the end of the race when there was a reasonable chance of running 4th (finished 5th).
Mr Johnson acknowledged that he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.
Rule 636(1) (d) provides: A person being the rider of a horse in a race must ride his or her horse out to the end of the race if there is a reasonable chance of it running into a position for which there is prize money to be awarded or a dividend to be declared.
Mr Williamson advised the Committee the official margin between 4th and 5th was a long head and produced the photo finish as evidence. He said THE BOY WONDER finished in 5th position.
Mr Johnson was shown the photo finish and acknowledged that the official margin between 4th and 5th was a long head.
Mr Jones demonstrated the incident using the available video footage. He identified Mr Johnson and showed that he was slapping his horse on the shoulder and said that his mount had a tendency to lay out in the home straight. He highlighted that inside the final 100 metres THE BOY WONDER was a neck in front of the eventual 4th placed horse EENY MEENY MINY MO. He said Mr Johnson relaxed his ride for the last 4 strides and Mr Johnson’s riding style visibly changed when he stopped riding his mount forward. He estimated the breach occurred in the final 30 metres of the race.
Mr Johnson said that his mount was racing just in behind the speed and in his opinion THE BOY WONDER was flat and inclined to lay out. He said he was mindful that JEWEL OF PATCH was racing on his outside and he did not want to cause any interference to that runner. He said his mount was labouring at the end of the race and he did not think the incident cost THE BOY WONDER a better placing.
In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Johnson conceded that after viewing the video footage he believed that he failed to ride his horse out for the final 1 or 2 strides.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Johnson admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Williamson produced Mr Johnson’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule in the last 12 months. He said in mitigation the Stewards concur that THE BOY WONDER was laying out in the home straight and he assessed the horse shifted out 3 to 4 horse widths. He said that Mr Johnson did make a genuine attempt to keep his mount on a straight line. He said while his mount was under pressure, Mr Johnson sat up 1 or 2 strides too early. In doing so it was unknown as to whether THE BOY WONDER would have finished in 4th or 5th place.
Mr Williamson said that similar penalties under this Rule varied from 6 days suspension to $550 fines. He provided the Committee with a list of similar penalties that the Stewards had compiled. He noted that 3 of those 12 penalties compiled had incurred fines. He advised that the difference in prize money between 4th and 5th pace was $500. Mr Williamson submitted a 2 day suspension would be a fitting penalty.
The Committee granted an adjournment to the hearing so Mr Johnson could contact his Agent, Mr Tannahill.
Mr Johnson advised the Committee that he was unable to contact his Agent. However, Mr Johnson said that he was aware Mr Tannahill had booked him to ride everywhere in the next 7 days. In view of that Mr Johnson sought a 7 day deferment to any proposed suspension so he could fulfil his engagements.
Mr Johnson asked the Committee to also consider imposing a fine instead of a suspension because he was chasing rides for the Premiership.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage of the alleged incident. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees has a sliding scale for breaches of this Rule. The starting point relates to the potential placing deemed to have been lost as a result of the breach. A rider potentially missing out on 4th place faces a starting point of 2 weeks suspension.
The Committee considered Mr Johnson’s submission regarding imposing a fine instead of a suspension, however we deemed that it would be inappropriate. In our view a fine would not act as an effective or realistic penalty especially after analysing the JCA database of penalties under this Rule.
It is important to note that the fines which Mr Williamson made reference to were not applicable to this charge. We base this on the fact that 2 of them dated back to 2012 which were prior to the JCA Penalty Guide effective 1 May 2015. The other case in 2016 related to a Jumps Jockey who have limited riding opportunities and historically result in lighter penalties compared to Class A riders.
When reviewing the video footage the Committee observed that THE BOY WONDER did lay out over the final 200 metres of the race. It was clear that 3 strides before the finish line Mr Johnson relaxed his ride and he failed to ride his horse out to the end of the race. It is relevant to note at that point in the race THE BOY WONDER was racing in 4th position and Mr Johnson had an unimpeded run to the finish line.
The Committee consider that the betting public who had invested on a first four and the connections of THE BOY WONDER may well have been disadvantaged by Mr Johnson’s actions.
The Committee calculated the recommended starting point of 2 weeks equates to 6 riding days for Mr Johnson.
The mitigating factors were Mr Johnson’s admission of the breach, his clear record in relation to this Rule and it was evident that THE BOY WONDER was laying out in the home straight with the horse appearing to be given its best. Mr Johnson is a busy rider, we were satisfied this breach was an error of judgement and there was no intent on his part. We assess the degree of culpability was towards the low end. Accordingly, these factors warrant a generous reduction from the starting point.
The Committee was satisfied that Mr Johnson has a recent history of riding throughout the country.
After taking into account all the above factors the Committee considers an appropriate suspension was 3 days.
penalty:
The Committee grant Mr Johnson a 7 day deferment to his suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, Mr Johnson had his license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 8 July and conclude after racing on 15 July 2017 (3 days)
That period of suspension encompasses meetings at
12 July – Avondale
14 July – Timaru
15 July – Hamilton / Wellington
9 July – Te Aroha was not included in Mr Johnson’s penalty because the race meeting is scheduled for Highweight / Jump and Amateur riders only.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 636(1)(d)
Informant: Mr M Williamson - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey (Class A)
Otherperson: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 9b19506247e2006d357b26d74d144fdc
race_expapproval:
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race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R1
submittochair:
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meetdate: 01/07/2017
meet_title: Waikato RC - 1 July 2017
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
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tracklocation: waikato-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: ASmith
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name: Waikato RC