Should this have been a non-start?
Aug 27, 2015 15:40:11 GMT -5
Post by cait on Aug 27, 2015 15:40:11 GMT -5
reading the rules, I dunno - maybe
Going Nowhere: Delaware Park Horse Gets Freakishly Stuck In Gate
by Scott Jagow
Paulick Rep
Bettors and connections caught a tough break when the gates opened for a race at Delaware Park this week.
“I’ve been working in horse racing for 43 years, and I have never seen anything like this,” said chief state steward Jack Houghton.
Everything appeared normal as the number 10 Garnisheed Wages strode into her stall for the sixth race Tuesday, a claiming race for non-winners of three. But when the front gates sprang open, the 4-year-old mare kicked her right rear leg and somehow managed to get it over the back doors. She wanted to run, but she wasn’t going anywhere.
“The assistant starter behind the horse had the horse’s tail up in the air, to keep it from flipping. He let the tail go,” said Houghton. “The horse took a step forward and then kicked. And when it kicked, it got its foot up over the back of the gate.”
The stewards lit the inquiry sign. After reviewing the video and speaking with the starter and assistant starters, the stewards determined that Garnisheed Wages should be declared an official starter. She was safely in the gate at the off.
“We did not declare the horse a non-starter because the horse had every opportunity for a fair start,” Houghton said. “If the gate hadn’t opened or if the assistant starter had held onto the horse, which we’ve done in the past, we’ve declared them non-starters, but there was no malfunction, no human interference. The horse did it to himself.”
you look closely at the video, you can see how the filly, wearing white rear bandages, managed to get stuck. When she kicks, the back doors spread open slightly, and her right rear goes through that opening and lands behind. She gets a piece of the assistant starter in the process – he suffered a shoulder bruise.
The filly appeared okay after she was extricated, but she was put on the starter’s list, and at last report was pretty lame in that right leg.
The stewards received about 20 to 30 complaints over the incident – “some of them were pretty irate” — but Houghton said as always, the stewards were just interpreting the rules as they see fit.
“I could care less who wins a race. I’m just trying to do a job and do the right thing. Not that we always do, but we try to.”
The incident was so freakish, Houghton called up stewards in other jurisdictions to ask whether they had seen anything like it. No one had.
The back doors, by design, are secured with a latch. They are not magnetic like the front gates. The process of latching the doors is supposed to keep horses from leaning back and popping them open.
“I’ve had horses back into those doors, and they don’t move,” Houghton said. “I don’t know how this happened.”
The same stall has been used since with no issues.
The regulation in question is 14:10 in the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission rulebook:
14.10.1 If a door at the front of the starting gate should fail to open timely when the Starter dispatches the field or if a horse inadvertently has not been loaded in his scheduled position in the starting gate when the field is dispatched, thereby causing such horse to be left at the post, the Starter shall immediately report such circumstance to the Stewards who shall immediately post the “Inquiry” sign on the infield results board and advise the public to hold all mutuel tickets. After consulting with the Starter and viewing the patrol films or video tapes, the Stewards shall then determine whether such horse was precluded from obtaining a fair start.
14.10.2 If the Stewards find such horse was precluded from obtaining a fair start, the Stewards shall rule such horse a non-starter and shall order money wagered on such horse deducted from the pari-mutuel pool and refunded to holders of pari-mutual tickets thereon…
Going Nowhere: Delaware Park Horse Gets Freakishly Stuck In Gate
by Scott Jagow
Paulick Rep
Bettors and connections caught a tough break when the gates opened for a race at Delaware Park this week.
“I’ve been working in horse racing for 43 years, and I have never seen anything like this,” said chief state steward Jack Houghton.
Everything appeared normal as the number 10 Garnisheed Wages strode into her stall for the sixth race Tuesday, a claiming race for non-winners of three. But when the front gates sprang open, the 4-year-old mare kicked her right rear leg and somehow managed to get it over the back doors. She wanted to run, but she wasn’t going anywhere.
“The assistant starter behind the horse had the horse’s tail up in the air, to keep it from flipping. He let the tail go,” said Houghton. “The horse took a step forward and then kicked. And when it kicked, it got its foot up over the back of the gate.”
The stewards lit the inquiry sign. After reviewing the video and speaking with the starter and assistant starters, the stewards determined that Garnisheed Wages should be declared an official starter. She was safely in the gate at the off.
“We did not declare the horse a non-starter because the horse had every opportunity for a fair start,” Houghton said. “If the gate hadn’t opened or if the assistant starter had held onto the horse, which we’ve done in the past, we’ve declared them non-starters, but there was no malfunction, no human interference. The horse did it to himself.”
you look closely at the video, you can see how the filly, wearing white rear bandages, managed to get stuck. When she kicks, the back doors spread open slightly, and her right rear goes through that opening and lands behind. She gets a piece of the assistant starter in the process – he suffered a shoulder bruise.
The filly appeared okay after she was extricated, but she was put on the starter’s list, and at last report was pretty lame in that right leg.
The stewards received about 20 to 30 complaints over the incident – “some of them were pretty irate” — but Houghton said as always, the stewards were just interpreting the rules as they see fit.
“I could care less who wins a race. I’m just trying to do a job and do the right thing. Not that we always do, but we try to.”
The incident was so freakish, Houghton called up stewards in other jurisdictions to ask whether they had seen anything like it. No one had.
The back doors, by design, are secured with a latch. They are not magnetic like the front gates. The process of latching the doors is supposed to keep horses from leaning back and popping them open.
“I’ve had horses back into those doors, and they don’t move,” Houghton said. “I don’t know how this happened.”
The same stall has been used since with no issues.
The regulation in question is 14:10 in the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission rulebook:
14.10.1 If a door at the front of the starting gate should fail to open timely when the Starter dispatches the field or if a horse inadvertently has not been loaded in his scheduled position in the starting gate when the field is dispatched, thereby causing such horse to be left at the post, the Starter shall immediately report such circumstance to the Stewards who shall immediately post the “Inquiry” sign on the infield results board and advise the public to hold all mutuel tickets. After consulting with the Starter and viewing the patrol films or video tapes, the Stewards shall then determine whether such horse was precluded from obtaining a fair start.
14.10.2 If the Stewards find such horse was precluded from obtaining a fair start, the Stewards shall rule such horse a non-starter and shall order money wagered on such horse deducted from the pari-mutuel pool and refunded to holders of pari-mutual tickets thereon…
