Archive Decision

This decision has been migrated from the JCA website. Information is accurate but formatting may differ from contemporary decisions. Please contact us for any further enquiries.

Waikato RC 8 November 2014 – R 6

ID: JCA16084

Applicant:
Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
Ms S Spratt - Licensed Jockey

Other Person:
Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward

Information Number:
A6851

Hearing Type:
Hearing

New Charge:
Careless Riding

Rules:
Rule 638 (1)(d)

Plea:
admitted

Code:
Thoroughbred

Meet Title:
Waikato RC - 8 November 2014

Meet Chair:
AGodsalve

Meet Committee Member 1:
RSeabrook

Race Date:
2014/11/08

Race Number:
R 6

Decision:

As Ms Spratt admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty:

Accordingly, the Committee imposes a suspension on Ms Spratt which will commence after racing on 15th November and conclude after racing on 23rd November 2014, 4 North Island days.  

The meetings involved in this period are:

19 November                 Woodville

21 November                 New Plymouth

22 November                 Counties

23 November                 Te Rapa

Facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Dashtickets.Co.NZ 1200, an Information was lodged pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham, alleged that near the 1050 metres Ms S Spratt riding GATEWAY shifted in when not clear crowding FAR FETCHED (M Du Plessis), CARTELL (Z Moki), REPULSE BAY (J Robinson), and CONSTELLATION (D Johnson).

Ms Spratt acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule, and that she admitted 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".

Stipendiary Steward Mr M Williamson, using the available films, identified GATEWAY, ridden by Ms Spratt shortly after the start. GATEWAY had started from an outside barrier position, and shortly after the start the horse moved sharply across into the line of FAR FETCHED when barely a length clear of that horse. Miss Spratt continued to ride forward without relieving the pressure on FAR FETCHED. Mr Du Plessis was forced to restrain his mount to evade GATEWAY and in doing so put pressure on CONSTELLATION, REPULSE BAY and CARTELL racing inside him. The horses REPULSE BAY and CONSTELLATION were most affected by this pressure.

Ms Spratt admitted that she had moved across too quickly, however she added that she had thought she was the required distance clear of GATEWAY at the time. She added that in her opinion GATEWAY and CARTELL had been 'hunted up' by their riders which compounded the situation.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Spratt's riding record which showed 3 breaches of this Rule during the preceding 12 months. He stated that in his opinion it was a reasonable record considering that Ms Spratt was a fairly busy rider. He added that Ms Spratt had been riding overseas for most of the past 6 months and the Stewards were not aware of any breaches of this Rule during that time. He felt that it was to Ms Spratt's credit that she had admitted this breach, and that the Stewards felt the offending was at the lower end of the scale. The Stewards felt that any period of suspension imposed could recognise these factors.

Ms Spratt had nothing to add to Mr Oatham's submissions. She told the Committee that she had a confirmed ride at Riccarton on 15th November and asked that any period of suspension commence after that day.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Committee has carefully considered the evidence and submissions placed before it. We adopted a starting point of 5 days in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors are Ms Spratt's admission of the breach, her reasonably good record in respect of this Rule, and that the incident was deemed to be towards the low end on the scale of seriousness.

Balancing these factors, we acknowledge there were several horses affected by Ms Spratts actions, although there were no serious consequences. The Committee accept that racing on this day was conducted on a very good surface, there were large fields, and fast times were run by a number of race winners. This does not absolve Ms Spratt from her responsibilities, however these are factors to take into consideration when assessing a fair penalty.

The Committee have determined that an appropriate penalty given all of the above 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: b9bad3c2e35bc57946334b1ce482d23c


informantnumber: A6851


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge: Careless Riding


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 01/11/2014


hearing_title: Waikato RC 8 November 2014 - R 6


charge:


facts:

Following the running of Race 6, the Dashtickets.Co.NZ 1200, an Information was lodged pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr J Oatham, alleged that near the 1050 metres Ms S Spratt riding GATEWAY shifted in when not clear crowding FAR FETCHED (M Du Plessis), CARTELL (Z Moki), REPULSE BAY (J Robinson), and CONSTELLATION (D Johnson).

Ms Spratt acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge, the Rule, and that she admitted 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".

Stipendiary Steward Mr M Williamson, using the available films, identified GATEWAY, ridden by Ms Spratt shortly after the start. GATEWAY had started from an outside barrier position, and shortly after the start the horse moved sharply across into the line of FAR FETCHED when barely a length clear of that horse. Miss Spratt continued to ride forward without relieving the pressure on FAR FETCHED. Mr Du Plessis was forced to restrain his mount to evade GATEWAY and in doing so put pressure on CONSTELLATION, REPULSE BAY and CARTELL racing inside him. The horses REPULSE BAY and CONSTELLATION were most affected by this pressure.

Ms Spratt admitted that she had moved across too quickly, however she added that she had thought she was the required distance clear of GATEWAY at the time. She added that in her opinion GATEWAY and CARTELL had been 'hunted up' by their riders which compounded the situation.


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

As Ms Spratt admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Oatham produced Ms Spratt's riding record which showed 3 breaches of this Rule during the preceding 12 months. He stated that in his opinion it was a reasonable record considering that Ms Spratt was a fairly busy rider. He added that Ms Spratt had been riding overseas for most of the past 6 months and the Stewards were not aware of any breaches of this Rule during that time. He felt that it was to Ms Spratt's credit that she had admitted this breach, and that the Stewards felt the offending was at the lower end of the scale. The Stewards felt that any period of suspension imposed could recognise these factors.

Ms Spratt had nothing to add to Mr Oatham's submissions. She told the Committee that she had a confirmed ride at Riccarton on 15th November and asked that any period of suspension commence after that day.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Committee has carefully considered the evidence and submissions placed before it. We adopted a starting point of 5 days in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors are Ms Spratt's admission of the breach, her reasonably good record in respect of this Rule, and that the incident was deemed to be towards the low end on the scale of seriousness.

Balancing these factors, we acknowledge there were several horses affected by Ms Spratts actions, although there were no serious consequences. The Committee accept that racing on this day was conducted on a very good surface, there were large fields, and fast times were run by a number of race winners. This does not absolve Ms Spratt from her responsibilities, however these are factors to take into consideration when assessing a fair penalty.

The Committee have determined that an appropriate penalty given all of the above is a 4 day suspension.


penalty:

Accordingly, the Committee imposes a suspension on Ms Spratt which will commence after racing on 15th November and conclude after racing on 23rd November 2014, 4 North Island days.  

The meetings involved in this period are:

19 November                 Woodville

21 November                 New Plymouth

22 November                 Counties

23 November                 Te Rapa


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: Rule 638 (1)(d)


Informant: Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Spratt - Licensed Jockey


Otherperson: Mr M Williamson - Stipendiary Steward


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: a14756f103c784ef8fdfb418cecd4747


race_expapproval:


racecancelled: 0


race_noreport: 0


race_emailed1: 0


race_emailed2: 0


race_title: R 6


submittochair:


race_expappcomment:


race_km:


race_otherexp:


race_chair:


race_pm1:


race_pm2:


meetid: d24ca2134ec0106261831ddd1321b628


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 08/11/2014


meet_title: Waikato RC - 8 November 2014


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: waikato-rc


meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing


meet_chair: AGodsalve


meet_pm1: RSeabrook


meet_pm2: none


name: Waikato RC