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[Track Phantom]

1. Mark Patterson is a very good guy and an excellent handicapper. He's one of the best talking horses before a race. I disagree with him on some of the points he made in his original post but in no way, shape or form should Mark take the slightest of grief here. He's one of the few that has the guts to speak his mind.
2. Mark P made a good post about the likliehood of no conspiracy or benefit of the minus pool going away. Valid and logical. However, we (none of us) have any idea what motivates people. I know this, the #6 did not deserve to be DQ'd. I'm quite certain if I could muster the energy and motivation, I could find 25 races tomorrow alone that have the same action in the first two furlongs and not a single person, steward, jockey, etc would blink an eye. The #1 tried to hold position on the rail and the opening wasn't big enough and the horse tried to duck away from the 5 and 6 and hit the rail. This caused the #1 to bump the tail end of the #5 and lose his irons. While the 6 was riding tight, he wasn't in any foul. I believe what they did should warrant a severe reprimand and fine or even possibly termination. I think it was THAT bad.
3. There and their are different words and should be used properly. If you don't know the difference, you are spending too much time at the track. A grown man should not make 2nd grade mistakes, even on a forum.
4. The overarching problem here is a perception problem racing has. From the "little guys" in the stands or behind their computer, it feels like our interests and money are not protected nearly enough. Whether it be the drug issues, DQ's, poor management, unwillingness to post will-pays or scratch rules, not explaining track delays and letting the patrons sit for an hour without even knowing what is happening and on and on. I could name 100 things that are aggrevating impacts to the horse players and could be corrected without a financial impact to the track.
5. People like me, Stillril, Mountn...etc are the best marketing the horse racing industry has for securing the next generation of players who will take our spot when we go away or die off. Right now, there is a very slow replenishment of players and that is why the game is drying up. We can advocate for this game to the people that aren't exposed to it but, sadly, we can hardly name 5 reasons why we should. Things like this at BEU, with no accountabilty and a feeling of entitlement in not having to explain themselves pushes me farther away. While I'll play to my death, I have stopped trying to bring others into it.
6. It doesn't matter to me how "good" these stewards are, they made an inexcusable decision that cost a lot of people money. I didn't bet the race but, if I did, I would be homicidal if I was taken down that way.
7. Finally, this decision was not a subjective mistake. It was an overt action to overreach the penalty of what they saw as not abiding by "their rules and little film". The others were right. Leave the results and penalize the rider independently. Happens all the time.