Did U see that ride#$&^%$*&??"

[turfbar]

I know all the chatter pertains to B.C.
but did anyone see the f............ ride by the jockey
Betancourt at Laurel's 8 th yesterday
if thats not cheating what is.
All this cheating do handicappers even
stand a chance, it was so blatant and no Inquiry
by the esteemed Maryland stewards .DISGRAGEFUL

Turfbar

[twindouble]

turfbar; You mean the 7th race, right?

[turfbar]

turfbar; You mean the 7th race, right?
yup so pissed off i couldn't remember the right race
yes the 7th thanx 4 correction
turfbar

[cj]

DELAWARE RIVER stalked the pace, circled the turn three wide, opened up in midstretch and was well clear inside the sixteenth pole when his rider eased up, misjudging the finish.

They do use different finish lines at Lrl, so I'm sure this has happened before, and will again. Cheating, I doubt it, there are much more less obvious ways to lose than this.

[delayjf]

They do use different finish lines at Lrl

I did not know that. At what distances do they use different finish lines. I just read that their new track has a mile chute now, so are you refering to races at 1 1/16?

[cj]

I am not 100% positive, but it is the mile races I believe. They have a chute, but it still isn't long enough to run a mile and use the same finish line. I've heard Rodman refer to it during several of his calls.

Lrl doesn't run 1 1/16 on the new surface, only a mile, or 1 1/8 or longer.

[midnight]

Laurel is a mile and an eighth track. The alternate (newer) finish line was put in this year. It's further down the stretch, closer to the clubhouse turn. It's used for the mile races, which are run out of the chute in the backstretch. With the new track layout, the mile race isn't otherwise feasible, because the chute isn't long enough. There's a large red lights on the infield pole at each finish line, and the light on the appropriate pole is turned on for each race. Since the second finish line is past the original more-used one, and since it's only used for the mile races, it's understandable that a jockey might mistake it in a mile race.

[Valuist]

When Betancourt used to ride in Chicago, he wasn't very good. So maybe its more incompetence than cheating.

[delayjf]

Hollywood park is a 1 1/8 mile track too, but they moved the finish line up the track which gives it a stretch run about the same length as a typical mile track (@ 3/16 of a mile) This means that there is still a little more than a 1/16 of a mile run (plus run up) into the first turn which allows them to card races at 1 1/16. I like the way Ellis park runs their mile races, out of a chute that incororates half the turn. Kind of like the way 1 1/8 turf races at DeLmar start down the chute.

[Charlie Judge]

The old track at Laurel had the same 2 finish lines as the new track.. The second line was rarely used for 7.5 furlong dirt races, but had not been used for about 4 years prior to the new surface installation. Riders misjudged that finish line as well back then.

The 1 1/16 mile distance on the old track started close to the first turn, and there was a decided advantage to the inner posts at that distance.

As mentioned above, 1 1/16 mile dirt races are no longer run at LRL.

Charlie Judge

[Jeff P]

I strongly suspect that Jose actually did misjudge the finish line in this race. We're all human and subject to making mistakes.

Posted by Valuist- When Betancourt used to ride in Chicago, he wasn't very good. So maybe its more incompetence than cheating. Jose is one of those guys whose riding has improved during the course of this year. Here is what I have for all of his mounts quarter by quarter for the first three quarters of this year:

Q1 2005

Data Window Settings:
999 Divisor
Surface: (ALL*) Distance: (All*) (From Index File: F:\2005\Q1_2005\pl_profile.txt)
Rider: BETANCOURT J

Data Summary Win Place Show
Mutuel Totals 144.10 129.30 131.00
Bet -242.00 -242.00 -242.00
Gain -97.90 -112.70 -111.00

Wins 6 16 24
Plays 121 121 121
PCT .0496 .1322 .1983

ROI 0.5955 0.5343 0.5413
Avg Mut 24.02 8.08 5.46


By: Odds Rank

Rank Gain Bet Roi Wins Plays Pct
1 -6.80 10.00 0.3200 1 5 .2000
2 -7.60 14.00 0.4571 1 7 .1429
3 -7.00 16.00 0.5625 1 8 .1250
4 -3.60 24.00 0.8500 1 12 .0833
5 -28.00 28.00 0.0000 0 14 .0000
6 -40.00 40.00 0.0000 0 20 .0000
7 -10.40 36.00 0.7111 1 18 .0556
8 49.50 30.00 2.6500 1 15 .0667
9 -18.00 18.00 0.0000 0 9 .0000
10 -16.00 16.00 0.0000 0 8 .0000
11 -8.00 8.00 0.0000 0 4 .0000
12 -2.00 2.00 0.0000 0 1 .0000


Q2 2005

Data Window Settings:
999 Divisor
Surface: (ALL*) Distance: (All*) (From Index File: F:\2005\Q2_2005\pl_profile.txt)
Rider: BETANCOURT J

Data Summary Win Place Show
Mutuel Totals 135.80 176.80 208.20
Bet -270.00 -270.00 -270.00
Gain -134.20 -93.20 -61.80

Wins 14 30 50
Plays 135 135 135
PCT .1037 .2222 .3704

ROI 0.5030 0.6548 0.7711
Avg Mut 9.70 5.89 4.16


By: Odds Rank

Rank Gain Bet Roi Wins Plays Pct
1 8.20 24.00 1.3417 6 12 .5000
2 -12.40 30.00 0.5867 2 15 .1333
3 -28.80 34.00 0.1529 1 17 .0588
4 17.80 30.00 1.5933 3 15 .2000
5 -5.00 38.00 0.8684 2 19 .1053
6 -38.00 38.00 0.0000 0 19 .0000
7 -30.00 30.00 0.0000 0 15 .0000
8 -20.00 20.00 0.0000 0 10 .0000
9 -8.00 8.00 0.0000 0 4 .0000
10 -6.00 6.00 0.0000 0 3 .0000
11 -6.00 6.00 0.0000 0 3 .0000
12 -6.00 6.00 0.0000 0 3 .0000



Q3 2005

Data Window Settings:
999 Divisor
Surface: (ALL*) Distance: (All*) (From Index File: F:\2005\Q3_2005\pl_profile.txt)
Rider: BETANCOURT J

Data Summary Win Place Show
Mutuel Totals 129.40 135.60 104.40
Bet -110.00 -110.00 -110.00
Gain 19.40 25.60 -5.60

Wins 9 19 24
Plays 55 55 55
PCT .1636 .3455 .4364

ROI 1.1764 1.2327 0.9491
Avg Mut 14.38 7.14 4.35


By: Odds Rank

Rank Gain Bet Roi Wins Plays Pct
1 4.80 14.00 1.3429 4 7 .5714
2 -2.00 16.00 0.8750 2 8 .2500
3 -16.00 16.00 0.0000 0 8 .0000
4 -12.00 12.00 0.0000 0 6 .0000
5 15.60 2.00 8.8000 1 1 1.0000
6 57.00 22.00 3.5909 2 11 .1818
7 -8.00 8.00 0.0000 0 4 .0000
8 -10.00 10.00 0.0000 0 5 .0000
9 -8.00 8.00 0.0000 0 4 .0000
10 -2.00 2.00 0.0000 0 1 .0000
11 0.00 0.00 0.0000 0 0 .0000
12 0.00 0.00 0.0000 0 0 .0000

Interestingly enough, he does seem to make an effort when he's on a live mount.

-jp
.

[speedking]

I've watched the race 3 times now and I'm still just as upset now as when they crossed the wire, but I believe that Betancourt screwed up royally and misjudged the finish line. The exacta price came back fair with the 50/1 shot on top of the favorite. I can only hope that the stewards hit Betancourt with a lengthy suspension for severely altering the outcome of the race.

speedking

[turfbar]

I've watched the race 3 times now and I'm still just as upset now as when they crossed the wire, but I believe that Betancourt screwed up royally and misjudged the finish line. The exacta price came back fair with the 50/1 shot on top of the favorite. I can only hope that the stewards hit Betancourt with a lengthy suspension for severely altering the outcome of the race.

speedking
C'mon the race smells and can't believe all you guys oh it was a mistake
first it was a race taken off the turf the 50-1 shot who won,how could you use him ,2 races on the dirt beaten by a solid 53 lengths combined ,if that is his excuse he misjudged the line he should seriously not be riding.
I am seriously surprised by the approach some of you guys took,that was real money I lost betting that horse Delaware River.
Turfbar

[JustRalph]

Bill Shoemaker did the same thing in the kentucky derby.........you talk about blowing it in the big race.................

[Tom]

Butters is right - it happens.

We had a 4mile ++ race at FL once - a rider thought he won, after driving down the stretch, he pulled up, turned around, and trotted tow the winner's circle.
When he heard the crowd yeeling, and saw the owner having a coniption fit, he turned around and got ack into the race! And he finished 3rd! (He had only run three laps! when he stopped)

[midnight]

Some apprentice (or close to that) in SoCal did that last year in a three-turn turf race. Gunned his horse around the track and across the wire 10 lengths on top, pulled up, pumped his fist in triumph. Figured out that he made a boo boo, set the horse back down, got passed by the field on the backstretch. TVG showed it for weeks.

[speedking]

C'mon the race smells and can't believe all you guys oh it was a mistake
first it was a race taken off the turf the 50-1 shot who won,how could you use him ,2 races on the dirt beaten by a solid 53 lengths combined ,if that is his excuse he misjudged the line he should seriously not be riding.
I am seriously surprised by the approach some of you guys took,that was real money I lost betting that horse Delaware River.
Turfbar

Turfbar,

That race cost me serious money also. I had a good bet on Delaware River and used the "winner" Snipewalk underneath, only because Stephanie Beattie is the trainer and Acosta came over to ride. (not his only mount, I know). She has been doing well, suddenly improving horses and the rest of the field was weak. As angry as I was, I immediately felt that Betancourt blew the finish line position and I still feel that way. As much as I hated it, I give Acosta credit for not stopping with his horse while 5 lengths back inside the 1/8th pole. As I stated before, I only hope that the stewards give Betancourt a long suspension. Mistake or not, he cost many of us real money with that stunt.

speedking

[cj's dad]

there is definitely a different finish line at Laurel and not only does it sometimes confuse the betting public but it has fooled others in the past including jocks. This is not the first time it has happened since the track was re-configured. The new config allowed for 1 turn 1 mile races. The chute is the same chute used for 7F races, so the finish line for 1M is obviously 220 yds. farther.

[delayjf]

If it were me, and I wanted to "pull a horse" I wouldn't ride my horse to win only to pull him up in front of the grand stand. For one, it's way to obvious and two, you end up wasting a good effort that could be used later to win more money. Rather I'd break him slow get the horse behind other horses and keep him there or pretend that I "heard something" and pull the horse up or simple fall off the horse coming out of the gate.