Wairio TC 20 October 2013 – R 6
ID: JCA10724
Meet Title:
Wairio TC - 20 October 2013
Meet Chair:
GHall
Meet Committee Member 1:
NSkelt
Race Date:
2013/10/20
Race Number:
R 6
Decision:
We find the charge of careless driving proved.
Penalty:
We impose a fine of $250 and remind Mr Larsen of his professional obligations.
Charge:
Mr Wallis alleged that Mr Larsen drove carelessly in race 6, THE MCNAUGHT ENGINEERING PACE, by attempting to hold his position when not in position to do so. This, in turn, caused Mr Larsen’s own horse, UNCLE BEN, to break.
Facts:
Mr Wallis had Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrate on the videos that not long after the field passed the 1000 metres mark Mr Williams driving SEAVIEW GOLD eased Mr Larsen (UNCLE BEN) outwards to get onto the back of GENTLE WESTERN (Mr Purdon). Mr Larsen had been in the 3 wide line following Mr Purdon and Mr Larsen was moved out 4 wide. Mr Wallis said Mr Larsen had taken exception to being pushed out and had attempted to push Mr Williams back down in order to regain his position. He said UNCLE BEN had never been in front of SEAVIEW GOLD so Mr Larsen was never able to shift Mr Williams back down the track with safety. He said the incident had occurred for a distance of some 150 metres and it was the stewards’ belief that Mr Larsen should have ceded his position to Mr Williams. However, Mr Larsen had kept fighting for the position behind Mr Purdon with the consequence that UNCLE BEN came under pressure and broke losing its chance.
Mr Williams stated that at the 900 metres mark he improved 3 wide to follow GENTLE WESTERN. He said he had moved Mr Larsen wider on the track as he had had the advantage, about half a head he believed, as Mr Larsen was not keeping up behind GENTLE WESTERN. He said SEAVIEW GOLD came under pressure from UNCLE BEN as Mr Larsen kept fighting for his position. Something had to give, he said, and UNCLE BEN galloped because it was under pressure. He believed there was contact between the carts. When questioned, he said there was no discussion between himself and Mr Larsen.
Mr Larsen said he was following Mr Purdon. He accepted he was “a little bit off” but he had chased UNCLE BEN up to keep his position. He thought he was only a quarter of a length behind GENTLE WESTERN and had the 3 wide position. He said Mr Williams had eased him wider on the track when Mr Williams had never had enough advantage to do so. He said a half a head advantage was not sufficient to move a horse wider on the track with safety. He said he “felt” he had the right to be there and that was why he had endeavoured to force Mr Williams back down. He believed they were head to head at the time his horse broke. He said Mr Williams was only ever half out when they were jostling for position. He emphasised Mr Williams had never had a big enough advantage to push him out.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Wallis in summary said that Mr Williams had a slight advantage and had eased Mr Larsen out. It was the stewards’ view that this manoeuvre was made with safety. He said at the time UNCLE BEN broke and the two drivers were fighting for position Mr Purdon was perhaps 3 ½ wide and not 3 wide. But Mr Williams had already made his outwards movement by this time and both drivers were attempting to follow Mr Purdon.
Mr Larsen replied that he was always following Mr Purdon and that Mr Williams never had sufficient advantage to move him wider on the track.
Reasons for Decision:
We are satisfied that Mr Williams was entitled to move Mr Larsen wider on the track as it was within the last 1000 metres of the race and the movement was made with safety. There is certainly nothing before us to establish or even to suggest that it was unsafe. Mr Larsen was not hard up behind the cart of Mr Purdon when Mr Williams began to ease Mr Larsen wider on the track. Mr Larsen has accepted that Mr Williams had an advantage over him. Mr Williams says, and so do the Stipendiary Stewards, that this advantage was half a head. The most useful video angle also supports this assessment. Mr Larsen says the advantage was that at best but nevertheless he acknowledges that Mr Williams had a slight advantage over him at the time.
We are also satisfied that at the time Mr Larsen’s horse broke Mr Williams had established himself 3 wide but the respondent was still attempting to push him back down despite not having any advantage over SEAVIEW GOLD. As a consequence there was contact between the wheels of the two carts and UNCLE BEN broke and lost its chance.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis produced Mr Larsen’s record, which showed this was only his 5th drive this season, but he had had 124 drives in the past season. He was thus a busy driver in the local area. The respondent had had a previous breach of this rule on 21 April this year when he was fined $225. Mr Wallis said the circumstances of that breach were quite different to the case before us. He referred to the Penalty Guide, which identified a starting point of $400 or 8 drives and submitted a fine of $250 to $300 was appropriate in this instance.
Mr Larsen reiterated that he did not believe that Mr Williams had had a sufficient advantage on him to push him out and that his best chance in the race had been to follow Mr Purdon.
Reasons for Penalty:
We adopt a starting point of $400. We note the only horse affected by the respondent’s carelessness was his own runner UNCLE BEN but that is little comfort to the connections of that horse and those persons who invested on it. We view the breach as mid-range. Mr Larsen kept placing pressure on SEAVIEW GOLD when it should have been obvious to him that Mr Williams had established himself 3 wide. We accept as a mitigating factor that at the time the wheels touched Mr Purdon could be said to be 3 1/2 out and this may have led Mr Larsen to believe that he could re-establish himself behind Mr Purdon. We note that Mr Larsen is a busy driver and that he has had one breach of this rule in the past 15 months in circumstances that differed from those before us.
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: 09471ace8fc875761abf8d69b9be73e8
informantnumber: A1899
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea: denied
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 09/10/2013
hearing_title: Wairio TC 20 October 2013 - R 6
charge:
Mr Wallis alleged that Mr Larsen drove carelessly in race 6, THE MCNAUGHT ENGINEERING PACE, by attempting to hold his position when not in position to do so. This, in turn, caused Mr Larsen’s own horse, UNCLE BEN, to break.
facts:
Mr Wallis had Mr Davidson, Stipendiary Steward, demonstrate on the videos that not long after the field passed the 1000 metres mark Mr Williams driving SEAVIEW GOLD eased Mr Larsen (UNCLE BEN) outwards to get onto the back of GENTLE WESTERN (Mr Purdon). Mr Larsen had been in the 3 wide line following Mr Purdon and Mr Larsen was moved out 4 wide. Mr Wallis said Mr Larsen had taken exception to being pushed out and had attempted to push Mr Williams back down in order to regain his position. He said UNCLE BEN had never been in front of SEAVIEW GOLD so Mr Larsen was never able to shift Mr Williams back down the track with safety. He said the incident had occurred for a distance of some 150 metres and it was the stewards’ belief that Mr Larsen should have ceded his position to Mr Williams. However, Mr Larsen had kept fighting for the position behind Mr Purdon with the consequence that UNCLE BEN came under pressure and broke losing its chance.
Mr Williams stated that at the 900 metres mark he improved 3 wide to follow GENTLE WESTERN. He said he had moved Mr Larsen wider on the track as he had had the advantage, about half a head he believed, as Mr Larsen was not keeping up behind GENTLE WESTERN. He said SEAVIEW GOLD came under pressure from UNCLE BEN as Mr Larsen kept fighting for his position. Something had to give, he said, and UNCLE BEN galloped because it was under pressure. He believed there was contact between the carts. When questioned, he said there was no discussion between himself and Mr Larsen.
Mr Larsen said he was following Mr Purdon. He accepted he was “a little bit off” but he had chased UNCLE BEN up to keep his position. He thought he was only a quarter of a length behind GENTLE WESTERN and had the 3 wide position. He said Mr Williams had eased him wider on the track when Mr Williams had never had enough advantage to do so. He said a half a head advantage was not sufficient to move a horse wider on the track with safety. He said he “felt” he had the right to be there and that was why he had endeavoured to force Mr Williams back down. He believed they were head to head at the time his horse broke. He said Mr Williams was only ever half out when they were jostling for position. He emphasised Mr Williams had never had a big enough advantage to push him out.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Wallis in summary said that Mr Williams had a slight advantage and had eased Mr Larsen out. It was the stewards’ view that this manoeuvre was made with safety. He said at the time UNCLE BEN broke and the two drivers were fighting for position Mr Purdon was perhaps 3 ½ wide and not 3 wide. But Mr Williams had already made his outwards movement by this time and both drivers were attempting to follow Mr Purdon.
Mr Larsen replied that he was always following Mr Purdon and that Mr Williams never had sufficient advantage to move him wider on the track.
reasonsfordecision:
We are satisfied that Mr Williams was entitled to move Mr Larsen wider on the track as it was within the last 1000 metres of the race and the movement was made with safety. There is certainly nothing before us to establish or even to suggest that it was unsafe. Mr Larsen was not hard up behind the cart of Mr Purdon when Mr Williams began to ease Mr Larsen wider on the track. Mr Larsen has accepted that Mr Williams had an advantage over him. Mr Williams says, and so do the Stipendiary Stewards, that this advantage was half a head. The most useful video angle also supports this assessment. Mr Larsen says the advantage was that at best but nevertheless he acknowledges that Mr Williams had a slight advantage over him at the time.
We are also satisfied that at the time Mr Larsen’s horse broke Mr Williams had established himself 3 wide but the respondent was still attempting to push him back down despite not having any advantage over SEAVIEW GOLD. As a consequence there was contact between the wheels of the two carts and UNCLE BEN broke and lost its chance.
Decision:
We find the charge of careless driving proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis produced Mr Larsen’s record, which showed this was only his 5th drive this season, but he had had 124 drives in the past season. He was thus a busy driver in the local area. The respondent had had a previous breach of this rule on 21 April this year when he was fined $225. Mr Wallis said the circumstances of that breach were quite different to the case before us. He referred to the Penalty Guide, which identified a starting point of $400 or 8 drives and submitted a fine of $250 to $300 was appropriate in this instance.
Mr Larsen reiterated that he did not believe that Mr Williams had had a sufficient advantage on him to push him out and that his best chance in the race had been to follow Mr Purdon.
reasonsforpenalty:
We adopt a starting point of $400. We note the only horse affected by the respondent’s carelessness was his own runner UNCLE BEN but that is little comfort to the connections of that horse and those persons who invested on it. We view the breach as mid-range. Mr Larsen kept placing pressure on SEAVIEW GOLD when it should have been obvious to him that Mr Williams had established himself 3 wide. We accept as a mitigating factor that at the time the wheels touched Mr Purdon could be said to be 3 1/2 out and this may have led Mr Larsen to believe that he could re-establish himself behind Mr Purdon. We note that Mr Larsen is a busy driver and that he has had one breach of this rule in the past 15 months in circumstances that differed from those before us.
penalty:
We impose a fine of $250 and remind Mr Larsen of his professional obligations.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 869(3)(b)
Informant: Mr S Wallis - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr K Larsen - Open Horseman
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: aae3c258886adb4ea61096236b0512d4
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: 2d0b322649b0a16eab09896361932900
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 20/10/2013
meet_title: Wairio TC - 20 October 2013
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wairio-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: GHall
meet_pm1: NSkelt
meet_pm2: none
name: Wairio TC