Waipa RC 21 August 2013 – R 1
ID: JCA16286
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Waipa RC - 21 August 2013
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Race Date:
2013/08/21
Race Number:
R1
Decision:
As Ms Johnson admitted the breach I find the charge proved.
Penalty:
I grant Ms Johnson's request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, I impose a suspension on Ms Johnson which will commence after racing on August 24 and conclude after racing on 30 August 2013 (4 days and in addition impose a fine of $600).
Charge:
Following race 1, LIQUORLAND TE AWAMUTU 1150, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Johnson permitted her mount STELLA VEGA to shift outwards near the 400 metres when not sufficiently clear of WAIRERE (M Sweeney) which was checked.
Ms Johnson acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge and the Rule.
Rule 638(1)(d) provides : A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Facts:
Mr Coles demonstrated on the video films that approaching the 400 metres Ms Johnson angled her mount STELLA VEGA out and continued to ride forward. This resulted in WAIRERE’s rider Mr Sweeney having to check sharply to avoid the heels of STELLA VEGA. He said Ms Johnson was just over 1 length clear when moving out.
Ms Johnson in admitting the breach said her mount was not racing very generously and acknowledged that her mount did roll out into the line of Mr Sweeney's mount. She believed the check was not serious.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham produced Ms Johnson's record which showed 5 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months.
29/9/12 = 6 days at Ellerslie
24/11/12 = 5 days at Counties
8/12/12 = 5 days at Ellerslie
16/2/13 = 6 days at New Plymouth
3/8/13 = 6 days in a Group 3 race at Christchurch.
Mr Oatham said this was not a very good record but noted there was a 6 month gap between her previous suspensions. He said Ms Johnson at times does ride all over the country. He stated the level of carelessness was low end and the incident occurred on the point of a bend. He submitted a 4 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Ms Johnson advised that she had upcoming commitments at New Plymouth on 24 August, and that any period of suspension could commence after that. She added that it was her intention to travel all over the country for rides this season.
In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Johnson stated she was intending to ride at Ashburton on August 30.
Ms Johnson submitted that she had a firm commitment to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER in a Group 1 race at Hastings on August 31. She conceded her record was not good and considered herself to be a national rider.
When asked by the Committee, Mr Oatham said he had no objection to Ms Johnson's submission regarding her intention to ride at Ashburton.
Mr Oatham advised the Committee that Mr J recently received a 3 day suspension in the South Island which included race meetings at Matamata and Avondale. He stated that Mr J was classified as a “national rider” although he had not ridden at those meeting for a number of years. He added in the interest of fairness and consistency Ms Johnson should have Ashburton included in her suspension.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully examined all the evidence and submissions presented. I have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors are Ms Johnson's admission of the breach and I assess the level of carelessness as low. The aggravating fact is Ms Johnson's poor record with this being her 6th breach under this Rule in the last 12 months.
I informed Ms Johnson that without the “special characteristics” involved in this case an appropriate penalty would be 5 days.
I accept that Ms Johnson has ridden in the South Island on various occasions in the last 12 months. I note her most recent suspension occurred at Christchurch on the 3rd of August.
I informed the hearing that “national rider” is not part of my vocabulary noting that Judicial Committees are required to test firmly the evidence of riders in respect of where they will be riding. As an example when asked by this Committee, Ms Johnson admitted she has no intention to ride at Gore next month.
However, it is important to bear in mind that the selection of a starting point recommended in the JCA Penalty Guide is not a mandatory requirement of the process by which penalties are fixed. The recommended starting points contained in the JCA Penalty Guide are provided for the purpose of ensuring, as far as it may be possible, consistency in the imposition of penalties by Judicial Committees. But as the Introduction to the JCA Penalty Guide recognises they are not intended to override the discretion Judicial Committees have in imposing penalties. The Introduction specifically provides they may be departed from where a Judicial Committee:
“… has good reason to believe that the case before it has some special characteristic that justifies the imposition of a penalty greater or lesser than that suggested by the guidelines.”
I had regard for the “special characteristics” in this case which is Ms Johnson has a firm commitment to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER in a Group 1 Race worth $200,000. In this particular case I am satisfied using my discretion when considering penalty is appropriate.
In my view this case justifies the imposition of a fine and suspension which will allow Ms Johnson to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER.
I referred to the JCA archive listing of penalties which shows that it is appropriate to consider a fine and suspension when determining a penalty.
After carefully taking into account all the above factors I consider an appropriate penalty is a 4 day suspension and a $600 fine (which equates to an average 4 rides per raceday).
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: d5282af59c72e87ee3318c39c8829dc2
informantnumber: A4288
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 19/08/2013
hearing_title: Waipa RC 21 August 2013 - R 1
charge:
Following race 1, LIQUORLAND TE AWAMUTU 1150, an information was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Ms Johnson permitted her mount STELLA VEGA to shift outwards near the 400 metres when not sufficiently clear of WAIRERE (M Sweeney) which was checked.
Ms Johnson acknowledged that she understood the nature of the charge and the Rule.
Rule 638(1)(d) provides : A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
facts:
Mr Coles demonstrated on the video films that approaching the 400 metres Ms Johnson angled her mount STELLA VEGA out and continued to ride forward. This resulted in WAIRERE’s rider Mr Sweeney having to check sharply to avoid the heels of STELLA VEGA. He said Ms Johnson was just over 1 length clear when moving out.
Ms Johnson in admitting the breach said her mount was not racing very generously and acknowledged that her mount did roll out into the line of Mr Sweeney's mount. She believed the check was not serious.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Johnson admitted the breach I find the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham produced Ms Johnson's record which showed 5 previous breaches under this Rule in the last 12 months.
29/9/12 = 6 days at Ellerslie
24/11/12 = 5 days at Counties
8/12/12 = 5 days at Ellerslie
16/2/13 = 6 days at New Plymouth
3/8/13 = 6 days in a Group 3 race at Christchurch.
Mr Oatham said this was not a very good record but noted there was a 6 month gap between her previous suspensions. He said Ms Johnson at times does ride all over the country. He stated the level of carelessness was low end and the incident occurred on the point of a bend. He submitted a 4 day suspension was an appropriate penalty.
Ms Johnson advised that she had upcoming commitments at New Plymouth on 24 August, and that any period of suspension could commence after that. She added that it was her intention to travel all over the country for rides this season.
In response to a question from the Committee, Ms Johnson stated she was intending to ride at Ashburton on August 30.
Ms Johnson submitted that she had a firm commitment to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER in a Group 1 race at Hastings on August 31. She conceded her record was not good and considered herself to be a national rider.
When asked by the Committee, Mr Oatham said he had no objection to Ms Johnson's submission regarding her intention to ride at Ashburton.
Mr Oatham advised the Committee that Mr J recently received a 3 day suspension in the South Island which included race meetings at Matamata and Avondale. He stated that Mr J was classified as a “national rider” although he had not ridden at those meeting for a number of years. He added in the interest of fairness and consistency Ms Johnson should have Ashburton included in her suspension.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully examined all the evidence and submissions presented. I have adopted 5 riding days as the starting point in considering the term of suspension. The mitigating factors are Ms Johnson's admission of the breach and I assess the level of carelessness as low. The aggravating fact is Ms Johnson's poor record with this being her 6th breach under this Rule in the last 12 months.
I informed Ms Johnson that without the “special characteristics” involved in this case an appropriate penalty would be 5 days.
I accept that Ms Johnson has ridden in the South Island on various occasions in the last 12 months. I note her most recent suspension occurred at Christchurch on the 3rd of August.
I informed the hearing that “national rider” is not part of my vocabulary noting that Judicial Committees are required to test firmly the evidence of riders in respect of where they will be riding. As an example when asked by this Committee, Ms Johnson admitted she has no intention to ride at Gore next month.
However, it is important to bear in mind that the selection of a starting point recommended in the JCA Penalty Guide is not a mandatory requirement of the process by which penalties are fixed. The recommended starting points contained in the JCA Penalty Guide are provided for the purpose of ensuring, as far as it may be possible, consistency in the imposition of penalties by Judicial Committees. But as the Introduction to the JCA Penalty Guide recognises they are not intended to override the discretion Judicial Committees have in imposing penalties. The Introduction specifically provides they may be departed from where a Judicial Committee:
“… has good reason to believe that the case before it has some special characteristic that justifies the imposition of a penalty greater or lesser than that suggested by the guidelines.”
I had regard for the “special characteristics” in this case which is Ms Johnson has a firm commitment to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER in a Group 1 Race worth $200,000. In this particular case I am satisfied using my discretion when considering penalty is appropriate.
In my view this case justifies the imposition of a fine and suspension which will allow Ms Johnson to ride POSTMANS DAUGHTER.
I referred to the JCA archive listing of penalties which shows that it is appropriate to consider a fine and suspension when determining a penalty.
After carefully taking into account all the above factors I consider an appropriate penalty is a 4 day suspension and a $600 fine (which equates to an average 4 rides per raceday).
penalty:
I grant Ms Johnson's request to seek a deferment to her suspension as per Rule 1106(2).
Accordingly, I impose a suspension on Ms Johnson which will commence after racing on August 24 and conclude after racing on 30 August 2013 (4 days and in addition impose a fine of $600).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Senior Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms D Johnson - Licensed Jockey
Otherperson: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: d2415308520e18c0070ade6a2e2b2414
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race_title: R1
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meetdate: 21/08/2013
meet_title: Waipa RC - 21 August 2013
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name: Waipa RC