Archive Decision

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Westport TC 8 March 2013 – R4

ID: JCA13627

Applicant:
SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward

Respondent(s):
GD Smith - Licensed Open Horseman

Information Number:
A4974

Hearing Type:
Hearing

Rules:
867

Plea:
admitted

Meet Title:
Westport TC - 8 March 2013

Meet Chair:
RMcKenzie

Meet Committee Member 1:
SChing

Race Date:
2013/03/08

Race Number:
R4

Decision:

Mr Smith having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved. 

Penalty:

Mr Smith was fined the sum of $150.00 

Charge:

Driving with foot out of rest 

Facts:

Following the running of Race 4, Gibson Appliances/West Coast Messenger Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G D Smith, alleging that Mr Smith, as the driver of BLACK PARADE in the race, “drove for a considerable portion of the race with his feet free of the sulky footrest”.

Mr Smith had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. Mr Renault confirmed to the Committee that Mr Smith did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.

Rule 867 provides as follows:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose. 

Submissions for Decision:

Mr Renault showed a video replay of the race with approximately 2000 metres to run. He pointed out Mr Smith, driving BLACK PARADE, strike several pylons. He became unbalanced, Mr Renault said, and dropped his left leg from the sulky footrest. Going out of the straight, he struck pylons again and dropped his left leg out of the footrest for a distance of approximately 130 metres. Although he was unbalanced, 130 metres was too long, Mr Renault said. Finally, at the 500 metres, Mr Smith dropped his foot out of the sulky footrest for a further distance of 50-100 metres.

Mr Renault submitted that there were no consequential effects of Mr Smith’s actions but, from a perception point of view, it was not a good look.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Smith had received a fine of $100 for a breach of the Rule at Rangiora on 31 December 2012 and at Amberley on 6 February 2013, he had been fined $150. On the latter occasion, he had used his whip while his foot was out of the footrest.

Mr Smith is an experienced horseman. He has had 236 drives in the current season and had a total of 390 drives in the 2011/2012 season, Mr Renault said.

Mr Renault submitted that a fine of $150 was appropriate.

Reasons for Penalty:

The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of $100 for a breach of the Rule. Mr Smith’s previous record under the Rule was an aggravating factor. Mitigating factors were his open admission of the breach and the fact that there were no consequential effects of his actions. The Committee added the sum of $100 to that starting point to arrive at a figure of $200 but discounted that figure by $50 for the mitigating factors referred to.  

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: 4f8c0f04cf34f246a69e089d90e17728


informantnumber: A4974


horsename:


hearing_racingtype:


startdate: no date provided


newcharge:


plea: admitted


penaltyrequired: 1


decisiondate: 10/03/2013


hearing_title: Westport TC 8 March 2013 - R4


charge:

Driving with foot out of rest 


facts:

Following the running of Race 4, Gibson Appliances/West Coast Messenger Pace, an information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr S P Renault, against Licensed Open Horseman, Mr G D Smith, alleging that Mr Smith, as the driver of BLACK PARADE in the race, “drove for a considerable portion of the race with his feet free of the sulky footrest”.

Mr Smith had signed the Statement by the Respondent on the information form indicating that he admitted the breach. Mr Renault confirmed to the Committee that Mr Smith did not wish to be present at the hearing of the information.

Rule 867 provides as follows:
Every horseman shall drive throughout the race with both feet in the rests of the sulky provided for that purpose. 


appealdecision:


isappeal:


submissionsfordecision:

Mr Renault showed a video replay of the race with approximately 2000 metres to run. He pointed out Mr Smith, driving BLACK PARADE, strike several pylons. He became unbalanced, Mr Renault said, and dropped his left leg from the sulky footrest. Going out of the straight, he struck pylons again and dropped his left leg out of the footrest for a distance of approximately 130 metres. Although he was unbalanced, 130 metres was too long, Mr Renault said. Finally, at the 500 metres, Mr Smith dropped his foot out of the sulky footrest for a further distance of 50-100 metres.

Mr Renault submitted that there were no consequential effects of Mr Smith’s actions but, from a perception point of view, it was not a good look.


reasonsfordecision:


Decision:

Mr Smith having admitted the breach, the charge was found proved. 


sumissionsforpenalty:

Mr Renault informed the Committee that Mr Smith had received a fine of $100 for a breach of the Rule at Rangiora on 31 December 2012 and at Amberley on 6 February 2013, he had been fined $150. On the latter occasion, he had used his whip while his foot was out of the footrest.

Mr Smith is an experienced horseman. He has had 236 drives in the current season and had a total of 390 drives in the 2011/2012 season, Mr Renault said.

Mr Renault submitted that a fine of $150 was appropriate.


reasonsforpenalty:

The Penalty Guide recommends a starting point of $100 for a breach of the Rule. Mr Smith’s previous record under the Rule was an aggravating factor. Mitigating factors were his open admission of the breach and the fact that there were no consequential effects of his actions. The Committee added the sum of $100 to that starting point to arrive at a figure of $200 but discounted that figure by $50 for the mitigating factors referred to.  


penalty:

Mr Smith was fined the sum of $150.00 


hearing_type: Hearing


Rules: 867


Informant: SP Renault - Stipendiary Steward


JockeysandTrainer: GD Smith - Licensed Open Horseman


Otherperson:


PersonPresent:


Respondent:


StipendSteward:


raceid: 6d704777d1df5e222b83da2cce50773a


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: dce0890cd61be796fa170ec95dc24add


meet_expapproval:


meet_noreport: 0


waitingforpublication: 0


meet_emailed1: 0


meet_emailed2: 0


meetdate: 08/03/2013


meet_title: Westport TC - 8 March 2013


meet_expappcomment:


meet_km:


meet_otherexp:


tracklocation: westport-tc


meet_racingtype: harness-racing


meet_chair: RMcKenzie


meet_pm1: SChing


meet_pm2: none


name: Westport TC