Stewards News

[Showgrounds]

"Move along, nothing to see here!"

Really recommend everybody watches the reply of the 17/07/18 race at Shepparton in which the offence took place. The three blind mice would have drawn the same conclusion as the officiating stewards. The stewards report for the night showed they acted promptly and effectively and it was reported in more detail than most of the sanitized reports you usually read.

The needy and the greedy strike again to undermine the reputation of harness racing, this time in a tin-pot restricted race late on a winter's night. Well done gentlemen. Also note Walter's drive (Kash NZ, a mare) has not raced since. Stud, maybe.

[thepacingman]

Robert Walters has 3 in at Kilmore on Friday
You would have thought he may have been suspended as a result of the above police charges
But maybe HRV have given up on making such suspensions stick (Innocent until proven Guilty etc)

What a farce.
You have the situation where the police charge Walters yet the licensing committee says there is not enough evidence to stand him down.

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21 June 2019 | Harness Racing Victoria

On May 31, Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) stewards suspended the licences of a 49-year-old person from Kilmore as a result of criminal charges issued by Victoria Police.

The alleged offences arose from a race conducted at Shepparton on July 17, 2018.

In accordance with the HRV Licencing Policy (which can be viewed here), the person (who cannot be named for legal reasons) was referred to the HRV Show Cause Sub-Committee (SCSC) to determine whether he continued to meet the suitability criteria, an inherent requirement of all licenced persons.

The person remained subject to the restrictions imposed by the HRV stewards until a final determination was made concerning whether they continued to meet the suitability criteria.

On June 11, the SCSC heard submissions from the person and HRV and, after consideration, recommended that there was not sufficient evidence to deregister the person and therefore all restrictions have now been removed.
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[Messenger]

WA stewards not messing around
Matthew Henwood gets 7yrs for Baron Jujon's positives to cocaine, benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester

http://www.harness.org.au/NEWS/news2...%20Henwood.pdf

[Messenger]

Sounds like Zac is complaining about being caught when he thought the stewards would be busy elsewhere
I don't think his tweets are going to pass HRV's media rules and I think he has some business coming up from Mildura Cup night too

[Adaptor]

From Breeder's Crown night at Melton:

Stewards accordingly imposed a 10 week suspension of Mr Hoban’s licence to drive in races and a $1000 fine. In view of the seriousness of the charge Stewards ordered the suspension commence immediately. Mr Hoban was further advised that he was required to show cause as to why Stewards should not vary his driver’s licence from a Grade A driver’s licence to a Grade B driver’s licence in accordance with Rule 90(7). Mr Hoban was provided 7 days to provide written submissions to this effect.

[Messenger]

Mangochililime won R1 at Shep tonight and paid $63.70
The stewards column suggests the run was queried
He had been freshened up (7wks between runs) after what appeared an ordinary run
But the previous start he has won a very similar race
I guess they demand consistency

[Adaptor]

Suspensions 19 weeks in total

Race 4 M Berger R163(1)(b 7 days

Race 7 L Wills R168(1)(a) 2 weeks

Race 7 D Ferris R149(1) 6 weeks

Race 7 D Ferris R163(1)(a)(iii) 4 weeks

Race 8 I Dornauf R163(1)(a)(iii) 2 weeks

Race 10 D Thackeray R163(1)(a)(iii) 4 weeks

[Messenger]

No wonder Vic does not post Stewards News on their site
The following snip is from the HRA site

http://www.harness.org.au/media-room...ries/#stewards

Plenty of Arsenic around again
And in NSW the septic tanks is alleged to be at fault again

[Messenger]

Kari Males only cops $750 fine for her arsenic positive ($3000 but $2250 suspended)
What about all the punters on the $1.90 fav who ran second

Here are the race details

http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fie...19#MXC02051904

The ruling is only available as a pdf download in HRA's Steward News so you will have to look that one up yourself if interested

[Messenger]

I had someone alert me to this one and ask the question "how are we 'encouraging' young kids to get involved"
Cobram R1 on Monday

http://www.harness.org.au/racing/fie...19#COC11111907

Tayla French was suspended - all she did was hold the lead almost accidentally IMO and she is punished because the other two made it a fast lead time (and her horse tired badly)

From the Stewards Report

Tayla French, driver of Trade Whispers, was found guilty of a charge under AHR Rule 149(1) for failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures from the start through to entering the back straight on the first occasion when there was a reasonable opportunity to obtain a trail on Ozzie Sunshine ($1.40 fav) or Eipper ($5.30 2nd fav) when both runners had gained a significant advantage over Trade Whispers shortly after the start. In failing to do so Ms French urged the gelding forward with the whip to maintain the lead and withstand the challenge of both runners recording a lead time which was 2.45 seconds quicker than the 5 year average and ultimately Trade Whispers being placed under pressure from the 1000m before yielding ground from the 600m to finish in last position beaten 77.3m. In the opinion of the Stewards the tactics adopted resulted in Trade Whispers not being afforded full opportunity to finish in its best possible placing. In determining penalty Stewards were mindful of the relevant considerations as outlined within the ‘HRV Minimum Penalty Guidelines’, placing particular weight on Trade Whispers exposed form (most recent start 9th placing beaten in excess of 170m), Ms French’s driving record, the degree of culpability and her driving frequency and as such imposed a 5 week suspension of her license to drive in races which was ordered to commence at midnight on 13 November 2019.

https://www.harness.org.au/racing/st...l/?mc=CO111119

Compared to the other 2 she didn't really drive the horse out but seemed to see an opportunity when the other 2 went roughly - see more from the stewards report below. It backfired on this occasion but a Suspension??!!!!

Ozzie Sunshine (Glenn Douglas) shifted up the track shortly after the start simultaneously as Eipper (Jackson Painting) shifted in slightly, resulting in both runner racing roughly momentarily. Due to the mitigating circumstances stewards could not place blame either horse or driver and noted the incident.

It was probably a missed opportunity for Glenn Douglas but the time it is taking for them to hear the serious charges against him, he most likely will have many more ops