Auckland TR 30 January 2022 – R4 – Michael McNab

This charge arises from the running of Race 4, a rating 74 1400m event.  Senior Stipendiary Steward, Mr Williamson filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging the Rider of GEE CEE (M McNab), permitted his mount to shift out approaching the 200m when insufficiently clear of MINI MYSTIC which was hampered and steadied.

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 Stipendiary Steward, Mrs Selvakumaran demonstrated the incident and identified the horses and Riders concerned; namely GEE CEE (M McNab), MINI MYSTIC (W Pinn) and MONTANA MIST (J Fawcett).

Mrs Selvakumaran told the Adjudicative Committee that Mr McNab was racing in tight quarters behind MONTANA MIST with MINI MYSTIC on his outer. She said there was no run for Mr McNab’s mount, but he attempted to find a run by pushing out and hampering MINI MYSTIC. At the same time she said that Ms Fawcett (Montana MIST) also shifted out but at no stage did Mr McNab stop riding.

In response Mr McNab said that he was behind MONTANA MIST and his mount quickened up and ran up behind Ms Fawcett’s mount. He said he stopped riding but at the same time Ms Fawcett kept shifting out.

Decision

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

Penalty

Mr Williamson produced Mr McNab’s riding record which indicated 3 previous breaches under the Careless Riding Rule in the last 12 months; namely:

13/02/21 at Te Rapa, suspended 7 days and fined $700.

26/04/21 Avondale, suspended 4 days and fined $250.

1/01/22 Ellerslie, suspended 7 days and fined $500.

Mr Williamson submitted that Mr McNab angled his mount out when there was no run to be taken. He said in mitigation he was forced onto the heels of Miss Fawcett’s mount but nevertheless he had an obligation to take hold of his mount.

Mr Williamson said Stewards assessed the level of carelessness in the low to mid-range.

Mr McNab sought to defer any proposed penalty until after racing on the 5th of February.

In terms of any proposed penalty, he offered no specific submissions.

Reasons for Penalty

After considering the submissions and reviewing the race film the Adjudicative Committee determined Mr McNab’s carelessness to be in the low to mid-range and adopted a 6-day starting point.  This conforms with the NZTR Penalty Guide.

The available films established that Mr McNab angled his mount outwards in order to force a run and he continued to ride forward without correcting his mount.  In doing so he checked MINI MYSTIC whose Rider had to take a hold and was inconvenienced.

This is Mr McNab’s 4th breach in 12 months however he is considered to be a very busy Rider and was afforded a 1 day discount for his record and admission of the breach.

After considering all the above factors the Adjudicative Committee considered that an appropriate suspension was 5 (national) days.

Penalty

Accordingly, Mr McNab’s Licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 5 days commencing after racing on 5 February 2022 and concluding after racing on 11th February 2022.