Waikato RC 20 December 2014 – R 2
ID: JCA17499
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 20 December 2014
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
AGodsalve
Race Date:
2014/12/20
Race Number:
R2
Decision:
We therefore find the charge proved.
Penalty:
We grant Mrs Thornton’s request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, Mrs Thornton had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 26 December and conclude after racing on 31 December 2014 (4 North Island days).
Facts:
Following the running of race 2, TheBestLittleBookStore.co.nz 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d).The Informant, Mr Oatham alleged that Mrs Thornton permitted her mount SALTED CARAMEL to shift inwards forcing CROYDE inwards crowding NELSON PARK which clipped a heel passing the 500 metres.
Mrs Thornton acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed that she denied the breach.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Williamson froze the back on video film nearing the 600 metres and identified the position of the horses named in the Information. He said NELSON PARK was racing by the running rail and ¾ of a length behind CROYDE which was racing 1 off with SALTED CARAMEL racing in a 3 wide position. He demonstrated that Mrs Thornton was riding her mount forward and in doing so allowed SALTED CARAMEL to shift in which dictated CROYDE onto NELSON PARK. He said the Stewards had no doubt that Mrs Thornton allowed her mount to get into a position where there was insufficient room for 2 horses on her inside. He identified that this resulted in Mr McNab’s mount running out of room, clipping a heel and blundering. He added the shift was not great but enough to cause interference.
Mrs Thornton did not wish to cross examine Mr Williamson’s interpretation of the alleged incident.
Mr McNab was called by Mr Oatham as a witness and confirmed that he rode the horse NELSON PARK. He told the Committee that coming around the home turn he came under a little bit of pressure from CROYDE. He said he was racing in tight quarters and had received a little bit of pressure from his outside. Mr McNab said he was about ¾ to 1 length behind CROYDE at the point of the interference which resulted in his mount clipping a heel.
In response to questions from Mr Oatham, Mr McNab stated that there was sufficient room for his horse which was racing adjacent to the running rail and had he not received pressure from his outside the incident would not have occurred.
Mrs Thornton did not wish to cross examine Mr McNab’s interpretation of the alleged incident.
Mr Jones was called by Mr Oatham as a witness and confirmed that he rode the horse CROYDE. He said that he was aware Mr McNab was racing on his inside. He said Mrs Thornton had improved to be up outside his mount and he believed that when she was going forward SALTED CARAMEL lay in marginally. He submitted this resulted in insufficient room for 2 horses inside Mrs Thornton’s mount. He confirmed this placed pressure on Mr McNab’s mount.
In response to a question from Mrs Thornton, Mr Jones said his horse was under a ride, racing green and wavering to a degree near the 500 metres.
Mrs Thornton submitted that she had come around CROYDE who appeared to be under pressure and tiring near the 500 metres. Mrs Thornton said in her opinion she was riding competitively and had not pushed CROYDE over towards NELSON PARK. She believed that NELSON PARK clipped CROYDE’S heel as a result of CROYDE wandering around.
Mrs Thornton was given the opportunity to demonstrate her submissions on the video films but elected not to do so.
In summing up Mr Oatham submitted that in the Stewards opinion the films were quite clear that pressure had been applied on CROYDE and NELSON PARK by Mrs Thornton allowing her mount to shift in from a 3 wide position. He conceded the inward movement was not a massive or sudden shift.
In summing up Mrs Thornton had nothing further to add.
Reasons for Decision:
The Committee reviewed the films several times at slow speed and established that at the point Mr McNab clipped a heel Mrs Thornton had allowed her mount to gradually shift in from a 3 wide position to a 1 off position. In doing so she placed pressure on Mr Jones’ mount, which meant there was insufficient racing room for 2 horses inside her. As a consequence Mr McNab had to take a strong hold of his mount when he ran out of racing room. This resulted in him clipping the heel of CROYDE and blundering.
We also established that the films did not support the fact CROYDE was wandering around. Shortly prior to the interference occurring both Mr Jones and Mrs Thornton had looked around to their inside where Mr McNab was positioned.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mrs Thornton’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule in the last 12 months. He noted Mrs Thornton had been away from race riding for part of the year due to an injury. He described Mrs Thornton’s record as very good and assessed the level of carelessness as low end. He said the inward shift was gradual and that she was a little bit unlucky that Mr McNab had clipped a heel. He submitted a suspension at the lower end would be appropriate.
Mrs Thornton advised that she had upcoming engagements at Ellerslie on 26 December, and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension for this careless riding charge. The mitigating factors were Mrs Thornton’s very good record in relation to this Rule and we assess the level of carelessness as low because the inward shift was gradual. However, this has to be balanced against the fact Mrs Thornton permitted her mount to shift in from a 3 wide position to a 1 off position when not the required distance clear. It was fortunate that when Mr McNab clipped a heel and blundered he was able to stay in the saddle.
After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 4 day suspension.
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: ea59df895c28705e7b116ce660e057d0
informantnumber: A6866
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Riding
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/12/2014
hearing_title: Waikato RC 20 December 2014 - R 2
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 2, TheBestLittleBookStore.co.nz 1400, an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d).The Informant, Mr Oatham alleged that Mrs Thornton permitted her mount SALTED CARAMEL to shift inwards forcing CROYDE inwards crowding NELSON PARK which clipped a heel passing the 500 metres.
Mrs Thornton acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule and confirmed that she denied the breach.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Williamson froze the back on video film nearing the 600 metres and identified the position of the horses named in the Information. He said NELSON PARK was racing by the running rail and ¾ of a length behind CROYDE which was racing 1 off with SALTED CARAMEL racing in a 3 wide position. He demonstrated that Mrs Thornton was riding her mount forward and in doing so allowed SALTED CARAMEL to shift in which dictated CROYDE onto NELSON PARK. He said the Stewards had no doubt that Mrs Thornton allowed her mount to get into a position where there was insufficient room for 2 horses on her inside. He identified that this resulted in Mr McNab’s mount running out of room, clipping a heel and blundering. He added the shift was not great but enough to cause interference.
Mrs Thornton did not wish to cross examine Mr Williamson’s interpretation of the alleged incident.
Mr McNab was called by Mr Oatham as a witness and confirmed that he rode the horse NELSON PARK. He told the Committee that coming around the home turn he came under a little bit of pressure from CROYDE. He said he was racing in tight quarters and had received a little bit of pressure from his outside. Mr McNab said he was about ¾ to 1 length behind CROYDE at the point of the interference which resulted in his mount clipping a heel.
In response to questions from Mr Oatham, Mr McNab stated that there was sufficient room for his horse which was racing adjacent to the running rail and had he not received pressure from his outside the incident would not have occurred.
Mrs Thornton did not wish to cross examine Mr McNab’s interpretation of the alleged incident.
Mr Jones was called by Mr Oatham as a witness and confirmed that he rode the horse CROYDE. He said that he was aware Mr McNab was racing on his inside. He said Mrs Thornton had improved to be up outside his mount and he believed that when she was going forward SALTED CARAMEL lay in marginally. He submitted this resulted in insufficient room for 2 horses inside Mrs Thornton’s mount. He confirmed this placed pressure on Mr McNab’s mount.
In response to a question from Mrs Thornton, Mr Jones said his horse was under a ride, racing green and wavering to a degree near the 500 metres.
Mrs Thornton submitted that she had come around CROYDE who appeared to be under pressure and tiring near the 500 metres. Mrs Thornton said in her opinion she was riding competitively and had not pushed CROYDE over towards NELSON PARK. She believed that NELSON PARK clipped CROYDE’S heel as a result of CROYDE wandering around.
Mrs Thornton was given the opportunity to demonstrate her submissions on the video films but elected not to do so.
In summing up Mr Oatham submitted that in the Stewards opinion the films were quite clear that pressure had been applied on CROYDE and NELSON PARK by Mrs Thornton allowing her mount to shift in from a 3 wide position. He conceded the inward movement was not a massive or sudden shift.
In summing up Mrs Thornton had nothing further to add.
reasonsfordecision:
The Committee reviewed the films several times at slow speed and established that at the point Mr McNab clipped a heel Mrs Thornton had allowed her mount to gradually shift in from a 3 wide position to a 1 off position. In doing so she placed pressure on Mr Jones’ mount, which meant there was insufficient racing room for 2 horses inside her. As a consequence Mr McNab had to take a strong hold of his mount when he ran out of racing room. This resulted in him clipping the heel of CROYDE and blundering.
We also established that the films did not support the fact CROYDE was wandering around. Shortly prior to the interference occurring both Mr Jones and Mrs Thornton had looked around to their inside where Mr McNab was positioned.
Decision:
We therefore find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Mrs Thornton’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule in the last 12 months. He noted Mrs Thornton had been away from race riding for part of the year due to an injury. He described Mrs Thornton’s record as very good and assessed the level of carelessness as low end. He said the inward shift was gradual and that she was a little bit unlucky that Mr McNab had clipped a heel. He submitted a suspension at the lower end would be appropriate.
Mrs Thornton advised that she had upcoming engagements at Ellerslie on 26 December, and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. We have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension for this careless riding charge. The mitigating factors were Mrs Thornton’s very good record in relation to this Rule and we assess the level of carelessness as low because the inward shift was gradual. However, this has to be balanced against the fact Mrs Thornton permitted her mount to shift in from a 3 wide position to a 1 off position when not the required distance clear. It was fortunate that when Mr McNab clipped a heel and blundered he was able to stay in the saddle.
After taking into account all the above factors we consider an appropriate penalty is a 4 day suspension.
penalty:
We grant Mrs Thornton’s request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, Mrs Thornton had her license to ride in races suspended for a period to commence after racing on 26 December and conclude after racing on 31 December 2014 (4 North Island days).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mrs T Thornton - Rider of SALTED CARAMEL
Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Jones - Rider of CROYDE, Mr M McNab - Rider of NELSON PARK
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: f863ef3604653cdcec0691a68c1b66ab
race_expapproval:
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race_title: R2
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meetdate: 20/12/2014
meet_title: Waikato RC - 20 December 2014
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name: Waikato RC