R Rotorua 26 October 2023 – R4 – Masa Hashizume

Evidence:

Following the running of Race 4, the Respondent Class A Rider, Masa Hashizume admitted a charge of careless riding which was filed pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d).  The Information alleged that as the Rider of CALLING “he allowed his mount to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear, hampering EMBEZZLER and HOLA PAPI near the 300m.  

The Respondent 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, Snr Stipendiary Mr B Jones, with the assistance of Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham, demonstrated the incident and identified the horses and Riders concerned.

Mr Oatham pointed out Mr Hashizume, riding CALLING, racing 2 wide approaching the 300m with EMBEZZLER, ridden by Ace Lawson-Carroll, and HOLA PAPI, ridden by Matthew Cameron, racing to the outside of Mr Hashizume. Using available replays Mr Oatham showed Mr Hashizume shift off the heels of BIG RAJ, ridden by Jen Whiteside, and shift outwards looking to improve. He said that Mr Hashizume was only a bare length ahead of  EMBEZZLER with this movement and in doing so hampered that horse who was dictated out onto HOLA PAPI who was also hampered. Mr Oatham added that CALLING, who was proving awkward to ride, shifted even wider on the track at this moment making the incident look worse.

In response, the Respondent stated that CALLING  carried his head awkwardly and was proving difficult to ride, which did not help the situation. He added that when he moved out to improve, BIG RAJ moved out at the same time which aggravated the situation and made it look worse than it was.

Decision:

As the Respondent admitted the breach the Adjudicative Committee finds the breach proved.

Submission for Penalty:

Mr Jones stated that Mr Hashizume’s record in regard to this Rule was clear.  He said that Mr Hahizume’s riding statistics shows he has had 523 rides over the previous 12 months.

Mr Jones said Stewards assessed the level of carelessness to be in the low-range and submitted a starting point as per the Penalty Guide of a 5-day suspension.

The Respondent advised of riding engagements through until 4 November 2023 at Tauranga and sought a deferment to any proposed suspension.

In terms of any proposed penalty the Respondent elected to make no submissions.

Reasons for Penalty:

After considering all submissions, the Adjudicative Committee determined the Respondent’s carelessness to be in the low range and accordingly adopted a 5-day suspension as the starting point. This conforms with the NZTR Penalty Guide.

The Respondent’s riding record is treated as an mitigating factor and in conjunction with his frank admission of the breach, a combined discount was warranted. This combined discount was set at 1 day.

After consideration of the above factors a 4-day suspension was imposed.

Conclusion – Penalty:

The Respondent’s request for a deferment until after racing on 4 November 2023 at Tauranga is granted.  His Licence to ride in races is suspended for a period of 4 national days commencing after racing on 4 November 2023 and concluding after racing on 9 November 2023.