The good luck that the New York Racing Association enjoyed in the first week of the meet disappeared as scorching temperatures, small fields and racing snafus marred week two.
The enthusiasm of week one was tempered by the realities of racing in the northeast in late July as the temperature topped 90 degrees on each racing day of week two. Bedraggled patrons and employees slugged through three weekdays of small but competitive fields and then two weekend days of small but star-studded fields.
The Todd Pletcher trainee Nest established her claim as the best three-year-old filly in the country in the Coaching Club American Oaks by easily besting her rival Secret Oath. Nest won easily but her performance had skeptics as her last furlong time was sub-par while finishing on the wrong lead. Her rival, Secret Oath made her customary sweeping move on the turn but retreated once repelled by Nest and finished like a horse that would appreciate some time off. Nest is now reported as a possible entrant in the meet’s hallmark race the Travers on August 27th.
On Sunday, Clairiere bested Malathaat in a roughly run race in which Malathaat added blinkers for the first time in her stellar career. Malathaat appeared uninterested in the paddock and post parade and was simply second best. It remains to be seen whether she can rebound.
While the racing was good, it was partially overshadowed by a trio of unusual occurrences. A late surface change on Thursday and two separate incidents of equipment malfunction, respectively on Friday and Sunday combined to frustrate and confuse bettors.
On Thursday, sudden rain, minutes before the first race, prompted the decision to take the third race off the grass. While this provided the first opportunity to use the new one-mile Wilson Chute when grass routes move to the main track due to weather the late decision resulted in most Pick-5 players having horses they selected for grass now competing on the main track. The complaints were immediate and numerous.
The race itself was uneventful in its running. What was unprecedented was the very belated announcement (more than 20 minutes after the race was declared official) that for Pick-5 wagering purposes, the race was deemed an “all” race meaning every runner was considered a winner. Rarely, if ever, is such a declaration made AFTER the race is official. The saying “better late than never” clearly applies as the decision was the correct one but it is disturbing that the announcement came so late as it undermines the credibility of pari-mutuel wagering.
This incident is a function of the multitude of betting options currently offered and shows the difficult balance between protecting the riders, horses and turf course when the rains come and protecting the bettors in the increasingly important horizontal wagers that unfold over 2 hours or more.
Friday’s malfunction was minor but still unusual. A late malfunction of the “eight” stall door necessitated that the stall be left empty – requiring five horses to start one stall wider than drawn and leaving a gap between two runners. While late scratches normally result in a re-aligning of the gate stalls so no such gap exists, this seemed to be a practical on-the-fly solution to a sudden problem and the race was uneventful from start to finish with the favorite overcoming the extra-wide starting post to win easily.
The most notable difficulty was still to come and it arrived in Sunday’s seventh race. The Maiden Special Weight mile and a sixteenth race for two-year-old fillies on the grass course was well run until the half-mile pole when it was clear the riders were confused and focused on something other than the race. Word was received by the riders, from an outrider, that an obstruction was on the course and that for safety they should pull up. The problem arose when a malfunctioning tractor delayed the removal of the starting gate from the course. A combination of “timing is everything” and Murphy’s First Law combined to see the gate safely removed before the field reached the top of the stretch but after numerous riders heeded the warning and abandoned the race. The stretch run then proved a thrilling one among those that continued on with a tight finish going to Towhead over the favored Idea Generation. Unfortunately, the efforts of all were for naught as the stewards deemed the race “voided” and declared it a “no-contest” for both wagering and purse purposes. This resulted in most wagers being refunded (or in the case of certain horizontal wagers declared an “all”) and purse money retained by the track. To compensate runners for the time needed to recover from their efforts in the voided race, each runner earned 3.5 percent of the purse ($3,150) which is roughly the cost of a month’s training.
This decision was clearly correct and in concert with previous similar incidents where safety concerns necessitate riders stop horses from continuing. However, it was frustrating to horsemen and bettors alike – eroding some of the much-needed confidence in the running of the races. While maintenance and operational problems occur in all endeavors two significant equipment/operational malfunctions at the beginning of the meet warrant questions about the procedures being following and expenses budgeted to run races smoothly and safely. Let’s hope the necessary steps are taken.
