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Home/Cases/[2010] QCAT 348

QLDQCAT

Queensland Racing Ltd v Ganderton [2010] QCAT 348

[2010] QCAT 348

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal|2010-03-29

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General information, not legal advice.

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At a glance

Source facts

Court

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal

Decision date

2010-03-29

Catchwords

**

Source

Original judgment source is linked above.

Catchwords

**

Judgment (7 paragraphs)

[1]

The applicant submits that Deer Valley's placing indicated that her best run would have be on the outside of the field. This position would also offer her clear running to the finish line. It is accepted by the applicant that the pace of the race was fast and this was to her disadvantage given her race conditioning. It is also submitted that when Sweepstaking that later moved forward at the 500 metre mark, that was the opportunity for Deer Valley to move to the outside and have uninterrupted run in the straight. It was therefore reasonable for the stewards to conclude that by not adopting this measure Deer Valley was not given every opportunity to win or improve her position. The suggestion that the split second decision of the jockey not to move to the outside but follow the experienced rider on Sweepstaking to move through the pack was unreasonable.

[2]

Having viewed the video of the race and considered Mr Ganderton's evidence about his decision on how the race should be ridden particularly, coming into the straight we have difficulty in concluding that it ought to have been so obvious to him that his best run was to move to the outside and lose ground, to give the horse a clear run to the finishing line. His decision to stay behind Sweepstaking and move through the field in the hope that a better opportunity would arise was a judgement made which we cannot conclude was an unreasonable judgement on his part in the heat of the moment. The First Level Appeals Committee took evidence, heard submissions, looked at the video and concluded that the appeal should be upheld.

Queensland Racing Ltd v Ganderton [2010] QCAT 348 | Case summary | Zoe

[3]

We are also mindful of what was also said in Radecker[5]

[4]

"The relevant circumstances in such a case may be numerous; they include the seniority and experience of the person charged. They include the competitive pressure under which the person charged was riding in the particular race. They include any practical necessity for the person charged to make a sudden decision between alternative courses of action.

[5]

The rule is not designed to punish jockeys who make errors of judgment unless those errors are culpable by reference to the criteria that I have described"

[6]

We have therefore come to a similar view and conclude that the application should be dismissed.

[7]

[1] Radecker, M.S. v Queensland Racing (2008) QRAT 4

Parties

Applicant/Plaintiff:

Queensland Racing Ltd

Respondent/Defendant:

Ganderton [2010] QCAT 348

Cases Cited (1)

Queensland Racing Ltd v Ganderton [2010] QCAT 348 (29 March 2010)