Auckland TR 14 January 2024 – R4 – Michael McNab

Evidence

This charge arises from the running of Race 4, the Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic Preview 1400m. Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr B Jones filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging the Rider of SACRED SATONO (M McNab), permitted his mount to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear of WILD NIGHT which struck a heel and blundered near the 1000 metres.

Mr McNab 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, including drone footage, Chief Stipendiary Steward Mr Oatham demonstrated the incident and identified the horses and Riders concerned; namely SACRED SATONO (M McNab), WILD NIGHT (W Kennedy), and TEVERE (N Parmar). He also pointed out that at the same time, there were other ‘racing incidents’ going on involving horses and Riders, which Mr McNab would not have been aware of.  Mr Oatham used the drone footage to establish this.

Mr Oatham told the Adjudicative Committee that approaching the 1000-metre mark, down the back straight, SACRED SATONO was three wide looking to slot in outside the race leader PACKING ROCKSTAR (J Doyle). At that point, PACKING ROCKSTAR was one off the fence.  Mr McNab shifted inward, approximately half a horse-width, when not clear of WILD NIGHT, taking that horse’s running line.  WILD NIGHT clipped a heel and blundered for a stride.  TEVERE (N Parmar), who was racing four wide behind WILD NIGHT, had to be checked and lost ground.

In response, Mr McNab said that at the time of his shift, he thought that Mr Kennedy was easing his mount to take a trailing position and believed he was one and half lengths clear of him.  He also pointed out that Mr Kennedy pushed forward to maintain his position, which may have contributed to the incident.

Decision

As Mr McNab admitted the breach, the Adjudicative Committee found the charge proved.

Submissions for Penalty

Mr Jones produced Mr McNab’s riding record.  He said that this was his seventh breach under the Careless Riding Rule in the last 12 months.  He said that two of those breaches occurred during the year when Mr McNab was riding in Australia, and where he was charged for breaching an equivalent Rule. His last NZ breach occurred on 25 November 2023 and resulted in a 6 day suspension.  He added Mr McNab is a busy Rider, having had 795 race rides in the past 12 months.

Mr Jones said Stewards assessed the level of carelessness to be in the low range due to the mitigating factors that were highlighted by Mr Oatham when he demonstrated the films.

Mr McNab was aware that any proposed suspension would inevitably include at least one of the forthcoming Iconic race meetings (Wellington Cup and/or Karaka Millions).  On that basis, he sought the advice of his Manager, after which he requested that he commence any suspension imposed, after racing on Wednesday 17 January 2024.

Reasons for Penalty

After considering the submissions and the race films, the Adjudicative Committee determined Mr McNab’s carelessness to be in the low to mid-range, which has a six day starting point.

The available films established that Mr McNab did allow his mount to shift in when he was never the required distance clear of WILD NIGHT, namely his own length and one other.  The actual shift was evaluated as being low level because it was no more than half a horse width, but given that WILD NIGHT clipped a heel, blundered, and interfered with TEVERE, Mr McNab’s level of carelessness is assessed by the Adjudicative Committee to be low to mid-range.

Although Mr McNab’s record now includes five Careless Riding breaches in New Zealand and two in Australia, it is treated as a neutral factor given that he has had close to 800 race day mounts during the past 12 months. No doubt his record is something Mr McNab will need to carefully monitor and manage in the immediate future, but it must be said that five New Zealand breaches from 800 mounts, a ratio of one breach per 160 mounts, is better than most.  Accordingly, on this occasion, no uplift for his record is applied and he is afforded a one day reduction for his admission of the breach.

After taking into account all the above factors, the Adjudicative Committee considered that an appropriate suspension was 5 (national) days.

Conclusion

The Adjudicative Committee granted Mr McNab a deferment to his suspension until after racing on 17  January 2024.  Accordingly, his Licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 5 days commencing after racing on 17 January 2024, and concluding after racing on 25 January 2024.