Kaikoura TC 31 October 2022 – R9 – David Butcher

BACKGROUND:

Following the running of Race 9, Alabar Kaikoura Cup Pace (Group 2), the Respondent, Driver David Butcher, admitted a breach of Rule 869(4) in that, as the Driver of KANGO in the race, he “failed to maintain a straight course in the run home”.

The Respondent had left the course to catch a flight home from Christchurch to Auckland. He joined the hearing by telephone link.

The charge was read to the Respondent and he confirmed that the charge was admitted.

Rule 869 provides:

(4)  No driver shall during any race do anything which interferes or is likely to interfere with his own horse and/or any other horse or its progress. 

The Passing Lanes, False Rails and Home Straight Regulations provide:

(4)   In the last lap of any race the leading horse on the running line shall, upon entering the home straight, maintain as straight a course as possible parallel to the running line and and allow the trailing horses full access to the expanded inside line.

EVIDENCE:

Chief Stipendiary Steward, Nigel McIntyre, showed a head-on video replay of the race from when the field turned into the final straight. At that point, KANGO, driven by the Respondent, was leading the field. In the run down the straight, the horse drifted out 4-5 cart widths, Mr McIntyre alleged, in the first 100 metres or so of the straight, before the Respondent could be seen to go to his inside rein. Stewards were contending that the Respondent had failed to maintain a straight course and had, simply, not “done enough, early enough” to straighten his horse.

Mr McIntyre said that there had been a suggestion of a protest. However the Driver of the 3rd-placed horse affected, AKUTA, elected not to proceed.

The Respondent said that the horse had run off down the back straight and did so again after turning for home. He pointed out that he had its head round to the inside all the way up the straight, but he did not dispute that it had drifted out. He was doing his best to steer it and keep it in a straight line up the straight, he said.

DECISION:

The charge is admitted and therefore proved.

SUBMISSIONS FOR PENALTY:

Mr McIntyre said that the Respondent is a Senior Driver (329 drives to date in the current season and, last season, 561 drives). He has a clear record. The race was a “major race” (a race with stakes of $40,000 or more) for which the Penalty Guide suggests a starting point of a 15-drives suspension or a $750 fine. Mr McIntyre referred to a previous case of a breach of the Rule, in which the Driver had been fined $600 in a Group 3 race. He submitted that a fine in that vicinity would be appropriate.

The Respondent said that he would accept a fine of that amount.

REASONS FOR PENALTY:

The Respondent has admitted the breach and has accepted that KANGO had drifted up the track, despite his efforts, and gone on to win the race. It did appear from the video replay that the Respondent had made some effort to prevent his horse from drifting up the track. He has admitted the breach and has a clear record. The chances of the 3rd-placed runner had not been affected. The margin back to the 3rd-placed runner, AKUTA, was 1 length.

The appropriate Penalty Guide starting point is a fine of $750 – a suspension is not called for. This was a medium-level breach, the Respondent has admitted the breach and has a clear record. For those mitigating factors, the Respondent is entitled to a discount from the starting point, and the Adjudicative Committee fixes that discount at $150.

The fine of $600 is consistent with that imposed on Driver, Nathan Williamson, at Addington on 22 September, for a breach of the Rule and Regulations.

CONCLUSION:

The Respondent, Driver David Butcher, is fined the sum of $600.