Riccarton Park – Canterbury JC 29 January 2022 – R7 – Brett Murray

Evidence:

The Applicant, Stipendiary Steward, Mark Davidson, filed an Information pursuant to Rule 330(3)(c) alleging that Class A Rider, Brett Murray, failed to make the contracted weight for his mount SHE’S RECOMMENDED in Race number 7.

The Respondent was present at the hearing and confirmed his admission of the breach.

Rule 330(3)(c) provides:

“A Rider shall not fail to ride a horse at the weight at which it is handicapped to carry”. 

Stipendiary Steward, Mr Davidson, advised that SHE’S RECOMMENDED was handicapped to carry 54.5 kg and that prior to the race, Mr Murray had advised the Stewards that he was unable to make the declared weight of 54.5kg and would be 1 kg overweight. Mr Davidson stated that Mr Murray was replaced by Class A Rider, Ms T Jonker on SHE’S RECOMMENDED.

Mr Murray stated that he had taken the ride confident that he could make the weight as he had been riding at that weight level recently. He said he knew he was going to have difficulty this morning as the weight was not coming off despite his efforts and time in the sauna.

Decision:

As the Respondent admitted the breach the Adjudicative Committee finds the breach proved (Rule 915(1)(d) refers).

Submission for Penalty:

Stipendiary Steward, Mr Davidson, said that this is the Respondent’s 4th breach of the Rule within the last 120 days.  He said breaches are normally dealt with by way of Minor Infringement Notice (MIN) but due to the Respondent’s repeated offending Stewards elected to proceed by way of an Information as opposed to having the matter dealt with by way of MIN.

Mr Davidson stated that previous penalties imposed on Mr Murray were 2 October 2021 – $200, 27 October 2021 – $300 and 26 November 2021 – $350. He added that the latest breach was for two rides he was unable to make the weight for.

Stipendiary Steward, Mr Davidson, submitted the breach could be dealt with by way of fine. He stated that as this breach only affected one ride, a fine of between $300 and $400 be considered as penalty.

The Respondent agreed that a fine would be an appropriate penalty.

Reasons for Penalty:

The MIN schedule establishes a $100 fine as the starting point for a first breach of this Rule.  In circumstances where Stewards elect to file an Information, determination of penalties are fact dependent.

The Adjudicative Committee considered the submissions and for consistency took some guidance from previous penalties for similar breaches.

Aggravating factors included in assessing penalty was Mr Murray’s poor record of 4 previous breaches within 4 months.

Mitigating factors included in assessing penalty was Mr Murray’s frank admission of the breach.

Taking all factors into consideration, the Adjudicative Committee determined that a fine is an appropriate penalty.  That fine was set at $400.

Penalty:

The Respondent is fined $400.