Westport TC 28 December 2014 – R 6
ID: JCA15109
Meet Title:
Westport TC - 28 December 2014
Meet Chair:
SChing
Meet Committee Member 1:
RMcKenzie
Race Date:
2014/12/28
Race Number:
R6
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
Penalty:
Mr Heenan’s horsemans license was suspended from the conclusion of racing on 28 December up to and including 6 February 2015. This suspension encompasses the meetings at Reefton on 30 December, Rangiora on 31 December, Oamaru on 8 January, Oamaru on 18 January, Banks Penninsula on 22 January, Geraldine on 31 January and Amberley on 6 February 2015(7 effective days).
Facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the Hateley/Archer Family Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman, Mr M Heenan alleging a breach of Rule 868(2) in that he failed to drive SCANRECO BAY out for the entirety of the run home when it was both reasonable and permissible to do so.
Rule 868(2) reads as follows:
“Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place.”
Mr Heenan had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Heenan also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Heenan was given the opportunity to have the matter adjourned and to be held at a later date but this was declined.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video evidence with assistance from Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren, to show Mr Heenan driving SCANRECO BAY entering the final straight in a 1 out, 3 back position. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Heenan improved SCANRECO BAY wide on the track early in the home straight and drove his horse out with vigour which Stewards would deem necessary and appropriate. Mr Wallis said that shortly after the 50m, Mr Heenan, turned his whip away and thereafter ceased to drive his horse out. He said that SCANRECO BAY was running on at the time and had come from 2 ½ to 3 lengths behind the eventual winner in the home straight. He stated that after Mr Heenan stopped driving his horse, SCANRECO BAY continued to run on and finished a close 2nd to the winner by an official margin of a short ½ head. Mr Wallis submitted that it was reasonable and permissible for Mr Heenan to continue to drive his horse out with some sort of vigour to the line to give SCANRECO BAY every opportunity to win the race.
In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Wallis stated that when Mr Heenan stopped driving his horse out, he was approximately 1 length from the eventual winner. He said that SCANRECO BAY got to within a small margin of the winner CAN HE PAY without any urging from Mr Heenan.
Mr Heenan stated that SCANRECO BAY was a maiden horse and had been racing for 2 years without any success. His 2nd today was the closest the horse had ever finished in his career. He said that SCANRECO BAY was an old horse who had raced for a long time and had had a lot of good drivers on in the past. He said the horse had never looked like winning a race. He said SCANRECO BAY would normally run on for about 50m in the straight and then stop but occasionally run on further. He stated that the horse would normally clamp his tail down and stop if aggressive driving and the whip were used too much on him. He also said that he accepted that what he did “looked shocking” but submitted that he was clear in his mind that had he carried on driving the horse with the whip he would not have finished that close to the winner. He said he would have been lucky to finish in 3rd place. He submitted that SCANRECO BAY ran on better when he stopped driving him out but accepted that the perception of his drive was not good. He also submitted that there was never any intent to “pull” the horse as he thought he was getting the best out of him.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Wallis informed the Committee that Mr Heenan was not a busy driver with a total of 41 drives last season and 23 so far this season. Mr Wallis stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a 15 drive suspension or a fine of $750 for breach of this rule. He said that credit should be given to Mr Heenan for his admission of the breach and his co-operation with the Stewards in this matter. Mr Wallis stated that Stewards deemed this breach to be at the higher end of the scale and submitted that a suspension be imposed near the recommended starting point of 15 drives. Mr Wallis stated that he would leave it up to the Committee to determine an appropriate penalty.
Mr Heenan stated that he was not in a position to pay a fine and submitted that a suspension be imposed. In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Heenan stated that he had 7 horses racing at the moment and was driving 4 of those at the upcoming Reefton meeting. He accepted that an average of 2 drives per meeting would be a fair assessment of his future possible race day drives. Deferment of penalty was discussed with Mr Heenan wishing to take any penalty immediately.
Reasons for Penalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration all aggravating and mitigating factors. We agreed with the Stewards and assessed the breach as at the high end. The Committee also determined that a suspension was an appropriate penalty in this case. In taking the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 15 drives, an uplift of 5 drives was required due to the aggravating factor of the high level of the breach. Against this we were able to give Mr Heenan a discount of 4 drives for his ready admission of the breach. We therefore determined that a suspension of 16 drives was an appropriate penalty.
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: 69d0f3bceea2184f33ea6468aae85462
informantnumber: A6611
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Breach of Rule 868(2)
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 29/12/2014
hearing_title: Westport TC 28 December 2014 - R 6
charge:
facts:
Following the running of Race 6, the Hateley/Archer Family Mobile Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S Wallis against Open Horseman, Mr M Heenan alleging a breach of Rule 868(2) in that he failed to drive SCANRECO BAY out for the entirety of the run home when it was both reasonable and permissible to do so.
Rule 868(2) reads as follows:
“Every horseman shall take all reasonable and permissible measures at all times during the race to ensure that his horse is given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place.”
Mr Heenan had indicated on the Information that this breach of the Rules was admitted and he confirmed this at the hearing. Mr Heenan also agreed that he understood the charge and the Rule it was brought under.
Mr Heenan was given the opportunity to have the matter adjourned and to be held at a later date but this was declined.
Mr Wallis gave evidence and showed video evidence with assistance from Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren, to show Mr Heenan driving SCANRECO BAY entering the final straight in a 1 out, 3 back position. Mr Wallis stated that Mr Heenan improved SCANRECO BAY wide on the track early in the home straight and drove his horse out with vigour which Stewards would deem necessary and appropriate. Mr Wallis said that shortly after the 50m, Mr Heenan, turned his whip away and thereafter ceased to drive his horse out. He said that SCANRECO BAY was running on at the time and had come from 2 ½ to 3 lengths behind the eventual winner in the home straight. He stated that after Mr Heenan stopped driving his horse, SCANRECO BAY continued to run on and finished a close 2nd to the winner by an official margin of a short ½ head. Mr Wallis submitted that it was reasonable and permissible for Mr Heenan to continue to drive his horse out with some sort of vigour to the line to give SCANRECO BAY every opportunity to win the race.
In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Wallis stated that when Mr Heenan stopped driving his horse out, he was approximately 1 length from the eventual winner. He said that SCANRECO BAY got to within a small margin of the winner CAN HE PAY without any urging from Mr Heenan.
Mr Heenan stated that SCANRECO BAY was a maiden horse and had been racing for 2 years without any success. His 2nd today was the closest the horse had ever finished in his career. He said that SCANRECO BAY was an old horse who had raced for a long time and had had a lot of good drivers on in the past. He said the horse had never looked like winning a race. He said SCANRECO BAY would normally run on for about 50m in the straight and then stop but occasionally run on further. He stated that the horse would normally clamp his tail down and stop if aggressive driving and the whip were used too much on him. He also said that he accepted that what he did “looked shocking” but submitted that he was clear in his mind that had he carried on driving the horse with the whip he would not have finished that close to the winner. He said he would have been lucky to finish in 3rd place. He submitted that SCANRECO BAY ran on better when he stopped driving him out but accepted that the perception of his drive was not good. He also submitted that there was never any intent to “pull” the horse as he thought he was getting the best out of him.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
The charge was found to be proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Wallis informed the Committee that Mr Heenan was not a busy driver with a total of 41 drives last season and 23 so far this season. Mr Wallis stated that the JCA Penalty Guide recommended a starting point of a 15 drive suspension or a fine of $750 for breach of this rule. He said that credit should be given to Mr Heenan for his admission of the breach and his co-operation with the Stewards in this matter. Mr Wallis stated that Stewards deemed this breach to be at the higher end of the scale and submitted that a suspension be imposed near the recommended starting point of 15 drives. Mr Wallis stated that he would leave it up to the Committee to determine an appropriate penalty.
Mr Heenan stated that he was not in a position to pay a fine and submitted that a suspension be imposed. In answer to a question from the Committee, Mr Heenan stated that he had 7 horses racing at the moment and was driving 4 of those at the upcoming Reefton meeting. He accepted that an average of 2 drives per meeting would be a fair assessment of his future possible race day drives. Deferment of penalty was discussed with Mr Heenan wishing to take any penalty immediately.
reasonsforpenalty:
In determining penalty the Committee took into consideration all aggravating and mitigating factors. We agreed with the Stewards and assessed the breach as at the high end. The Committee also determined that a suspension was an appropriate penalty in this case. In taking the JCA Penalty Guide starting point of 15 drives, an uplift of 5 drives was required due to the aggravating factor of the high level of the breach. Against this we were able to give Mr Heenan a discount of 4 drives for his ready admission of the breach. We therefore determined that a suspension of 16 drives was an appropriate penalty.
penalty:
Mr Heenan’s horsemans license was suspended from the conclusion of racing on 28 December up to and including 6 February 2015. This suspension encompasses the meetings at Reefton on 30 December, Rangiora on 31 December, Oamaru on 8 January, Oamaru on 18 January, Banks Penninsula on 22 January, Geraldine on 31 January and Amberley on 6 February 2015(7 effective days).
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 868(2)
Informant: S Wallis-Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: M Heenan-Open Horseman
Otherperson: N Ydgren - Stipendiary Steward
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: b95257308a8036c192be1175e8056267
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R6
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 6c9fd0adbd811839935afc084a1ce445
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 28/12/2014
meet_title: Westport TC - 28 December 2014
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: westport-tc
meet_racingtype: harness-racing
meet_chair: SChing
meet_pm1: RMcKenzie
meet_pm2: none
name: Westport TC