RACING NSW SHOULD BE CENSURED

Chris Munce will once again soon be laughing all the way to the bank, courtesy of an ill-advised decision by Racing New South Wales who arguably have completely lost the plot with regard to their responsibilities to the greater cause of racing in Australia.

By all accounts Munce was doing it tough. That, in his case, is called a consequence as it follows on directly from his own actions – the ‘tips for bets’ scandal - which courted disaster from the very outset.

Munce was prepared to play the card seemingly on the basis that the reward was worth the risk. Nobody wants to see anybody’s career face ruin, but when you are caught red-handed in the circumstances in which Munce was apprehended in Hong Kong, your options are limited to say the least. It is better to accept your punishment.

Munce will say he has done that. The mental anguish involved in the hardship of a jail sentence (issued by a civil authority) – which was an extreme penalty and one which probably never entered into Munce’s calculations until he was faced with the horrible truth of his situation – as well as his family’s despair during his time behind bars, certainly translates into a ‘time served’ category. Not to mention the stress brought about by the impact of Munce’s loss of a livelihood during his incarceration. But that does not necessarily mean Munce has 'done his time'.

Thankfully, Munce is now a free man. He has shown an admirable resilience in coming out of the other side of a scarring experience in fine fettle. He has looked after himself physically in sensational fashion and the family bond which held tight during times of strain when parted from his loved ones, is stronger than ever.

In essence, Chris Munce is a lucky man. As such he should be thankful.

But Munce wants more!

He wants his career back. That is a perfectly natural goal.

But it is how Munce goes about reclaiming the privilege to ride that shows whether he has learnt anything from his misadventure, whether he now sees the value in racing’s rules and regulations and understands the need to abide by them, whether he respects racing authorities and their right to rule, whether he understands that, as a high profile Australian, he represents Australian interests in all that he does and counter-productive behaviour can be damaging to far more than just his inner-circle.

The bottom line is that the road Munce elects to follow back to race-riding will, quite simply, show whether he has joined the team and is worthy of a licence or whether he is still bucking the system, in which case the issuing of a licence to Munce should be carefully considered.

Sadly, Munce’s recent actions suggest the latter option applies.

While the buck does stop with Munce in terms of decision-making, it should be pointed out that he might not be wholly at fault in coming up with the wrong answer.

Well respected journalists in Sydney have been beating the drum, sending out the message that Munce has paid his dues, done his time, should not be the victim of double jeopardy ... one even found a precedent which he put forward to weigh in strongly in Munce’s favour. Top trainer Gai Waterhouse, upbeat as ever, welcomed Munce back to her fold with open arms. Of course he should be granted a licence again. No worries.

If this is what leading racing identities were saying in public, you can only imagine the strength of support, with similar advice, that Munce was being fed in private. So perhaps he can be forgiven for thinking it was a no-brainer, and that his position was clearcut, and that Racing New South Wales, overcome by the local tidal-wave of emotion, would come to the party and issue him with a licence.

This time Munce had placed the right bet.

Racing New South Wales agreed to reciprocate 35 out of the 36 charges to which Munce had pleaded guilty. But they refused to uphold the final charge, “because this penalty is tied to a breach of a criminal offence under the criminal code of the Hong Kong SAR that does not exist under Australian law". With that statement, Racing NSW set aside the disqualification imposed on Munce by Hong Kong Racing Stewards, which would have kept the rider out of racing until September 2009.

This ruling was made in violation of an international agreement which Australia has with racing authorities around the world. Racing New South Wales, in effect, was giving the finger to the Australian Racing Board, a signatory of that agreement, as it was being outright disrespectful to Hong Kong Racing authorities, whose high level of integrity is acknowledged worldwide.

Munce’s response, at the latest embarrassment his case had caused, was interesting to say the least.

“I always had confidence Australian racing authorities would recognise the Hong Kong penalty was manifestly excessive and I had more than paid the price for breaches of Hong Kong rules of racing,” said Munce, who somehow now has apparently learnt enough to become more proficient in legal matters than those trained officials appointed to rule on his case.

“At the end of the day common sense prevailed,” Munce said.

A ‘common-sense ruling’ which embarrassed racing in Australia, which puts Australian racing relations with other countries in a conflict situation, which, if allowed to pass unchallenged, could set a dangerous precedent for destabilising the acceptance of the international laws of racing ... clearly Munce is still not on the page where integrity is absolute and where self-interest sometimes has to give way to the bigger picture.

That is not to say Munce thinks he is bigger than the sport. After all, he didn’t make the decision to reinstate his licence, but his participation in reaching for a personal goal through all the damage his case is creating, and not respectfully delaying his return till scheduled in September 2009, does make a statement which is less than impressive.

There is an important bottom line to this whole issue.

The bottom line is that Munce declined to appeal his original jail sentence and then pleaded guilty to all charges laid against him by the Hong Kong Jockey Club when racing authorities took up his case after his release from prison. When issued with the same thirty month penalty by the HKJC, Munce again declined to appeal the sentence.

The only way an independent authority can overrule the disqualification decision, is if all avenues of appeal with the original control body has been exhausted and it can be shown that the laws of natural justice had not been properly observed.

That Munce chose not to exhaust all appeal options open to him and the fact he has never claimed that he was denied due process should have, and would have, put an end to the matter – barring the unhappy intrusion of Racing New South Wales.

On the basis of this established proyocol, Racing New South Wales has made a decision which exceeded its authority.

The matter surely cannot end here.


Important Points of Reference 1:

The ‘tips for bets’ scandal unfolded in the following manner.
On the day he was due to fly back to Australia (July 3, 2006), Munce was arrested in Hong Kong by officers of the Independent Commission Against Crime (ICAC). It was reported that Munce was found with HK250,000 cash plus papers listing horses and bets. Munce was not charged at this time.

On September 14 and 15, 2006, Munce appeared in court and was charged with having corruptly acted against the interests of the trainer by tipping horses he would ride to win races. He returned to Australia (an option he was previously denied) to await his formal trial hearing.

On February 12 -16, 2007, the District Court judge found Munce guilty of corrupt conduct. Shortly afterwards, Munce was sentenced to thirty months jail, with a minimum of twenty months to be served.

Munce spent seven months in a Hong Kong jail before being transferred to Silverwater Prison on September 25, 2007 to complete the remainder of his mandatory sentence. Munce was released from Silverwater Prison, after serving a total of twenty months, on October 30, 2008.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club opened its own racing inquiry in the Munce case. At its final session on December 1, Munce pleaded guilty to all thirty-six related charges. He is sentenced to periods of disqualification on all counts. Although the sentencing figure reaches a total of 633 months, it translates to an effective 30 months as the counts are ordered to be served concurrently.

The sentence, with proper regard to fairness, is back-dated to February 2007, to include time already served by Munce. The disqualification is thus set to end in September 2009.

On December 3, 2008, Munce attends a ‘show cause’ hearing to show why his NSW licence should not be revoked in accordance with the Hong Kong ruling. Racing NSW choose to disregard the Hong Kong disqualification and decide to issue Munce with a NSW jockey licence.


Important Points of Reference 2:

Article 10 of the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering confirms a commitment by signatories to reciprocate the penalties imposed by racing stewards of other signatory jurisdictions. The Australian Racing Board is a signatory to the agreement.

Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, who is also the chairman of the Asian Racing Federation and joint deputy chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, said he would be writing to all member jurisdictions to advise them of Australia's breach of the international agreement. Engelbrecht-Breges stopped short of speculating on what action, if any, the international bodies might take.

In a story posted in the South China Morning Post, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is said to claim it has correspondence from Racing NSW Chief Executive Officer Peter V’Landys that denies his organisation is bound by the agreement, even though Racing NSW is subject to the authority of The Australian Racing Board.