Wanganui JC 13 June 2019 – R 3 – Chair, Mr P Williams
ID: JCA16792
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wanganui JC - 13 June 2019
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
TBird
Race Date:
2019/06/13
Race Number:
R3
Decision:
Because Mr Vile has admitted the breach it is found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Vile is fined $350.
Facts:
At an earlier hearing today Mr Vile had sought permission to late scratch his horse from Race 3 and his 2 horses from Race 7 due to testing nature of the track. That request was declined by the Judicial Committee in terms of Rule 534.
Subsequent to that hearing Mr Vile advised the Stewards that he had sent the horses back to his training establishment in Palmerston North and as a consequence he was charged (Informant Mr Balcombe, Information A11610) with scratching the 3 horses without the necessary consent of the Stewards.
At the beginning of the hearing Mr Vile was asked if he understood the provisions of Rule 534 and he said he did not need to have it read out. He also confirmed that he did not admit the breach of the Rule. However, part way through the hearing he asked if he could change his plea to one of admitting the Rule but with mitigating circumstances. Mr Balcombe said he had no objections to that and as the Committee had none either the hearing was completed based on Mr Vile’s admittance of the breach.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Balcombe said that after the Committee’s earlier ruling that Mr Vile was not authorised to scratch his horses Mr Vile said he had sent his horses back to his training establishment in Palmerston North. Mr Balcombe said he had no option but to advise the TAB the horses had been late scratched after which Mr Vile was told he was being charged with scratching the horses without the approval of the Stewards. Mr Balcombe said whilst there had been 6mls of rain since 7.30am, jockeys spoken to after Race 1 had not expressed any safety concerns for themselves or their horses. It was for these reasons the Stewards had opposed the late scratching of the 3 horses. To a question from Mr Vile Mr Balcombe said the Stewards did not believe the rain that had fallen since 7.30am had had a material effect on the track. Mr Vile also asked Mr Balcombe if he thought a time of 1.53 for a 1600m race was “bad” and Mr Balcombe said he could not comment on that because each track’s surface was different.
Mr Vile reiterated what he had said when the Request for Ruling hearing was held. He said after the running of Race 1 he had asked the Stewards for permission to scratch his runner in Race 3 and his 2 runners in Race 7 because of the very heavy nature of the track. He said in the interests and welfare of his horses and their riders he wanted to scratch. He said he was aware the track was rated as a Heavy 11 earlier this morning but since 7.30am there was more rain and the NZTR website had not been updated from 7.30am when it was showing the weather as “Overcast”. He said had he known after 7.30am that it was raining he would have sought permission from the Stewards to scratch all his horses from the meeting before leaving Palmerston North for Wanganui.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Balcombe said the Mr Vile had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. He said 2 horses had been denied a possible start by the actions of Mr Vile. He said that a previous similar breach by Trainer Mr Bergerson at Hastings in late September 2107 has resulted in a $400 fine being imposed and it was the submission of the Stewards that a fine in that range was appropriate in today’s case.
Mr Vile said he had a good record in relation to this breach and he had not made the decision to send his horses home lightly. He said he was genuinely concerned for the welfare of his horses and it was unfair on the betting public for them to start on track conditions they were not suited to. He said the fact that the weather at the track had not been updated during the morning by NZTR was not helpful.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has considered the submissions of the parties. The starting point penalty for a breach of this Rule is a fine of $350. Aggravating factors to be considered are the fact that 2 horses in Race 7 were possibly denied the chance to race. In addition, the request to scratch the horses from races 3 and 7 was made only 1 hour before the start of Race 3. In mitigation Mr Vile admitted the breach (albeit part way through the hearing) and has not breached the Rule in the previous 12 months. Further, the Committee has some sympathy with Mr Vile in relation to his comments about the weather not being updated on the NZTR website post 7.30am but notes that had Mr Vile known about the continuing rain and attempted to scratch his horses earlier than he did, but after 7.30am, he still may not have received the approval of the Stewards to do so.
Taking all of the above into consideration the Committee believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
JCA Decision Fields (raw)
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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: a105d49ee361adf0f29380c06a039a5c
informantnumber: A11610
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Unauthorised Scratching of Horses
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/06/2019
hearing_title: Wanganui JC 13 June 2019 - R 3 - Chair, Mr P Williams
charge:
facts:
At an earlier hearing today Mr Vile had sought permission to late scratch his horse from Race 3 and his 2 horses from Race 7 due to testing nature of the track. That request was declined by the Judicial Committee in terms of Rule 534.
Subsequent to that hearing Mr Vile advised the Stewards that he had sent the horses back to his training establishment in Palmerston North and as a consequence he was charged (Informant Mr Balcombe, Information A11610) with scratching the 3 horses without the necessary consent of the Stewards.
At the beginning of the hearing Mr Vile was asked if he understood the provisions of Rule 534 and he said he did not need to have it read out. He also confirmed that he did not admit the breach of the Rule. However, part way through the hearing he asked if he could change his plea to one of admitting the Rule but with mitigating circumstances. Mr Balcombe said he had no objections to that and as the Committee had none either the hearing was completed based on Mr Vile’s admittance of the breach.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Balcombe said that after the Committee’s earlier ruling that Mr Vile was not authorised to scratch his horses Mr Vile said he had sent his horses back to his training establishment in Palmerston North. Mr Balcombe said he had no option but to advise the TAB the horses had been late scratched after which Mr Vile was told he was being charged with scratching the horses without the approval of the Stewards. Mr Balcombe said whilst there had been 6mls of rain since 7.30am, jockeys spoken to after Race 1 had not expressed any safety concerns for themselves or their horses. It was for these reasons the Stewards had opposed the late scratching of the 3 horses. To a question from Mr Vile Mr Balcombe said the Stewards did not believe the rain that had fallen since 7.30am had had a material effect on the track. Mr Vile also asked Mr Balcombe if he thought a time of 1.53 for a 1600m race was “bad” and Mr Balcombe said he could not comment on that because each track’s surface was different.
Mr Vile reiterated what he had said when the Request for Ruling hearing was held. He said after the running of Race 1 he had asked the Stewards for permission to scratch his runner in Race 3 and his 2 runners in Race 7 because of the very heavy nature of the track. He said in the interests and welfare of his horses and their riders he wanted to scratch. He said he was aware the track was rated as a Heavy 11 earlier this morning but since 7.30am there was more rain and the NZTR website had not been updated from 7.30am when it was showing the weather as “Overcast”. He said had he known after 7.30am that it was raining he would have sought permission from the Stewards to scratch all his horses from the meeting before leaving Palmerston North for Wanganui.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
Because Mr Vile has admitted the breach it is found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Balcombe said the Mr Vile had not breached this Rule in the previous 12 months. He said 2 horses had been denied a possible start by the actions of Mr Vile. He said that a previous similar breach by Trainer Mr Bergerson at Hastings in late September 2107 has resulted in a $400 fine being imposed and it was the submission of the Stewards that a fine in that range was appropriate in today’s case.
Mr Vile said he had a good record in relation to this breach and he had not made the decision to send his horses home lightly. He said he was genuinely concerned for the welfare of his horses and it was unfair on the betting public for them to start on track conditions they were not suited to. He said the fact that the weather at the track had not been updated during the morning by NZTR was not helpful.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has considered the submissions of the parties. The starting point penalty for a breach of this Rule is a fine of $350. Aggravating factors to be considered are the fact that 2 horses in Race 7 were possibly denied the chance to race. In addition, the request to scratch the horses from races 3 and 7 was made only 1 hour before the start of Race 3. In mitigation Mr Vile admitted the breach (albeit part way through the hearing) and has not breached the Rule in the previous 12 months. Further, the Committee has some sympathy with Mr Vile in relation to his comments about the weather not being updated on the NZTR website post 7.30am but notes that had Mr Vile known about the continuing rain and attempted to scratch his horses earlier than he did, but after 7.30am, he still may not have received the approval of the Stewards to do so.
Taking all of the above into consideration the Committee believe on this occasion a fine is an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Mr Vile is fined $350.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 534
Informant: Mr D Balcombe - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr G Vile - Trainer
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c7f6807e8dfec7ef8286ecd04e7d4f7e
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R3
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 498c24d8c0ac65184ffb185dc18702df
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 13/06/2019
meet_title: Wanganui JC - 13 June 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wanganui-jc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: PWilliams
meet_pm1: TBird
meet_pm2: none
name: Wanganui JC