Wellington RC 18 June 2022 – R8 – Mereana Hudson

Evidence:

Following the running of Race 8, an Information was lodged by Mr Davidson alleging a breach of Rule 636 (1) (d) in that M Hudson failed to ride her mount FULL SWING out to the end of the race when there was a reasonable chance of her mount finishing third.

Mr Davidson played the videos of the final stages of the race and showed where Ms Hudson relaxed her ride 2-3 strides short of the finish line. Mr  Douglas riding BLACKWOOD STAR came down the outside and beat Ms Hudson’s mount by a nose margin. The difference in prizemoney between 3rd and fourth placings was $1200.

Ms Hudson had nothing to say.

Decision:

As Ms Hudson admitted the breach the charge was deemed proved.

Submissions for Penalty:

Mr Davidson submitted that a penalty in line with the Penalty Guide would be appropriate. He said Ms Hudson had a clear record in regard to this Rule and cited three previous breaches which he said were similar to the circumstances of Ms Hudson’s charge.

S Spratt  9/2/22        2 weeks

C Barnes 12/2/22     2 weeks

K Hannam 21/5/22 2 weeks

When invited to make submissions on penalty Ms Hudson had nothing to say, but in case of suspension advised of riding commitments through until Friday at Otaki.

Reasons for Penalty:

It is the responsibility of every Rider to ensure they ride out fully to the finish. On this occasion Ms Hudson erred in relaxing her ride just two strides short of the post. Prior to this she had been pushing her mount hard and in winter race conditions on a heavy track, her horse quickly lost momentum allowing Mr Douglas to beat her by a narrow margin. The Adjudicative Committee deemed it a low level breach.

The Penalty Guide for Adjudicative Committees has a sliding scale of starting points relating to the potential placing deemed to have been lost. The starting point for missing third placing is a 3-week suspension.

The Adjudicative Committee had regard to previous recent penalties, Ms Hudson’s clear record, her admission of the breach and the mitigating factors outlined above. A discount of 1 week was considered appropriate.

Conclusion:

Accordingly, Ms Hudson is suspended from the close of racing on Friday June 24th 2022, up to and including racing on Friday July 8th 2022 – a period of 2 weeks.