Non Raceday Inquiry – Written Reserved Decision dated 21 March 2025 – Blair Orange

BACKGROUND

An Information filed by Stipendiary Steward Vinny Munro alleged a breach of the Careless Driving Rule by Open Driver Blair Orange in Race 8 at the Wairio Trotting Club’s meeting at Central Southland Raceway, in Winton, on 9 February 2025.

The allegation was that Mr Orange drove ON THE WING carelessly shortly after the start when he shifted ground inwards, with a trailing runner (#11 ALWAYS B ELVIS) contacting his sulky wheel, which deflated and came off the rim as a consequence.

Rule 869(3)(b) provides:

No driver in any race shall drive carelessly.

The Information was not brought by Stewards on the raceday. The Respondent was charged on 20 February 2025 after an Authority to Charge was approved by Eliot Forbes, Chief Executive of the Racing Integrity Board (RIB), pursuant to Rule 1108(2).

A hearing conducted as a Non Raceday Inquiry (NRI) was held on 15 March 2025 at Young Quinn Raceway, in Wyndham.

Mr Orange stated on the Information, ‘I do not admit a breach of the Rule.‘ He confirmed this at the start of the hearing, along with his understanding of the Careless Driving Rule and the nature of the charge.

The Respondent said he would call one witness; Driver Brent Barclay (ALWAYS B ELVIS). Stewards had no witnesses.

EVIDENCE

Mr Munro used the available race videos to identify Mr Orange driving ON THE WING from barrier six as the mobile gate pulled away from the 2400 metre starting point. Twelve horses contested the race, with eight leaving from the front line and four from the second line.

Three race videos were made available; the primary side-on view filmed from the main grandstand, the back straight view and the home straight head-on view. (The latter gave little assistance to the Adjudicative Committee).

A key runner identified by Stewards was #11 ALWAYS B ELVIS, driven by Mr Barclay, which started from the second line and followed out #3 MAGNETIC BECKERS (Hayden Douglas), which had drawn barrier three on the front line.

The other horses most relevant to this hearing were:

• #2 RIGHTAZZ (Driver Brad Williamson), which started from barrier two
• #4 NEK DELIGHT (Mark Hurrell), which started from barrier four
• #9 HACKSAW RIDGE (Ricky Gutsell), which started from the inside of the second line, and
• #10 BROOKIES PLAYER (Max Hill), which started from two on the second line, immediately outside HACKSAW RIDGE.

Mr Orange pushed forward out of the gate to be 4-wide in the very early stages. Travelling inside Mr Orange some 125 metres after the start of the race were NEK DELIGHT (3-wide and almost level with Mr Orange’s horse), RIGHTAZZ (2-wide) and HACKSAW RIDGE (inside on the peg line). At this stage, Mr Barclay was 3-wide following NEK DELIGHT, but soon after lost Mr Hurrell’s helmet and started to restrain ALWAYS B ELVIS.

HACKSAW RIDGE stumbled, propped and broke approximately 200 metres after the start when running in sixth place on the peg line.

The incident that gave rise to this Careless Driving charge happened at about the 2175 metre mark – some 25 metres after HACKSAW RIDGE broke.

Stewards alleged Mr Orange shifted in from his initial 4-wide position shortly after the start of the race, which resulted in the off-foreleg of ALWAYS B ELVIS striking the left sulky wheel of ON THE WING. It was their submission that ALWAYS B ELVIS had maintained his 3-wide position up to the point at which he struck ON THE WING’s wheel.

Mr Munro said the onus was on the Respondent to be clear of other horses when shifting ground.

“Mr Orange is moving ground. He must be clear and, in this case, we believe he wasn’t,” Mr Munro said.

Respondent Blair Orange

The Respondent referred in the main to the primary side-on and back straight race videos to submit that he had remained outside Mr Hurrell before and after ON THE WING’s wheel was struck. Mr Orange said that at the time his wheel was struck, he was “still where I’m entitled to be.”

Prior to ALWAYS B ELVIS contacting the wheel of ON THE WING, runners had to shift ground to avoid and make room for the breaking HACKSAW RIDGE, Mr Orange said. He submitted this had caused “a bit of a melee,” adding, “everyone’s getting out of the road of the galloper that causes everything to get tight.” He noted that Mr Barclay had looked to his inside after HACKSAW RIDGE broke.

Mr Orange said his own horse “was hanging in a little bit” and was “running in a fraction, but not a lot,” but insisted that when his wheel was struck, he was still to the outside of Mr Barclay’s horse.

“I haven’t dictated his line at all. I have never cut anyone off. I’ve always been… outside of them all.”

ALWAYS B ELVIS was “an erratic horse that throws its head and throws its legs out,” Mr Orange said. He submitted that the horse’s head was turned in before the incident, which meant he was running out a touch.

ON THE WING’s wheel being struck was not caused “by me trying to get in,” Mr Orange said. “Clearly the evidence shows that I’m always outside.” He submitted that horses shifting ground to accommodate the breaking HACKSAW RIDGE, along with the awkward actions of ALWAYS B ELVIS, were factors responsible for the contact to his wheel.

Mr Orange said it was only after his wheel was struck that he crossed over with safety to take a trail one-out and one-back behind Mr Hurrell. He insisted he had not disturbed Mr Barclay’s line at any stage while shifting in from a 4-wide position to what became a one-off position.

Witness Brent Barclay

The Respondent called Mr Barclay to give evidence. Mr Orange asked Mr Barclay if, at any stage, he had felt squeezed up by him, to which Mr Barclay  replied, “no.”

ALWAYS B ELVIS was “a rip-pulling horse” who hated the grit, Mr Barclay said. He said that, early on in the race, he lost his trailing position behind Mr Hurrell and needed another helmet to follow, so elected to pull back to allow Mr Orange to move in ahead of him. Grit in the face had caused his horse to gallop at its previous start, Mr Barclay said.

Mr Barclay agreed with Mr Orange’s assertion that ALWAYS B ELVIS had turned his head in, which was indicative of the horse running out.

Mr Barclay said he was not aware at the time that he had struck Mr Orange’s wheel. He said he did not feel any contact.

Mr Orange put it to Mr Barclay that he (Mr Orange) had “never tried to be 2-off (i.e. 3-wide) to follow Mr Hurrell until after everything had happened.”

Mr Barclay replied, “Correct.”

Mr Munro confirmed with Mr Barclay that he had drawn three on the second line before playing the back straight video footage and asking him, “when are you not 3-wide?” Mr Barclay agreed he was 3-wide in the early stages but suggested Drivers had to take evasive action when HACKSAW RIDGE broke on the peg line. Pressed on this point by Mr Munro, Mr Barclay said he did not have to take evasive action.

At a later stage of the hearing, however, Mr Barclay said that he may have contributed to Mr Orange’s wheel being struck.

Adjudicative Committee: “How did your horse’s front leg come to hit Mr Orange’s wheel?”

Mr Barclay said, “If anything, I may have corrected” and, in pulling ALWAYS B ELVIS back, “may have jostled a smidgeon to go right.” He offered this viewpoint while referencing video footage of the break by HACKSAW RIDGE and its immediate aftermath, just before Mr Orange’s wheel was struck.

Mr Barclay said ALWAYS B ELVIS was “a handful of horse to drive.”

Adjudicative Committee: “So are you saying, in evidence, that you’ve contributed to hitting the wheel?”

Mr Barclay: “Maybe. It’s a split second. Like, as I said, I don’t even remember touching him. And I felt myself there was no danger… I may have just contributed a little bit by coming out and giving that horse (HACKSAW RIDGE) a bit of room.”

Mr Barclay reiterated that, before contacting the wheel, he had been restraining ALWAYS B ELVIS to allow Mr Orange to cross in front of him. He said ALWAYS B ELVIS was not going roughly when he made contact with the wheel, but “prior to then he was.”

“I’m pulling back to let him (Mr Orange) in so I can get on the back of a horse before my horse keeps throwing his head and gallops,” Mr Barclay said, “because you see the 50 metres before, he’s all over the shop. He’s 17 hands and an awful horse to drive.”

Summing Up

The hearing concluded with the Adjudicative Committee advising it would require time to assess the evidence and deliver a Written Reserved Decision.

DISCUSSION

Racing often involves fine margins, and that appears to be the case here. Mr Barclay has hit Mr Orange’s wheel, causing it to deflate and come off the rim. This much is clear from the video evidence.

Three explanations are most plausible; either Mr Orange has moved inwards without being clear (as Stewards allege), Mr Barclay has moved out slightly (as he says may have happened), or both of the Drivers and/or their horses have contributed to the wheel being hit.

Along with close consideration of the evidence presented by the parties, the Adjudicative Committee studied the available race footage at length before reaching its decision.

There are four elements which give the Adjudicative Committee pause:

[1] Less than satisfactory camera angles leading up to and at the point of the wheel being struck. As mentioned, the home straight head-on view was of little assistance.

The primary side-on camera helps show the relative side-on positions of horses in the early stages of the race, up to and including when the wheel of ON THE WING is struck, but is unable to offer enough insight into the potential sideways movements of key horses at the critical stage. i.e. their movements up and down the track and/or any tightening.

What can be confirmed from the primary side-on video is that the head of ALWAYS B ELVIS is inside the helmet of Mr Orange at the exact point the wheel is struck.

The back straight camera offers a potentially helpful head-on perspective of the horses as the mobile gate pulls away from the 2400 metre starting point. Any lateral movements can be viewed on the back straight video for approximately the first 175 metres of the race.

From about the 2225 metre mark, however, the orientation of the footage from the back straight camera transforms through progressively oblique angles towards essentially being a reverse side-on view.

By the point at which Mr Barclay hits Mr Orange’s wheel (at about the 2175 metre mark), this reverse side-on view is also unable to offer enough insights into the potential sideways movements of the protagonists.

In other words, for a short but critically important distance preceding the striking of the wheel (some 50 metres), it becomes increasingly difficult on the back straight camera angle to judge the degree to which the Orange and Barclay runners may have shifted ground.

The Adjudicative Committee believes that from the time HACKSAW RIDGE breaks on the peg line (at about the 2200 metre mark) to the striking by ALWAYS B ELVIS of Mr Orange’s wheel (some 25 metres further on), an accurate assessment of the degree to which Mr Orange and Mr Barclay may have shifted ground is simply not possible.

[2] The behaviour of ALWAYS B ELVIS, who was throwing his head around and pacing awkwardly prior to the incident. “All over the shop” was how Mr Barclay described it, though after viewing the films, he qualified this by saying that the horse was not pacing roughly at the time he struck the wheel.

According to Mr Barclay and Mr Orange, ALWAYS B ELVIS turned his head in and ran out slightly just before striking the wheel. Again, the lack of a more illuminating video angle at this critical stage made this difficult for the Adjudicative Committee to assess.

However, it is accepted that Mr Barclay’s horse was throwing its head around and pacing awkwardly while under restraint shortly before the incident.

[3] The break by HACKSAW RIDGE at about the 2000 metre mark, some 25 metres before ALWAYS B ELVIS (Mr Barclay) strikes the wheel of ON THE WING (Mr Orange). Were there instinctive reactions to HACKSAW RIDGE breaking on the peg line from horses and Drivers outside him that may have caused outward shifts, however slight?

These Drivers included Mr Hill (2-wide on BROOKIES PLAYER) and Mr Barclay (3-wide on ALWAYS B ELVIS). The Adjudicative Committee considers the lack of head-on footage at this stage of the race makes the question of any potentially subtle moves outwards unanswerable from video evidence alone.

However, Mr Barclay did open the door to the possibility. He stated that he “may have jostled a smidgeon to go right” in response to the HACKSAW RIDGE break. (Again, the films do not assist on this point).

Mr Barclay’s evidence that he “may have jostled a smidgeon to go right” in response to the HACKSAW RIDGE break is considered speculative, at best, and sits alongside him telling the Adjudicative Committee that he was not aware at the time that he had struck Mr Orange’s wheel. Mr Barclay said he did not feel any contact.

ALWAYS B ELVIS lost Mr Hurrell’s helmet and dropped back by about one length shortly before striking the wheel, which, along with the horse’s behaviour at the time and the break by HACKSAW RIDGE to his inside, makes it difficult to categorically say ALWAYS B ELVIS maintained a pure 3-wide line before contact was made.

[4] Mr Orange appearing on the back straight video to work the right rein shortly before his wheel is contacted, which suggests he was trying to keep his horse out rather than shift him down the track. He gave evidence that ON THE WING “was hanging in a little bit” and was “running in a fraction, but not a lot.”

Staying to the outside of Mr Hurrell leading up to and after the contact with ALWAYS B ELVIS certainly does not by itself insulate the Respondent from potential culpability. Mr Hurrell was in the process of moving across the face of the field from a 3-wide to a 2-wide position and a Driver sitting wider out, as Mr Orange was, had the option, with sufficient clearance inside him, to follow Mr Hurrell closer down to the running line.

Possibly misjudging the shift down the track and causing interference presented a risk for a Driver who remained outside Mr Hurrell and elected to follow him in. Mr Orange ultimately shifted in to secure the one-one behind Mr Hurrell. Due to the drawbacks with the video angles, the Adjudicative Committee cannot confidently judge the degree of care Mr Orange has taken with this manoeuvre, other than noting his work with the right rein just before the wheel is contacted.

REASONS FOR DECISION

This is a finely balanced case. In the final analysis, in the opinion of the Adjudicative Committee, the combination of incomplete video angles, the HACKSAW RIDGE disruption, the erratic pre-incident behaviour of ALWAYS B ELVIS, Mr Barclay’s evidence that Mr Orange did not squeeze him up and the apparent effort by Mr Orange with the right rein to prevent his horse running in at the critical stage are in favour of the Respondent and make the case against him difficult to sustain.

The standard of proof in adjudicative proceedings in Harness Racing is met when the Adjudicative Committee is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the charge has been proved.

On this occasion, there are too many counterarguments and doubts to find that Mr Orange has driven carelessly.

DECISION

The charge is not proved.