Quote:
Originally Posted by Zman179
It happened today at Parx. Horse broke through the gate slightly before the gates all opened for all the other horses and he was declared a non-starter.
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The rule is that he must be examined by the vet who decides whether he is fit to run. We have been discussing this on this thread and my view is that, if he is not injured, it only is a disqualifying situation if he has run off and run his race before the real race begins. Gates are designed to give with not too much pressure from the horse to make it virtual impossibility of a horse so injuring itself. Tracks do not like to give back money bet on these horses if they injure themselves and are declared non-starters.
A study should be done as to whether such horses should be DQed or not bet but they must distinguish between horses that breakthrough and run off and those that don't. Two different situations.
