Penalties reduced

Press, 28 November 1984, Page 24

Penalties reduced

PA Wellington Appeal judges of the Racing Authority have departed from precedent to reduce monetary penalties imposed on tlje Hastings trainer, Alan Pringle, over the dummy ownership of the Melbourne Cup place-getter, Dandaleith. Charges against Pringle, who acted as the shadow owner of Dandaleith and another galloper, Ginger Ale, over a period in which Dandaleith ran second in the 1978 Melbourne Cup, resulted in his suspension from all involvement in racing for almost three years and in the imposition of fines totalling $35,434. In an unusual judgment, the appeal judges reduced the monetary penalty imposed on Pringle, which required him to return the New Zealand stake earnings of Dandaleith and Ginger Ale during the period of their dummy ownership, to $14,074. Pringle’s suspension has already expired and he has left racing to enter farming. His suspension, which originally totalled six years, was reduced after an appeal in March, 1980. The appeal judges, announcing their decision, noted unusual circumstances surrounding Pringle’s involvement with Dandaleith. They said that because Pringle, aged 34, a married man with two young children, could never raise the $35,000 he must pay before being allowed to return to training, a special case existed to use the provisions of Rule 363. His low earnings in recent years and the considerable expense he had incurred through legal fees and other costs could be taken into consideration but the judges ruled that he should still pay a share of the original penalty.

The revised fine of $14,074 includes one share of Dandaleith’s earnings from stakes and trophies during his racing in New Zealand, two-thirds of Ginger Ale’s

earnings because he was “owned” jointly by Pringle and his wife, costs incurred by the authority’s executive committee, and costs of the appeal.