Wellington RC - 17 July 2010 - N/A
340
RACEDAY JUDICIAL COMMITTEE DECISION
Informant: N Goodwin Stipendiary Steward
Defendant: P Holmes
Information No: 7815
Meeting: Wellington Racing Club
Date: 17 July 2010
Venue: Trentham
Rule No: 340
Judicial Committee: N Moffatt, Chair – T Castles, Committee Member
Plea: Admitted
CHARGES:
An information was filed by Mr N. Goodwin alleging a breach of Rule 340 in that P Holmes verbally abused the Gate Official at the main entrance when arriving on course.
FACTS:
During the course of the race day Mr Holmes left the racecourse to go to a sauna close by. On his arrival back the gate attendant told him that he could not come in through that particular entrance. Mr Holmes verbally abused the man who, according to Mr Matt Reid (Chief Executive Wellington Racing Club), became extremely upset by the incident.
Mr Holmes subsequently apologised to the man but the Stewards deemed the incident serious enough to warrant a charge of misconduct against him. Mr Holmes explained that he had been wasting quite hard for his rides and he was feeling agitated and rushed when he returned to the course after attending a sauna. He approached the same gate that he had left earlier and saw the same attendant. When the man told him to use another entrance further down he became annoyed and swore at him.
SUBMISSIONS ON PENALTY:
Mr Goodwin said that the Stewards did not consider this breach to be at the top end of the misconduct scale however Mr Holmes was out of line with his behaviour and a monetary penalty in the vicinity of $200 should be imposed. He said that Mr Holmes had no previous misconduct charges.
Mr Holmes told the committee that he regretted his actions and that he had apologised to the man in question.
REASONS:
In coming to a decision on penalty the committee considered all of the evidence and submissions presented. In Mr Holmes favour was his admission of the breach, his record and the fact that he made an apology to the gate attendant. The committee did not hear directly from this person but evidence suggested he was quite shaken by the verbal attack from Mr Holmes.
We could understand Mr Holmes’s frustration with not being able to enter the racetrack where he wanted to particularly since he had left the course by this same route and spoken to the same man. The fact that he had been wasting may well have exacerbated his reaction to being stopped however this cannot be used as an excuse and behaviour like he displayed will not be tolerated.
PENALTY:
Accordingly Mr Holmes was fined the sum of $250.
N Moffatt T Castles
Chair Committee Member
7815
