Whangarei RC 1 August 2026 – R4 – George Rooke

Following the running of Race 4, MAUNU BOROUGH MILE 1600m, Mr George Rooke, the Rider of ESCAPE ROOM, was charged with careless riding pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) of the Rules.  Mr Rooke admitted the charge and assured the Adjudicative Committee he understood the Rule breach and the effects and implications of his admission.

Rule 638(1)(d) provides: A Rider shall not ride a horse in a manner which the Adjudicative Committee considers to be careless.

Using the available race films, Stipendiary Steward, Mr Dooley, demonstrated the incident and identified the horses and Riders concerned.  

Mr Dooley said that approaching the 300 metre mark, the Respondent’s mount, ESCAPE ROOM, has shifted ground inwards onto DEPARTURE ridden by Mr Hashizume, who was checked to keep off the heels of ESCAPE ROOM.  Both views of the race films demonstrated the move in and the absence of sufficient room in front of DEPARTURE for this manoeuvre to have occurred safely.  Mr Jones explained that Mr Rooke should have restrained his horse in an endeavour to stop it moving in, but he failed to take that action.

In response, the Respondent stated that he could not deny his mount moved inwards, but he was not in a position to do anything about it, as he had been in the process of changing his whip to his right hand and the movement of his horse occurred quite rapidly as he changed whip hands.

Decision:

As the Respondent admitted the breach, the Adjudicative Committee finds the breach proved. 

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Jones detailed the Respondent’s riding record, which indicated 7 previous breaches of the Careless Riding Rule in the last 12 months, namely 9 May 2026 (9 days), 7 March 2026 (Fine $10,000 and 12 days), 31 January 2026 (7 days), 14 December 2025 (5 days),11 December 2025 (8), 15 November 2025 (6 days) and 18 October 2025 (5 days).   

The Stewards assessed the level of carelessness to be in the low range.  The starting point was therefore 5 days suspension.  The Stewards considered an uplift of 2 days, due to the Respondent’s quite poor record.

The Respondent requested any suspension start at the close of racing today.  

In terms of any proposed penalty, the Respondent submitted that whilst his record was poor, he had been making a determined effort to avoid breaching this Rule, which was demonstrated by a reduction in the frequency of charges.

Reasons for Penalty:

After considering all submissions, the Adjudicative Committee determined the Respondent’s carelessness to be in the low range and adopted a 5 day suspension as the starting point. The Respondent had readily admitted the charge and had been cooperative and candid about the earlier breaches, therefore the Adjudicative Committee applied a reduction of 1 day from the starting point.  However, due to Mr Rooke’s poor record, the Stewards’ submission requesting an uplift of 2 days, was accepted.

 After consideration of the above matters, a 6 day suspension was imposed.

Conclusion:

The Respondent’s request for the suspension to commence today is granted and his Licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 6 days, commencing after racing today and concluding after racing on 12 August 2026.