This seems unfair to the highest degree
So the race in question is the 9th from Keeneland last October 11. I'm sure a fair amount of people may remember it, as Klaravich/Chad Brown runner Sound Money was hindered by a malfunctioning gate, but still ran a valiant 2nd. Stewards were in a tricky position far as the wagering decision went, but they ultimately declared him a non-starter. Obviously a number of bettors were upset by this, but I thought the more unjust situation was that the connections didn't get paid out any of the purse. Among jurisdictions, do stewards have the discretion after the race to declare a horse a non-starter for gambling purposes (purse only starter) but still eligible for purse, or once you're a non-starter are you just completely screwed?
So I didn't come across this until now, but apparently back in late Oct or November it appears the winner of this race tested positive for a banned substance and was DQ'ed from purse money. So now the declared winner of the race was the 3rd place finisher! If Sound Money had finished 1st that day he would've stayed as the victor since no harm no foul I take it, so now that he should be moved into 1st there isn't some sort of ruling available to make him the winner of the race for purse purposes?
I wonder if the horse who finished 1st that day had been DQ'ed for an in-race infraction, would they have moved Sound Money up to 1st or would he have been declared a non-starter too. Either way, it's just disappointing to see an ultimate result that so defies logic, and if that's the way the rules are written in stone with no ability to apply common sense, it's sad & hopefully not the same situation in every jurisdiction.
|