Sometimes it evens out in the long run

[Rick]

A couple of years ago I had two horses disqualified in one day at Belmont and whined about my bad luck for quite a while after that. Someone reminded me that things should even out in "the long run" and I told him I didn't think I'd be alive long enough to get even on that one. Well, yesterday at Santa Anita I got even! The exact opposite happened and I had two horses promoted as a result of disqualifications. The second one was especially nice since it also reversed the order of finish of the top two horses so that my one-way exacta became a winner at $37.70 per $1. Since we always hear about the bad beats but never about the lucky wins, I thought I'd mention that there is another side to the coin.

[Dave Schwartz]

Rick,

Congratulations!

You give me hope! I have patiently waited for a payback of my two CONSECUTIVE Bill Winland disqualifications at Hollywood about 19 years ago. <G>

Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[anotherdave]

Last year I kept a running logs of the number of races where I won or lost by bet by a neck or less. When it was done it was almost exactly 50-50. It never seems that way at the time.

DQs are another story. I've kept track of them for years too - as well as how much the DQ made or lost me. It has never got close to evening up (unfortunately to my detriment), but I can always hope that the mathematicians are correct and it will one day. I can't wait for that day- it will be a doosy! Might be able to retire.

AD

[Rick]

Dave,

Thanks. You have my deepest sympathy!


anotherdave,

I haven't checked this but it seems to me that longshots get DQed more than favorites, maybe because when they do win they're frequently tired and more likely to interfere with other horses. It may be the inevitable result of betting on longer priced horses, but unavoidable if you ever expect to get any overlays.

I'll take a win any way I can get it.

[MikeDee]

One race last year I dutched two horses. Out of the gate one rider fell off his mount and at the top of the stretch the other joc fell of his. At least no one got hurt!!

[Rick]

Mike,

I guess you can't get even on that one!

[anotherdave]

My worst memory of a DQ was a race at Santa Anita about 10? years ago. I had a dutched 2 horses at very good odds with a good sized bet and bought a decent exacta box on them too. They came around the corner all by themselves and about mid-stretch, when they were probably 7 lengths ahead of everyone else and no one was making a move, one of them bore in and slammed into the other horse very hard. The horse that got hit slowed down, of course, and finished 3rd, or worse - can't remember now have been trying to forget this one. Of course he enquired against my other horse who won and that one was kicked out.

That stung for a long while. They had to kick him out, but it felt a really unfair result of some good handicapping. Since that race, I never feel like I've won a race even with a 10 length lead with 20 yards to go. Now I believe it when I collect the cash.

AD

[Rick]

What happens if an entry is running 1-2 and the 2nd horse interferes with another that might have beat them both? Do they take down the entry or just the one horse? If just the one horse, it seems like there would be some real possibilities for manipulated results.

[Lefty]

They just take dn. the horse that actually interferes.
These animals going close to forty miles per hr with the jock hovered over the nk. and hanging on by squeezing horse with the knees. How many horses would you slam into on purpose under these conditions?

[Rick]

Lefty,

I wouldn't, but some jockeys are pretty fearless and if it were a million dollar purse, who knows.

[cj]

Worst DQ I've seen happened to a friend of mine. A horse used to run in MD named Bad Boy Willy(I think) who had a real penchant for running second. He was going off at 20-1 or so, and my friend wheeled him in the tri with all first and third. Sure enough, he was on the lead turning for home, when a 70-1 shot came flying on the outside to get the win by a couple lenghts. The third horse was a long price also. The inquiry sign went up, and the winner's number started flashing. He was soon disqualified out of the money for something that happened early in the race, and Bad Boy Willy was promoted to first, my friend demoted to nothing. The worst part was reading the next day that there was only one dollar wagered on the winning combination before the DQ, and would have paid about 20K. Thank goodness it wasn't me!!!

CJ

[takeout]

Beyer wrote a column years ago about a guy that got DQed out of a double triple for almost a million, I think. My memory is sketchy but I think it was the day before Beyer and a bunch of others hit it. The guy got DQed out of the 3rd hole in the second half and would've had the only ticket. As I dimly recall, the guy stated rather matter-of-factly that the horse should've come down. How's that for stoic?(!) Someone should write a book of horrendous tough beats.

[gillenr]

Didn't one of the NYRA Sudden Death contests end on a DQ?