Archive Decision

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Waikato RC 11 February 2017 – R 6 – (request for a ruling) – Chair, Mr A Dooley

ID: JCA11753

Stipend Steward:
Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A8673

Hearing Type:
Request Ruling

Rules:
632

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 11 February 2017

Meet Chair:
ADooley

Meet Committee Member 1:
BScott

Race Date:
2017/02/11

Race Number:
R6

Decision:

Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 632 the Committee exercised its discretion and declared RONCHI to be a non –starter.

The Committee ordered dividends and stakes to be paid in accordance with this decision.

Facts:

Following the running of Race 6, Herbie Dyke Stakes, Mr A Peard, Co - Trainer of RONCHI, lodged an Information requesting a ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether RONCHI received a fair start.

Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placing’s was prevented from taking an effective part in a race owing to the mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.”

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Peard identified on the video footage that the Barrier Attendant was slow taking the blindfold off RONCHI. He said this resulted in RONCHI missing the kick which denied the horse from racing on the speed. He believed the Attendant left the blindfold on for a second too long.

Mr Cooksley said the blindfold was still on RONCHI when the gates opened and it was removed a split second too late. He said that RONCHI generally races on the speed and the horse was denied this opportunity. Mr Cooksley said that everywhere else he has ridden the Starter has called out “blindfolds off” then pressed the start button.

Mr Moody said he was instructed by the connections of RONCHI to leave the blindfold on their horse for as long as possible. He acknowledged that the Attendant was a split second slow in removing the blindfold. He added that the Attendant was in his vision when the start was effected.

Mr Oatham said that RONCHI was a problem horse at the start. He stated the blindfold was removed later than what was desirable and this resulted in RONCHI being marginally slow to jump.

Reasons for Decision:

The Committee carefully considered the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage frame by frame. It was clearly evident that the Barrier Attendant was still in the process of removing the blindfold from RONCHI when the gates opened. This resulted in RONCHI being slow away by approximately 1 length and the horse got further back than the connections had wanted. It was significant to note that the head – on film showed that as the gates opened RONCHI was still standing flat footed while all the other horses where jumping out of the gates. The back – on film showed that Mr Cooksley’s body was still in an upright position in the saddle while all the other riders were riding their mounts forward out of the gates. We were satisfied that this materially prejudiced the chances of RONCHI and in our opinion RONCHI was denied a fair start.

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: 31415fc6f5e9a59871b01d8d6b3883f2


informantnumber: A8673


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge:


plea:


penaltyrequired:


decisiondate: 11/02/2017


hearing_title: Waikato RC 11 February 2017 - R 6 - (request for a ruling) - Chair, Mr A Dooley


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 6, Herbie Dyke Stakes, Mr A Peard, Co - Trainer of RONCHI, lodged an Information requesting a ruling in relation to Rule 632 to establish whether RONCHI received a fair start.

Rule 632 provides “If, in the opinion of the Judicial Committee, a horse which does not finish in the first three placing’s was prevented from taking an effective part in a race owing to the mechanical failure of starting stalls, or is denied a fair start and such occurrence materially prejudiced the chances of that horse (but not where the horse is slow away of its own accord), the Judicial Committee may declare such horse to be a non-starter.”


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Peard identified on the video footage that the Barrier Attendant was slow taking the blindfold off RONCHI. He said this resulted in RONCHI missing the kick which denied the horse from racing on the speed. He believed the Attendant left the blindfold on for a second too long.

Mr Cooksley said the blindfold was still on RONCHI when the gates opened and it was removed a split second too late. He said that RONCHI generally races on the speed and the horse was denied this opportunity. Mr Cooksley said that everywhere else he has ridden the Starter has called out “blindfolds off” then pressed the start button.

Mr Moody said he was instructed by the connections of RONCHI to leave the blindfold on their horse for as long as possible. He acknowledged that the Attendant was a split second slow in removing the blindfold. He added that the Attendant was in his vision when the start was effected.

Mr Oatham said that RONCHI was a problem horse at the start. He stated the blindfold was removed later than what was desirable and this resulted in RONCHI being marginally slow to jump.


reasonsfordecision:

The Committee carefully considered the submissions presented and reviewed the video footage frame by frame. It was clearly evident that the Barrier Attendant was still in the process of removing the blindfold from RONCHI when the gates opened. This resulted in RONCHI being slow away by approximately 1 length and the horse got further back than the connections had wanted. It was significant to note that the head – on film showed that as the gates opened RONCHI was still standing flat footed while all the other horses where jumping out of the gates. The back – on film showed that Mr Cooksley’s body was still in an upright position in the saddle while all the other riders were riding their mounts forward out of the gates. We were satisfied that this materially prejudiced the chances of RONCHI and in our opinion RONCHI was denied a fair start.


Decision:

Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 632 the Committee exercised its discretion and declared RONCHI to be a non –starter.

The Committee ordered dividends and stakes to be paid in accordance with this decision.


sumissionsforpenalty:


reasonsforpenalty:


penalty:


hearing_type: Request Ruling


Rules: 632


Informant:


JockeysandTrainer:


Otherperson:


PersonPresent: Mr A Peard - Co - Trainer of RONCHI, Mr G Cooksley - Rider of RONCHI, Mr J Moody - Raceday Official/Starter


Respondent:


StipendSteward: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward


raceid: e8d78f7340309a0fb15a05c843a43331


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R6


submittochair:


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meetid: 84b13d6eba2a821445e2deda27b4a9ed


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meetdate: 11/02/2017


meet_title: Waikato RC - 11 February 2017


meet_expappcomment:


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tracklocation: waikato-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: ADooley


meet_pm1: BScott


meet_pm2: none


name: Waikato RC