Whangarei RC 17 December 2019 – R 2 – Chair, Mr G Jones
ID: JCA17308
Code:
Thoroughbred
Meet Title:
Whangarei RC - 17 December 2019
Meet Chair:
GJones
Meet Committee Member 1:
ADooley
Race Date:
2019/12/17
Race Number:
R4
Decision:
As Ms Collett admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
Penalty:
Accordingly, after granting Ms Collett a deferment until after racing on Saturday 21 December 2019, her license to ride in races is suspended from after racing on 21 December 2019 until after racing on 29 December 2019 (5 national days inclusive).
The Committee ordered that Ms Collett’s riding fee be forfeited.
Facts:
This charge arises following the running of Race 2, the Northland Waste 1200. Pursuant to Rule 649 (3), the Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr A Coles, alleged that the rider of the 2nd placed LORD POLONIUS (S Collett)) weighed in 0.6kg underweight.
Ms Collett acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 649(3) provides that:
If, on being weighed in, a Rider cannot draw the proper weight (meaning thereby the weight allotted by the Handicapper for his horse to carry and adjusted only by any re-handicap, by having been declared overweight, by penalty or by authorised allowance) the Clerk of the Scales shall allow such rider 0.5 kg and if the allowance is not sufficient to enable the proper weight to be drawn then subject to sub-Rule (4) of this Rule then in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed the horse shall be disqualified for the Race.
Rule 649(3) provides that:
A Rider must not weigh-in at a weight that exceeds or is less than the proper weight as is defined in and with the allowance permitted by Rule 648(3).
At an earlier ‘Request for a Ruling’ hearing in relation to this matter, on the evidence presented, the Committee disqualified LORD POLONIUS from its 2nd placing. At the commencement of this hearing it was agreed by all parties that the evidence of the earlier hearing was accepted. In particular notice was taken of the fact that Clerk of the Scales, Mr R Sanders identified following the running of the race Ms Collett weighed in at 0.6 kg under her allocated handicapped weight of 58.5 kg, and that weight discrepancy took into account the allowance for her protective vest.
In explanation Ms Collett stated that she had a long 4-hour drive to the race course and she went to the bathroom immediately after weighing out for race 2. She did not rehydrate afterwards and omitted to re-weigh. Ms Collett showed genuine remorse and said that she deeply regretted this omission. She added that a breach of this nature had never occurred in her 13 years of race riding.
Submissions for Penalty:
Mr Coles produced Ms Collett’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule. He said Ms Collett is a very busy rider and has an excellent riding record.
Mr Coles placed this breach in the mid-range and submitted that due to Ms Collett’s mount being disqualified from 2nd place a term of suspension in the vicinity of 8 days is sought.
In response Ms Collett indicated that she sought a deferment of any proposed suspension. She referred the Committee to the relatively recent case of the RIU v Allpress (August 2019) where senior rider Mrs Allpress incurred a $1000 fine. Ms Collett said this breach resulted in only a $2000 loss of stake money and any proposed suspension, if it included the Auckland Racing Club carnival would have an impact on her earning capacity. She asked the Committee to consider a combined 1-day suspension and fine.
Mr Coles advised the Committee that Stewards would not support a combined fine and suspension due to the fact her mount was disqualified.
Reasons for Penalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides no starting point, as breaches of this rule are rare and are fact dependant. In our determination of penalty, we have taken guidance from the very limited number of precedent cases. In this regard we felt that the circumstances of the case relating to Mrs Allpress’ case were noticeably different to this matter. Ms Allpress was 1 kg under-weight; issues were raised concerning the Clerk of the Scales and Stewards sought a 2-week suspension. The other precedent cases by and large relate to breaches of the rule by jumps and high-weight riders who are generally afforded some leniency due to their limited riding opportunities. In any event the outcomes in the following cases were noted:
RIU v Forbes (2012) – 0.6 under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, suspended 5 days
RIU v Wenn (2013) – disqualified from 4th placing and suspended 5 days
RIU v Kuru (2017) – 0.6 under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, suspended 5 days
RIU v Allpress (2019) – 1 kg under-weight, disqualified from 2nd place, $1000 fine
RIU v McNeill (2019) – 0.1kg under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, $1200 fine
In McNeill’s case, we noted that a fine was imposed in lieu of suspension as the breach occurred in a jumps race and it was the final jumps meeting for the year.
In assessing Ms Collett’s penalty the Committee weighed up the following factors: (1) Ms Collett's culpability; (2) the disqualification of LORD POLONIUS; (3) the interests of the connections of LORD POLONIUS who lost out on $2000 in stake money and the betting public who were denied a dividend; (4) Ms Collett’s admission of the breach and her excellent riding record; and (5) the need for consistency in affixing penalties for like offending.
The Committee also considered and gave due consideration to the fact that any proposed suspension would inevitably encompass at least one day of the forthcoming Auckland Racing Club carnival.
Taking these factors into account, including Ms Collett’s explanation we place the breach in the low to mid-range. After affording her credit for her admission, her excellent record and genuine remorse we deemed that a 5-day suspension is an appropriate penalty in this case.
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: f6d2bd6abd4d6c687ffa1aa3d5c6438d
informantnumber: A11287
horsename:
hearing_racingtype:
startdate: no date provided
newcharge: Weighing-in light
plea: admitted
penaltyrequired: 1
decisiondate: 18/12/2019
hearing_title: Whangarei RC 17 December 2019 – R 2 – Chair, Mr G Jones
charge:
facts:
This charge arises following the running of Race 2, the Northland Waste 1200. Pursuant to Rule 649 (3), the Informant, Stipendiary Steward Mr A Coles, alleged that the rider of the 2nd placed LORD POLONIUS (S Collett)) weighed in 0.6kg underweight.
Ms Collett acknowledged that she understood the Rule and confirmed her admission of the breach.
Rule 649(3) provides that:
If, on being weighed in, a Rider cannot draw the proper weight (meaning thereby the weight allotted by the Handicapper for his horse to carry and adjusted only by any re-handicap, by having been declared overweight, by penalty or by authorised allowance) the Clerk of the Scales shall allow such rider 0.5 kg and if the allowance is not sufficient to enable the proper weight to be drawn then subject to sub-Rule (4) of this Rule then in addition to any other penalty which may be imposed the horse shall be disqualified for the Race.
Rule 649(3) provides that:
A Rider must not weigh-in at a weight that exceeds or is less than the proper weight as is defined in and with the allowance permitted by Rule 648(3).
At an earlier ‘Request for a Ruling’ hearing in relation to this matter, on the evidence presented, the Committee disqualified LORD POLONIUS from its 2nd placing. At the commencement of this hearing it was agreed by all parties that the evidence of the earlier hearing was accepted. In particular notice was taken of the fact that Clerk of the Scales, Mr R Sanders identified following the running of the race Ms Collett weighed in at 0.6 kg under her allocated handicapped weight of 58.5 kg, and that weight discrepancy took into account the allowance for her protective vest.
In explanation Ms Collett stated that she had a long 4-hour drive to the race course and she went to the bathroom immediately after weighing out for race 2. She did not rehydrate afterwards and omitted to re-weigh. Ms Collett showed genuine remorse and said that she deeply regretted this omission. She added that a breach of this nature had never occurred in her 13 years of race riding.
appealdecision:
isappeal:
submissionsfordecision:
reasonsfordecision:
Decision:
As Ms Collett admitted the breach the Committee finds the charge proved.
sumissionsforpenalty:
Mr Coles produced Ms Collett’s record which showed no previous breach under this Rule. He said Ms Collett is a very busy rider and has an excellent riding record.
Mr Coles placed this breach in the mid-range and submitted that due to Ms Collett’s mount being disqualified from 2nd place a term of suspension in the vicinity of 8 days is sought.
In response Ms Collett indicated that she sought a deferment of any proposed suspension. She referred the Committee to the relatively recent case of the RIU v Allpress (August 2019) where senior rider Mrs Allpress incurred a $1000 fine. Ms Collett said this breach resulted in only a $2000 loss of stake money and any proposed suspension, if it included the Auckland Racing Club carnival would have an impact on her earning capacity. She asked the Committee to consider a combined 1-day suspension and fine.
Mr Coles advised the Committee that Stewards would not support a combined fine and suspension due to the fact her mount was disqualified.
reasonsforpenalty:
The Committee carefully considered all the evidence and submissions presented. The Penalty Guide for Judicial Committees provides no starting point, as breaches of this rule are rare and are fact dependant. In our determination of penalty, we have taken guidance from the very limited number of precedent cases. In this regard we felt that the circumstances of the case relating to Mrs Allpress’ case were noticeably different to this matter. Ms Allpress was 1 kg under-weight; issues were raised concerning the Clerk of the Scales and Stewards sought a 2-week suspension. The other precedent cases by and large relate to breaches of the rule by jumps and high-weight riders who are generally afforded some leniency due to their limited riding opportunities. In any event the outcomes in the following cases were noted:
RIU v Forbes (2012) – 0.6 under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, suspended 5 days
RIU v Wenn (2013) – disqualified from 4th placing and suspended 5 days
RIU v Kuru (2017) – 0.6 under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, suspended 5 days
RIU v Allpress (2019) – 1 kg under-weight, disqualified from 2nd place, $1000 fine
RIU v McNeill (2019) – 0.1kg under-weight, disqualified from 3rd place, $1200 fine
In McNeill’s case, we noted that a fine was imposed in lieu of suspension as the breach occurred in a jumps race and it was the final jumps meeting for the year.
In assessing Ms Collett’s penalty the Committee weighed up the following factors: (1) Ms Collett's culpability; (2) the disqualification of LORD POLONIUS; (3) the interests of the connections of LORD POLONIUS who lost out on $2000 in stake money and the betting public who were denied a dividend; (4) Ms Collett’s admission of the breach and her excellent riding record; and (5) the need for consistency in affixing penalties for like offending.
The Committee also considered and gave due consideration to the fact that any proposed suspension would inevitably encompass at least one day of the forthcoming Auckland Racing Club carnival.
Taking these factors into account, including Ms Collett’s explanation we place the breach in the low to mid-range. After affording her credit for her admission, her excellent record and genuine remorse we deemed that a 5-day suspension is an appropriate penalty in this case.
penalty:
Accordingly, after granting Ms Collett a deferment until after racing on Saturday 21 December 2019, her license to ride in races is suspended from after racing on 21 December 2019 until after racing on 29 December 2019 (5 national days inclusive).
The Committee ordered that Ms Collett’s riding fee be forfeited.
hearing_type: Hearing
Rules: Rules 649(3) and 918(1)
Informant: Mr A Coles - Stipendiary Steward
JockeysandTrainer: Ms S Collett - Licensed Rider of LORD POLONIUS
Otherperson:
PersonPresent:
Respondent:
StipendSteward:
raceid: 4a8ff8fb40ccc7a092a580685ad7dc1b
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: 87d77317a7e2308d6ef0d1e81d53db77
meet_expapproval:
meet_noreport: 0
waitingforpublication: 0
meet_emailed1: 0
meet_emailed2: 0
meetdate: 17/12/2019
meet_title: Whangarei RC - 17 December 2019
meet_expappcomment:
meet_km:
meet_otherexp:
tracklocation: whangarei-rc
meet_racingtype: thoroughbred-racing
meet_chair: GJones
meet_pm1: ADooley
meet_pm2: none
name: Whangarei RC