Wanganui TC 14 December 2014 – R 5
ID: JCA15516
Meet Title:
Wanganui TC - 14 December 2014
Meet Chair:
PWilliams
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMoffatt
Race Date:
2014/12/14
Race Number:
R5
Decision:
As Mr Dickens admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
Penalty:
Mr Dickens is suspended from the close of racing on Tuesday 16 December 2014 to the close of racing on Friday 9 January 2015. That period of time encompasses 5 North Island days as follows:-
Cambridge – 18 December 2014
Cambridge – 24 December 2014
Cambridge – 24 December 2014
Te Awamutu – 29 December 2014
Tauherenikau – 2 January 2015
Cambridge – 9 January 2015.
Tauherenikau – 2 January 2015
Cambridge – 9 January 2015.
Facts:
Following the running of race 5, the “Secure Documents Services/Steptoes Tyres Mobile Pace” Information A6506 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead under Rule 868 (3). The Information stated “that B Dickens (Pureora Paree) failed to drive his horse out to the finish when having a reasonable chance of finishing in sole third position”. Mr Dickens, who was assisted by Open Horseman Mr P Ferguson, signed the Information admitting the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule.
Rule 868 (3) states:- “Every horseman shall drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has a reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth”.
Submissions for Decision:
Mr Muirhead used the side-on film to identify Mr Dickens as the widest runner on the track as the horses entered the final 200m of the race. He said at that point Mr Dickens was driving with vigour and making up ground on those in front of him. He said he continued to drive in that manner until approximately 25m from the finish when he tucked his whip under his arm, sat up and coasted to the line. Mr Muirhead said Mr Dickens had ended up in a dead heat for third but in his opinion had he not stopped driving with vigour he would have finished alone in third place. Mr Muirhead also said this was a serious charge as the connections of “Pureora Paree” had earned a lesser amount in stake money than what they would have had the horse finished alone in third and members of the public who bet on the horse had also had their dividends impacted because the horse had dead-heated for third place.
To a question from Mr Ferguson, Mr Muirhead confirmed it was an error of judgment on the part of Mr Dickens and the Stewards were not saying there had been a deliberate action on his part to stop the horse finishing closer than it did.
Mr Dickens was very remorseful when he saw the film of the incident. He said it was an error of judgment on his part and he simply misjudged where the winning post was. He said he had been away from driving in NZ for approximately 15 years and this was only his third drive back following on from the two drives he had at Hawera on 11 December 2014.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Muirhead noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $600 fine or a suspension of 12 drives. He submitted an appropriate suspension, assuming Mr Dickens would have three drives at each meeting he attended, was one that finished at the end of January 2015.
Mr Ferguson said whilst putting the whip under his arm was an aggravating factor there were several factors in mitigation that the Committee should consider when coming to a decision on penalty.
Mr Dickens said he was expecting to drive regularly for trainer Mr Gale but also said that two other more experienced drivers were Mr Gale’s first choices and would be offered drives on Mr Gale’s horses before he would be.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 200m of the race and notes that, as described by Mr Muirhead and agreed to by Messrs Dickens and Ferguson, Mr Dickens drove with vigour until approximately 25m from the finish when he put his whip under his arm and coasted to the line. Mr Dickens was on the outside of the field and in full view of the Trackside cameras and his actions could be clearly seen by members of the public watching the Race.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $600 fine or a 12 drive suspension. This is Mr Dickens’ second day of driving after 15 years away from the sport but nevertheless an aggravating factor must be the fact that because of his actions his horse only dead heated for third and did not finish alone in that position. The connections and betting public have all been impacted by his actions notwithstanding that he did earn some stake money and pay a reduced dividend for dead heating. The Committee believes therefore that 2 more drives should be added to the 12 drive starting point.
In mitigation Mr Dickens has readily admitted the breach of the Rule and was very remorseful during the hearing. His actions were not a deliberate attempt to ensure his horse did not finish in a higher position but simply an error of judgment not helped by being the widest on the track and therefore the furthest from the winning post. The Committee believes those mitigating factors justify a reduction of 4 drives in the penalty.
The Committee believes it is reasonable to assume Mr Dickens would get 2 drives at each meeting he attends and therefore the penalty is one of 5 driving days. Because Mr Dickens is a Graduation Horseman, when calculating the meetings to be included in his suspension, the upcoming 2 premier days at Auckland have not been included nor has the meeting at Ruakaka on 6 January 2015.
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: 9d9d2617b41b6ffeb5314fb6d684f17e
informantnumber: A6506
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Failing to drive out
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 13/12/2014
hearing_title: Wanganui TC 14 December 2014 - R 5
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 5, the “Secure Documents Services/Steptoes Tyres Mobile Pace” Information A6506 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr J Muirhead under Rule 868 (3). The Information stated “that B Dickens (Pureora Paree) failed to drive his horse out to the finish when having a reasonable chance of finishing in sole third position”. Mr Dickens, who was assisted by Open Horseman Mr P Ferguson, signed the Information admitting the breach and confirmed this at the hearing and also that he understood the Rule.
Rule 868 (3) states:- “Every horseman shall drive his horse out to the end of the race if he has a reasonable chance of running first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth”.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
Mr Muirhead used the side-on film to identify Mr Dickens as the widest runner on the track as the horses entered the final 200m of the race. He said at that point Mr Dickens was driving with vigour and making up ground on those in front of him. He said he continued to drive in that manner until approximately 25m from the finish when he tucked his whip under his arm, sat up and coasted to the line. Mr Muirhead said Mr Dickens had ended up in a dead heat for third but in his opinion had he not stopped driving with vigour he would have finished alone in third place. Mr Muirhead also said this was a serious charge as the connections of “Pureora Paree” had earned a lesser amount in stake money than what they would have had the horse finished alone in third and members of the public who bet on the horse had also had their dividends impacted because the horse had dead-heated for third place.
To a question from Mr Ferguson, Mr Muirhead confirmed it was an error of judgment on the part of Mr Dickens and the Stewards were not saying there had been a deliberate action on his part to stop the horse finishing closer than it did.
Mr Dickens was very remorseful when he saw the film of the incident. He said it was an error of judgment on his part and he simply misjudged where the winning post was. He said he had been away from driving in NZ for approximately 15 years and this was only his third drive back following on from the two drives he had at Hawera on 11 December 2014.
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Dickens admitted the breach the charge was found proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Muirhead noted that the JCA Penalty Guidelines state the starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $600 fine or a suspension of 12 drives. He submitted an appropriate suspension, assuming Mr Dickens would have three drives at each meeting he attended, was one that finished at the end of January 2015.
Mr Ferguson said whilst putting the whip under his arm was an aggravating factor there were several factors in mitigation that the Committee should consider when coming to a decision on penalty.
Mr Dickens said he was expecting to drive regularly for trainer Mr Gale but also said that two other more experienced drivers were Mr Gale’s first choices and would be offered drives on Mr Gale’s horses before he would be.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee has reviewed the film of the final 200m of the race and notes that, as described by Mr Muirhead and agreed to by Messrs Dickens and Ferguson, Mr Dickens drove with vigour until approximately 25m from the finish when he put his whip under his arm and coasted to the line. Mr Dickens was on the outside of the field and in full view of the Trackside cameras and his actions could be clearly seen by members of the public watching the Race.
The JCA’s Penalty Guidelines state a starting point for a breach of this Rule is a $600 fine or a 12 drive suspension. This is Mr Dickens’ second day of driving after 15 years away from the sport but nevertheless an aggravating factor must be the fact that because of his actions his horse only dead heated for third and did not finish alone in that position. The connections and betting public have all been impacted by his actions notwithstanding that he did earn some stake money and pay a reduced dividend for dead heating. The Committee believes therefore that 2 more drives should be added to the 12 drive starting point.
In mitigation Mr Dickens has readily admitted the breach of the Rule and was very remorseful during the hearing. His actions were not a deliberate attempt to ensure his horse did not finish in a higher position but simply an error of judgment not helped by being the widest on the track and therefore the furthest from the winning post. The Committee believes those mitigating factors justify a reduction of 4 drives in the penalty.
The Committee believes it is reasonable to assume Mr Dickens would get 2 drives at each meeting he attends and therefore the penalty is one of 5 driving days. Because Mr Dickens is a Graduation Horseman, when calculating the meetings to be included in his suspension, the upcoming 2 premier days at Auckland have not been included nor has the meeting at Ruakaka on 6 January 2015.
penalty:
Mr Dickens is suspended from the close of racing on Tuesday 16 December 2014 to the close of racing on Friday 9 January 2015. That period of time encompasses 5 North Island days as follows:-
Cambridge – 18 December 2014
Cambridge – 24 December 2014
Cambridge – 24 December 2014
Te Awamutu – 29 December 2014
Tauherenikau – 2 January 2015
Cambridge – 9 January 2015.
Tauherenikau – 2 January 2015
Cambridge – 9 January 2015.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 868(3)
Informant: Mr J Muirhead - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr B Dickens - Graduation Horseman
Otherperson: Mr P Ferguson - Open Horseman, Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
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meet_title: Wanganui TC - 14 December 2014
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