What did they say I did?
by George
It was DQ night at the Downs on Wednesday and we don’t mean Dairy Queen.
Two of the seven races resulted in disqualifications and there was also a third claim of foul in the last race that didn’t hold up.
In the third race Let’s Rocket ridden by Paul Nolan was inches from clearing to the lead before coming over into the path of Real Foxy Lady, forcing jockey Tim Moccasin to steady, which in turn forced Gustavo Ortiz to check aboard Exploding Crystals. The end result was that the heavy favorite Let’s Rocket ($0.60) was disqualified from first and placed second and longshot Real Foxy Lady ($15.80) was declared the winner.
There were more shenanigans in the fourth race, the first leg of the 15% Pick-4, when favorite Artic Fire ($1.05) with Chavion Chow aboard came over ever so slightly nearing the turn. That resulted in Refund Status ($10.40) with Prayven Badrie aboard, backing up into the turn. It looked to us like Chow did everything he could to keep from coming over, and that Refund Status was already thinking of backing out before anything happened. But...
The claim of foul in the fourth race was a closer call than that in the third. Regardless, the physical winner (and he was much the best) Artic Fire lost the coin toss and was disqualified from first and placed third. Wild Party ($3.45) with Tyrone Nelson was moved up to the win spot and Refund Status ended up second.
When we say coin toss we’re not really serious. Claims of foul aren’t actually decided by flipping a coin, but when they’re as close as the one in the fourth race, they can go either way.
There was also a claim of foul in the seventh race when Trevor Simpson aboard Stormin’ Peter ($6.20) lodged a claim of foul against Got Milch ($9.95) and Larry Munoz for coming over in the stretch drive. Got Milch did come over in the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to warrant a disqualification. Got Milch is a better horse than his odds indicated too. He’d only just won a $5,000 NW3 claiming race, but his back class from Santa Anita was overlooked by the bettors. He should have been 3-1 not 10-1. While he was never going to beat lone speed winner Vader last night, he is worth watching in the future.
Fines are bigger here.
Rohan Singh and Tyrone Nelson both won a pair of races on Wednesday, although Nelson got one of his wins via a disqualification. Singh is now only three wins behind Paul Nolan, who leads the standings with 24 victories. Tim Moccasin, Larry Munoz and Trevor Simpson each took home singles and trainer Gary Danelson won both halves of the Late Daily Double.
The Pick-4 paid $469.90 and the largest Superfecta of the night, $3,000.80, was a direct result of Artic Fire being disqualified in the fourth race.
It’s unlikely any of the jockeys who were disqualified will get too hot under the collar. The fines for disrespecting an official here are generally three times more than they are at Woodbine in Toronto and $100 more than they are at Hastings Park in Vancouver. Read more about that in this week’s Insider Newsletter, where you’ll also find more information about this Father’s Day Sunday at the races. Special Post Time is 1 p.m.
And if you’re still thinking about the disqualifications the way Homer Simpson did after the ice cream truck flipped over: “I can’t choose without the pictures.”
Just make sure to buy Dad an ice cream at the track on Sunday. Your world will all be well again.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Friday, June 15, 2012
Race 3 on Wednesday, wow that was a coin toss. Did not look that serious to me. And in Race 4, looked like #5 had nowhere to go as there were 2 horses on his outside. Could only go along the fence.