THE SCRIVEN CASE – THE OFFICIAL VERDICT

By Graham Potter | Thursday, April 21, 2011

The following is the official notification from Racing Queensland with regard to the outcome of the inquiry into the events which took place over the last 100m in the seventh race at Ipswich on April 15.

Racing Queensland Limited (RQL) Stewards today continued their inquiry into an incident which occurred over the final 100m in Race 7, The Warwick RSL Memorial Club Handicap Class 2 over 1350m at Ipswich on the 15th April 2011.

Stewards inquired into the circumstances surrounding Jockey S Scriven the rider of Requested obtaining the whip of Apprentice B Looker the rider of Toronto Dancer at the concluding stages of the race.

Today further evidence was taken from both riders, Mr D Schmidt the master of Apprentice Looker and Mr K Schweida the trainer of Requested.

Following consideration of this evidence S Scriven pleaded guilty to charge of Improper Riding under the provisions of AR137 (a) which reads:

Any rider may be penalised if, in the opinion of the Stewards: (a) He is guilty of careless, reckless, improper, incompetent or foul riding.

The specifics of the charge being:
That rider Shane Scriven when he rode Requested which finished second in Race 7 The Warwick RSL Memorial Club Handicap 1350m run at the Ipswich Turf Club on the 15th April 2011, in the opinion of the Stewards rode in an improper manner in that over the final 100m having lost the use of his whip, he then intentionally reached out toward Apprentice B Looker the rider of Toronto Dancer and forcibly removed the whip from the grasp of Apprentice B Looker.

When considering the matter of penalty Stewards took into account a number of submissions and factors in regards to this unusual case. Stewards regarded the matter very seriously given that:

*Scriven's conduct put his own and Apprentice Looker's safety at great risk. Stewards were satisfied from the video evidence that Apprentice Looker initially resisted Scriven's attempt to take his whip and in those circumstances the dangerousness of Scriven continuing to attempt to snatch the whip cannot be underestimated, particularly taking into account the fact that Apprentice Looker is a young apprentice rider. The Stewards consider that the safety of riders is the paramount concern at all times.

*Scriven's actions subsequent to losing his whip were intentionally designed to improperly improve his prospects in the race while disadvantaging another rider's chances; and

*Actions such as this had the capacity to tarnish the image of Racing and any penalty that is applied must serve as a deterrent to jockey Scriven and to others who may be inclined to take matters into their own hands.

In all the circumstances Stewards were of the view that Jockey S Scriven's licence to ride in races should be suspended for a significant period and determined that a suspension of six (6) months may have been appropriate.

However taking into account Scriven's guilty plea, the remorse he had shown, the way in which he conducted himself, his outstanding race riding record and the fact that he will find it more difficult to return to race riding than most given his age and history of weight issues, Stewards decided that a suspension of five (5) months was appropriate and ordered that such suspension of his license to ride in races commence at midnight on Monday the 25th April 2011 and expire at midnight on the 25th September 2011.

Trainer K Schweida (Requested) representing the owners of that horse was asked to make submissions in regard to whether or not the Stewards ought to invoke the powers under AR136(1) in relation to Requested retaining its second placing in Race 7 The Warwick RSL Memorial Club Hcp 1350m run at Ipswich on Friday 15th April 2011.

After taking into account those submissions Stewards determined that the actions of Jockey S Scriven over the concluding stages were such that it would be inappropriate to allow his mount to retain its placing in the race. They were also of the view that regardless of whether a protest was considered on the day and whatever the outcome of any such protest may have been, the actions of Scriven were such that Requested should be disqualified from the race and amended the placings accordingly.

Apprentice B Looker in the presence of his master Trainer D Schmidt was found guilty of a charge under AR140 (d) which reads;

AR140 (d) Any loss or breakage of gear during a race, or any unusual happening in connection therewith, shall be reported by the owner and/or trainer and/or rider to the Stewards immediately after the race

The particulars of that charge were that Apprentice Looker as the rider of Toronto Dancer in Race 7 The Warwick RSL Memorial Club Handicap 1350m run at Ipswich Turf Club 15th April 2011 failed to report to stewards immediately after the race the unusual happenings, that being that the whip that he had carried had been forcibly taken from his grasp by Jockey S Scriven inside the 100m.

In finding Apprentice Looker guilty stewards noted the obligation to report unusual happenings regardless of whether a protest may be lodged and found that the Apprentice had failed to report the incident at all to stewards.

Apprentice Looker's license to ride in races was suspended for a period of two (2) weeks to commence at midnight Saturday 30th April 2011 and to expire at midnight Saturday 14th May.

Whilst the Stewards acknowledged that the results and actions of today’s inquiry were significant they were mindful when determining the charges and penalties that actions such as this will not be condoned at any time in racing in Queensland and that the charges, penalties and disqualification of the horse should be seen as a deterrent to all participants in the Racing Industry

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