Wellington RC 19 March 2016 – R 8 – Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
ID: JCA17872
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Wellington RC - 19 March 2016
Meet Chair:
NMoffatt
Meet Committee Member 1:
NMcCutcheon
Race Date:
2016/03/19
Race Number:
R 8
Decision:
As Ms Johnson admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Balancing up all of these factors it was our opinion that an eight day suspension and a $1000 fine was an appropriate penalty.
On the evidence presented to the Committee, by the Stipendiary Stewards and Ms Johnson, and having regard to Rule 1106(2) it was our view that Ms Johnson has an obligation to fulfil her riding engagements at Avondale on Wednesday 23rd.
1106 provides:
(2) Each suspension of a Rider or Rider’s Licence which is imposed under these Rules by the Judicial Committee during any day of a Race Meeting shall take effect as follows:
(a) if, at the time the suspension is imposed, the Rider has no engagements to ride a horse in a Race during the next seven day period after that Race day, from the completion of that Rider’s engagements on that Race day; or
(b) if, at the time the suspension is imposed, the Rider is engaged to ride a horse or horses in a Race(s) during the next seven day period after that Race day, then from the earlier of:
(i) the completion of such engagements within that seven day period; or
(ii) the completion of that seven day period.
Accordingly Ms Johnson is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday March 23rd up to and including racing on Saturday April 9th.
The Committee was mindful that this time period included two premier days.
Facts:
Following the running of Race 8, The Wellfield New Zealand Oaks Group 1, an Information was lodged by Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that D Johnson permitted her mount SOFIA ROSA to shift outwards over the concluding stages causing interference to FANATIC.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Ms Johnson said she did not require the rule to be read out and she confirmed to the Committee that she admitted the breach.
It was agreed by all parties that the films had been viewed thoroughly throughout the protest hearing and did not require playing again.
Mr Neal said the essence of the charge against Ms Johnson was that she permitted her mount to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of FANATIC.
Submissions for Penalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Neal said Ms Johnson had incurred three suspensions over the last 12 months. These were:
3/11/15 6 days
23/5/15 5 days
23/3/15 6 days
He said Ms Johnson’s record was “better than average” considering all her riding over the Christmas period and the frequency with which she rides. In relation to today’s breach Mr Neal asked the Committee to take into account the Group 1 status of the race and the fact that a relegation had occurred.
The Stewards’ submission was for a suspension of Ms Johnson’s licence for a period in the vicinity of seven to ten days.
Ms Johnson said she had talked to her Manager (Kevin Booth) and while she has rides at Avondale on Wednesday he did not think it would be a problem with the connections “getting off” those horses.
The Stewards were asked for their opinion on the honouring of those commitments. Mr Oatham replied that on occasion in the past, it had been allowed, but only when it had been clearly demonstrated that the connections were happy for the rider to be released. Mr Neal said while he was at NZTR he was involved in the promulgation of this rule. It was put in place to ensure that connections were not penalised if the rider they had engaged incurred a suspension in the seven days prior to the engagement. That was the purpose of the rule.
Reasons for Penalty:
First the Committee looked at the quantum of penalty to be imposed and then we considered the deferment issue. In coming to a decision on penalty we took into account all of the submissions presented and adopted as a starting point a five day suspension. It was our opinion that the degree of carelessness was in the mid to high range. Ms Johnson allowed her mount to shift outwards for a considerable distance and over many horse widths whilst riding vigorously with the whip. The Committee observed that at no stage, whilst SOFIA ROSA was on an outward movement, did Ms Johnson make any attempt to correct her mount’s line of running.
Other aggravating factors were the Group 1 status of the race, the $300,000 stake money and the relegation of SOFIA ROSA from first placing.
Mitigating factors were her admission of the breach and her reasonably good riding record.
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: f845be7288aff714a6bbd4828537fc64
informantnumber: A3528
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Careless Riding
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 21/03/2016
hearing_title: Wellington RC 19 March 2016 - R 8 - Chair, Mrs N Moffatt
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 8, The Wellfield New Zealand Oaks Group 1, an Information was lodged by Mr R Neal alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that D Johnson permitted her mount SOFIA ROSA to shift outwards over the concluding stages causing interference to FANATIC.
Rule 638(1) (d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Judicial Committee considers to be careless.
Ms Johnson said she did not require the rule to be read out and she confirmed to the Committee that she admitted the breach.
It was agreed by all parties that the films had been viewed thoroughly throughout the protest hearing and did not require playing again.
Mr Neal said the essence of the charge against Ms Johnson was that she permitted her mount to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of FANATIC.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Johnson admitted the breach we found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
In relation to penalty Mr Neal said Ms Johnson had incurred three suspensions over the last 12 months. These were:
3/11/15 6 days
23/5/15 5 days
23/3/15 6 days
He said Ms Johnson’s record was “better than average” considering all her riding over the Christmas period and the frequency with which she rides. In relation to today’s breach Mr Neal asked the Committee to take into account the Group 1 status of the race and the fact that a relegation had occurred.
The Stewards’ submission was for a suspension of Ms Johnson’s licence for a period in the vicinity of seven to ten days.
Ms Johnson said she had talked to her Manager (Kevin Booth) and while she has rides at Avondale on Wednesday he did not think it would be a problem with the connections “getting off” those horses.
The Stewards were asked for their opinion on the honouring of those commitments. Mr Oatham replied that on occasion in the past, it had been allowed, but only when it had been clearly demonstrated that the connections were happy for the rider to be released. Mr Neal said while he was at NZTR he was involved in the promulgation of this rule. It was put in place to ensure that connections were not penalised if the rider they had engaged incurred a suspension in the seven days prior to the engagement. That was the purpose of the rule.
reasonsforpenalty:
First the Committee looked at the quantum of penalty to be imposed and then we considered the deferment issue. In coming to a decision on penalty we took into account all of the submissions presented and adopted as a starting point a five day suspension. It was our opinion that the degree of carelessness was in the mid to high range. Ms Johnson allowed her mount to shift outwards for a considerable distance and over many horse widths whilst riding vigorously with the whip. The Committee observed that at no stage, whilst SOFIA ROSA was on an outward movement, did Ms Johnson make any attempt to correct her mount’s line of running.
Other aggravating factors were the Group 1 status of the race, the $300,000 stake money and the relegation of SOFIA ROSA from first placing.
Mitigating factors were her admission of the breach and her reasonably good riding record.
penalty:
Balancing up all of these factors it was our opinion that an eight day suspension and a $1000 fine was an appropriate penalty.
On the evidence presented to the Committee, by the Stipendiary Stewards and Ms Johnson, and having regard to Rule 1106(2) it was our view that Ms Johnson has an obligation to fulfil her riding engagements at Avondale on Wednesday 23rd.
1106 provides:
(2) Each suspension of a Rider or Rider’s Licence which is imposed under these Rules by the Judicial Committee during any day of a Race Meeting shall take effect as follows:
(a) if, at the time the suspension is imposed, the Rider has no engagements to ride a horse in a Race during the next seven day period after that Race day, from the completion of that Rider’s engagements on that Race day; or
(b) if, at the time the suspension is imposed, the Rider is engaged to ride a horse or horses in a Race(s) during the next seven day period after that Race day, then from the earlier of:
(i) the completion of such engagements within that seven day period; or
(ii) the completion of that seven day period.
Accordingly Ms Johnson is suspended from the close of racing on Wednesday March 23rd up to and including racing on Saturday April 9th.
The Committee was mindful that this time period included two premier days.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 638(1)(d)
Informant: Mr R Neal - Co-Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms D Johnson - Licensed Rider
Otherperson: Mr J Oatham - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: eede91700622fd4cfd728504b1d25528
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R 8
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 7feb94047cb965d77d9e5fb5a25ac9b7
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 19/03/2016
meet_title: Wellington RC - 19 March 2016
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: wellington-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: NMoffatt
meet_pm1: NMcCutcheon
meet_pm2: none
name: Wellington RC