Auckland TR 30 January 2022 – R5 – Leith Innes

Evidence

This charge arises from the running of Race 5, a rating 74 1600m event. Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging the Rider of CAROLINA REAPER (L Innes), permitted his mount to shift in abruptly when insufficiently clear of CLEVERCONVERSATION which was hampered and steadied passing the 1300m.

Mr Innes acknowledged he understood the Rule and confirmed his admission of the breach.

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, Mrs Selvakumaran, demonstrated the incident and identified the horses and Riders concerned; namely CAROLINA REAPER (L Innes) and CLEVERCONVERSATION (L Satherley).

Mrs Selvakumaran told the Adjudicative Committee that passing the 1400m, Mr Innes came in at an abrupt angle in front of Mrs Satherley’s mount who had to be steadied. She said that at the time of the incident CLEVERCONVERSATION was racing keenly and when crossing, CAROLINA REAPER was barely a length clear.

In response Mr Innes accepted the Stewards’ interpretation and had nothing further to add.

Decision

As Mr Innes admitted the breach the Adjudicative Committee found the charge proved.

Penalty

Mr Williamson produced Mr Innes’ riding record which indicated 2 previous breaches under the Careless Riding Rule in the last 12 months; namely:

5/5/21 at Ruakaka, suspended 13 days for high end carelessness

11/04/21 at Pukekohe, suspended 4 days and fined $500.

Mr Williamson submitted that the breach was low end and the resultant check to CLEVERCONVERSATION was minor. The Stewards’ main concern with the breach was the angle that Mr Innes came across the field.

Mr Innes submitted that he cleared Mr Cameron’s mount when looking to shift in and simply did not see CLEVERCONVERSATION.

He sought to defer any proposed suspension until after racing on the 5th of February.

Reasons for Penalty

After considering the submissions and reviewing the Race film the Adjudicative Committee determined Mr Innes’ carelessness to be in the low range and adopted a 5 day starting point.  This conforms with the NZTR Penalty Guide.

The available films established that Mr Innes angled his mount abruptly towards the running rail and in doing so inconvenienced CLEVERCONVERSATION.

This is Mr Innes’ 3rd breach in 12 months.

The Adjudicative Committee afforded Mr Innes a 1 day discount for his combined record and admission of the breach.

After considering all the above factors the Adjudicative Committee considered that an appropriate suspension was 4 (national) days.

Penalty

Accordingly, Mr Innes’ licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 4 days commencing after racing on 5 February 2022 and concluding after racing on 10th February 2022.