FROM THE SHERIFF'S DESK - THE JAMES MACDONALD CASE HIGHLIGHTS THE UNFAIRNESS OF MANDATORY PENALTIES

By John Schreck | Thursday, April 13, 2017

John Schreck, a former Chief Steward in both Sydney and Hong Kong, has seen both the colourful and the dark sides of racing. His wealth of experience and his deep knowledge of racing matters across the board is unquestioned and the reputation he built as a racing ‘lawman’ remains firmly entrenched in racing’s history. Schreck’s personal blog, ‘From the Sheriff’s Desk', appears exclusively on HRO.

I know I have already stated my opposition to mandatory penalties on numerous occasions but now that the James MacDonald case is over it might be appropriate to visit the subject again.

Let’s look at the MacDonald case for a minute.

No doubt his retainer with Godolphin was an outstanding one and, without exaggerating, with percentages and slings and things, he was probably capable of making a couple of million dollars a year riding racehorses.

He was in that position because he is obviously very good at his job and, on top of that, it seems to me he is a very decent young man.

But then he did a stupid thing. He placed a bet on his own horse. He clearly broke the rules. He clearly had to be penalised ... but think about it for a minute.

His penalty, incurred under the mandatory penalty system, has in essence attracted a ‘fine’ in terms of loss of income of let’s say two million dollars, a disqualification of eighteen months and, of course, while he is out he will put on weight which will make it difficult for him to come back ... so the verdict could easily end his career.

I personally think that penalty is way over the top.

Compare that to a trainer who presents a horse at the races dosed up with Bute which is likely to blow a leg apart and get someone seriously hurt. That trainer is likely to be fined something in the order of $2000.

I’ll say it again. Mandatory penalties are unfair!

They are particularly unfair when used in domestic tribunals where all cases should be judged on their own particular set of facts.

In society, generally, there can be an argument mounted for them.

In domestic tribunal situations ... never!

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Sadly we all got an unwelcome reminder last Saturday of just how dangerous racing can be.

There are not many jobs where you can head off in the morning and not survive the day, but that is the simple fact as far as jockeys are concerned.

As has been said many times, there are not many jobs where ambulances follow you around when you are at work. That is the case when riding racehorses and, as has been shown on more occasions than we would want, the ambulances are there for a very good reason.

Whether it be in race-day action itself, as with the tragic events at Warailda, or in morning track-work, as with the Toowoomba incident, extreme danger is ever present.

My condolences go out to the family of Darren Jones for their tragic loss and my thoughts are with all of the seriously injured riders and the battle they face at this time.

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I will be overseas for the next couple of weeks spending the children’s inheritance ... although there is not much of it.

This column will resume in the first week of May.