Wairoa RC 22 February 2018 – R 4 (request for a ruling) Chair – Mr T Utikere
ID: JCA13286
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wairoa RC - 22 February 2018
Meet Chair:
TUtikere
Race Date:
2018/02/22
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
Mr Johnson’s engagement for MANCINI takes precedence over EXONERATE.
Facts:
Prior to the running of Race 4 (Kenilworth Plumbing 1400) Information A7338 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It sought a ruling in relation to Rule 330(2) and asked the Judicial Committee: “To determine a disputed riding engagement for C Johnson in Race 4 regarding EXONERATE and MANCINI.”
Rule 330(2) states: “Any dispute with reference to the engagement or engagements of a Rider to ride at a particular Race Meeting or Race Meetings shall be determined by a Judicial Committee at the request of a Stipendiary Steward or any of the parties to the dispute.”
Submissions for Decision:
Stipendiary Steward, Mr B Jones, advised that he had been contacted by the New Zealand Racing Bureau prior to the meeting advising that there was a dispute in Races 2 and 4 of the Wairoa Racing Club's Meeting. While the dispute regarding Race 2 had been resolved, there remained a dispute for Race 4, which required a ruling from the Judicial Committee. Mr Johnson’s Agent, Mr Tannahill, had also contacted Mr Jones prior to the race meeting to advise that he believed he had engaged Mr Johnson to ride MANCINI.
MANCINI’s trainer, Mr Breslin, also believed that Mr Johnson had been engaged for his horse, and placed before the Committee a stream of text messages to Mr Tannahill from early on Sunday 18 February to support this. He also advised that he had a conversation with Mr Tannahill on that morning, during which Mr Tannahill had confirmed the ride. It was when Mr Breslin went to declare the horse with the Bureau that he had been advised that Mr Johnson was not available. Mr Breslin also identified that Mr Tannahill was listed as Mr Johnson’s Agent in the NZTR Monthly Calendar.
Mr Rogerson spoke to the hearing via speakerphone. He told the Committee that Mr Johnson was to ride all of his horses at Wairoa, except for the race which LOCALLY SOURCED was in. He said that he only dealt with Mr Johnson or Mr Johnson's partner Miss Middlewood, not with Mr Tannahill and that he had confirmed the engagement with Mr Johnson himself at the Gisborne Races on Sunday 18 February.
Mr Johnson confirmed that Mr Rogerson’s account was correct, but that he was also aware that Mr Tannahill had also taken the ride on MANCINI. Mr Johnson confirmed that there were communications issues regarding confirming his engagements, but he believed he had been engaged to ride MANCINI.
Reasons for Decision:
It is clear that there are communication issues around the confirmation of riding engagements, for which Mr Johnson must sort out. Where a rider has a Riding Agent to act on their behalf, the responsible approach is for processes to be put in place to avoid the situation that Mr Johnson has found himself in. The approach that the Committee adopts in relation to making a ruling, is not to direct that a rider must ride a particular horse, but rather, based on the information placed before it, which riding engagement is to take precedence. It is clear that Mr Tannahill is authorised to confirm engagements on Mr Johnson’s behalf as he is his Riding Agent. Mr Johnson confirmed this is still the case. Mr Tannahill confirmed the engagement for MANCINI with Mr Breslin on the morning of Sunday 18 February. For EXONERATE, it is clear that Mr Johnson confirmed that engagement after being approached by Mr Rogerson at the Gisborne races on the afternoon of Sunday 18 February. It is clear that at the time that Mr Johnson sought to confirm the engagement from Mr Rogerson, he had already been engaged, via Mr Tannahill, to ride MANCINI. Therefore, MANCINI must take precedence.
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: 5d9c543f6d3896240466f756dc5e5cd7
informantnumber: A7338
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge:
plea:
penaltyrequired:
decisiondate: 22/02/2018
hearing_title: Wairoa RC 22 February 2018 - R 4 (request for a ruling) Chair - Mr T Utikere
charge:
facts:
Prior to the running of Race 4 (Kenilworth Plumbing 1400) Information A7338 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It sought a ruling in relation to Rule 330(2) and asked the Judicial Committee: “To determine a disputed riding engagement for C Johnson in Race 4 regarding EXONERATE and MANCINI.”
Rule 330(2) states: “Any dispute with reference to the engagement or engagements of a Rider to ride at a particular Race Meeting or Race Meetings shall be determined by a Judicial Committee at the request of a Stipendiary Steward or any of the parties to the dispute.”
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Stipendiary Steward, Mr B Jones, advised that he had been contacted by the New Zealand Racing Bureau prior to the meeting advising that there was a dispute in Races 2 and 4 of the Wairoa Racing Club's Meeting. While the dispute regarding Race 2 had been resolved, there remained a dispute for Race 4, which required a ruling from the Judicial Committee. Mr Johnson’s Agent, Mr Tannahill, had also contacted Mr Jones prior to the race meeting to advise that he believed he had engaged Mr Johnson to ride MANCINI.
MANCINI’s trainer, Mr Breslin, also believed that Mr Johnson had been engaged for his horse, and placed before the Committee a stream of text messages to Mr Tannahill from early on Sunday 18 February to support this. He also advised that he had a conversation with Mr Tannahill on that morning, during which Mr Tannahill had confirmed the ride. It was when Mr Breslin went to declare the horse with the Bureau that he had been advised that Mr Johnson was not available. Mr Breslin also identified that Mr Tannahill was listed as Mr Johnson’s Agent in the NZTR Monthly Calendar.
Mr Rogerson spoke to the hearing via speakerphone. He told the Committee that Mr Johnson was to ride all of his horses at Wairoa, except for the race which LOCALLY SOURCED was in. He said that he only dealt with Mr Johnson or Mr Johnson's partner Miss Middlewood, not with Mr Tannahill and that he had confirmed the engagement with Mr Johnson himself at the Gisborne Races on Sunday 18 February.
Mr Johnson confirmed that Mr Rogerson’s account was correct, but that he was also aware that Mr Tannahill had also taken the ride on MANCINI. Mr Johnson confirmed that there were communications issues regarding confirming his engagements, but he believed he had been engaged to ride MANCINI.
reasonsfordecision:
It is clear that there are communication issues around the confirmation of riding engagements, for which Mr Johnson must sort out. Where a rider has a Riding Agent to act on their behalf, the responsible approach is for processes to be put in place to avoid the situation that Mr Johnson has found himself in. The approach that the Committee adopts in relation to making a ruling, is not to direct that a rider must ride a particular horse, but rather, based on the information placed before it, which riding engagement is to take precedence. It is clear that Mr Tannahill is authorised to confirm engagements on Mr Johnson’s behalf as he is his Riding Agent. Mr Johnson confirmed this is still the case. Mr Tannahill confirmed the engagement for MANCINI with Mr Breslin on the morning of Sunday 18 February. For EXONERATE, it is clear that Mr Johnson confirmed that engagement after being approached by Mr Rogerson at the Gisborne races on the afternoon of Sunday 18 February. It is clear that at the time that Mr Johnson sought to confirm the engagement from Mr Rogerson, he had already been engaged, via Mr Tannahill, to ride MANCINI. Therefore, MANCINI must take precedence.
Decision:
Mr Johnson’s engagement for MANCINI takes precedence over EXONERATE.
sumissionsforpenalty:
reasonsforpenalty:
penalty:
hearing_type: Request Ruling
Rules: Rule 330(2)
Informant:
JockeysandTrainer:
Otherperson:
PersonPresent: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr M Breslin - Trainer of MANCINI, Mr C Johnson - Licensed Jockey, Mr G Rogerson - Trainer of EXONERATE (via telephone)
Respondent:
StipendSteward: Mr B Jones - Stipendiary Steward
raceid: a0059f7bb54585409ad2f6cb9b4d695a
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R4
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 9f9f33c4b530b3139131ac95762c7b06
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 22/02/2018
meet_title: Wairoa RC - 22 February 2018
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wairoa-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: TUtikere
meet_pm1: none
meet_pm2: none
name: Wairoa RC