Whangarei RC 14 September 2019 – R 7 – Chair, Mr A Dooley
ID: JCA16178
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Whangarei RC - 14 September 2019
Meet Chair:
ADooley
Meet Committee Member 1:
ASmith
Race Date:
2019/09/14
Race Number:
R7
Decision:
As Mr Harris admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
Penalty:
Mr Harris was fined the sum of $500.
Facts:
Following the running of race 7, Northland Breeders Stakes (Group 3) an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 648(5). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Harris the rider of CATALYST weighed in 1.0 kg in excess of the weight he weighed out.
Mr Harris said that he understood the Rule and confirmed he admitted the breach.
Rule 648(5) provides: If the Rider of a horse weighs in at a weight of 0.5kg or more in excess of that at which he weighed out:
(a) that Rider; and
(b) any other person who a Tribunal conducting an inquiry finds was at fault, commits a breach of these Rules.
Mr Oatham advised the Committee that as per the Information Mr Harris weighed in 1 kg overweight. He said that Mr Harris had been in the sauna during the morning in an effort to make the carded weight. He said that after weighing out it was established that Mr Harris needed to take some fluids. In conclusion he stated it was fortunate CATALYST won the race easily otherwise there would have been severe aggravating factors if the horse had been beaten.
Mr Harris confirmed that he had been in the sauna in the morning and after weighing out he felt it was in his best interests to take on some fluids.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Oatham said there had been 3 previous breaches of this Rule – Mr O’Malley on 25 November 2017 when he was fined $200, Mr McKay on 11 November 2017 at Te Rapa when he was fined $500 for weighing in 1kg overweight and Mr Pinn on 14 July 2018 when he was fined $450 for weighing in in excess of 1kg. He said the aggravating fact was the Group 3 status of the race. He submitted a fine in the vicinity of $500 would be appropriate.
Mr Harris made no submissions on penalty.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The Committee was mindful that the JCA Penalty Guide starting point penalty for a breach of this Rule was reduced from $500 to $200 in November 2017 when the permissible weight variance in the Rule was changed from 1kg to 0.5kg. While we accept that Mr Harris has historically struggled with his weight he has an obligation to comply with the Rules of Racing.
During deliberation the Committee reviewed the decisions that Mr Oatham referred to and we noted that each case had a different set of circumstances to today’s breach. It was fortunate that CATALYST won the race and Mr Harris’ actions did not impact on the connections or the betting public.
Under the provisions of Rule 920 (2) the aggravating factors were the breach occurred in a Group 3 race with stakes payable of $70,000.
The mitigating factors were Mr Harris’ admission of the breach and his clear record under this Rule.
After taking into account all the factors the Committee considered that an appropriate penalty was a $500 fine.
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: c677d4019537670f5ea1cefdf38b8ee3
informantnumber: A11279
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Weighed in 1 kg in excess of the weight he weighed out
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 15/09/2019
hearing_title: Whangarei RC 14 September 2019 - R 7 - Chair, Mr A Dooley
charge:
facts:
Following the running of race 7, Northland Breeders Stakes (Group 3) an Information was filed pursuant to Rule 648(5). The Informant, Mr Oatham, alleged that Mr Harris the rider of CATALYST weighed in 1.0 kg in excess of the weight he weighed out.
Mr Harris said that he understood the Rule and confirmed he admitted the breach.
Rule 648(5) provides: If the Rider of a horse weighs in at a weight of 0.5kg or more in excess of that at which he weighed out:
(a) that Rider; and
(b) any other person who a Tribunal conducting an inquiry finds was at fault, commits a breach of these Rules.
Mr Oatham advised the Committee that as per the Information Mr Harris weighed in 1 kg overweight. He said that Mr Harris had been in the sauna during the morning in an effort to make the carded weight. He said that after weighing out it was established that Mr Harris needed to take some fluids. In conclusion he stated it was fortunate CATALYST won the race easily otherwise there would have been severe aggravating factors if the horse had been beaten.
Mr Harris confirmed that he had been in the sauna in the morning and after weighing out he felt it was in his best interests to take on some fluids.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Mr Harris admitted the breach the Committee found the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Oatham said there had been 3 previous breaches of this Rule – Mr O’Malley on 25 November 2017 when he was fined $200, Mr McKay on 11 November 2017 at Te Rapa when he was fined $500 for weighing in 1kg overweight and Mr Pinn on 14 July 2018 when he was fined $450 for weighing in in excess of 1kg. He said the aggravating fact was the Group 3 status of the race. He submitted a fine in the vicinity of $500 would be appropriate.
Mr Harris made no submissions on penalty.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented.
The Committee was mindful that the JCA Penalty Guide starting point penalty for a breach of this Rule was reduced from $500 to $200 in November 2017 when the permissible weight variance in the Rule was changed from 1kg to 0.5kg. While we accept that Mr Harris has historically struggled with his weight he has an obligation to comply with the Rules of Racing.
During deliberation the Committee reviewed the decisions that Mr Oatham referred to and we noted that each case had a different set of circumstances to today’s breach. It was fortunate that CATALYST won the race and Mr Harris’ actions did not impact on the connections or the betting public.
Under the provisions of Rule 920 (2) the aggravating factors were the breach occurred in a Group 3 race with stakes payable of $70,000.
The mitigating factors were Mr Harris’ admission of the breach and his clear record under this Rule.
After taking into account all the factors the Committee considered that an appropriate penalty was a $500 fine.
penalty:
Mr Harris was fined the sum of $500.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: 648(5)
Informant: Mr J Oatham - Chief Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Mr T Harris - Class A Rider of CATALYST
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: c45de81d8e1c6b2e15c67df4b4325fdd
race_expapproval:
racecancelled: 0
race_noreport: 0
race_emailed1: 0
race_emailed2: 0
race_title: R7
submittochair:
race_expappcomment:
race_km:
race_otherexp:
race_chair:
race_pm1:
race_pm2:
meetid: 8636125b391bd2ff346e94a5f0302d9b
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 14/09/2019
meet_title: Whangarei RC - 14 September 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: whangarei-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: ADooley
meet_pm1: ASmith
meet_pm2: none
name: Whangarei RC