https://www.drf.com/news/new-york-st...ce-fine-100000
* Robert Williams, executive director of the commission, explained the role of the stewards in an Aug. 5 incident at Saratoga in which three races in the late pick five were switched from the turf to the dirt while the horses were loading into the gate for the first leg of the bet. Because of the surface switch, all three turf races became “all-wins” under New York racing rules.
Williams said that NYRA officials had asked the stewards to delay the start of the race for 10 minutes to give bettors time to change their bets. However, the stewards declined to delay the start, Williams said, because two horses in the nine-horse race had already been loaded into the gate when NYRA made the request. The race was for 2-year-old maiden fillies.
Williams said that the stewards believed that backing the “young, fractious” horses out of the gate would have created safety and integrity risks.
“The stewards appropriately put the safety of the horses, the jockeys, and gate crew first,” Williams said.
The decision not to delay the start infuriated bettors. NYRA’s chief executive, David O’Rourke, issued an apology for the incident and NYRA seeded a pick five later in the meet with $100,000 in track money in an attempt at amends.