Horrible Non DQ at SA

[stonegossard]

If anyone wants to see some corrupt stewards in action, take a look at The Wishing Well Stakes from SA on Sunday. Ingrid the Gambler clearly comes out and interferes with Rockella costing her the race. After about 5 minutes of an inquiry, the stewards at SA leave the horse up. Watch the head on. Is a no-brainer. I have seen this happen at every other track and the horse comes down.

An interesting subplot to this Wishing Well Stakes race is the history between the owner of the winner and the CHRB (and by extension, the Santa Anita stewards).

If you didn't already know the winner, Ingrid The Gambler, is named for ousted CHRB head Ingrid Fermin, who apparently was accused of wagering on races despite her position (prior to becoming and after resigning CHRB leader, she was/is a steward). She also happens to be Bruce Headley's sister-in-law.

Well Ingrid The Gambler's owner is titty bar entrepeneur, Jerry Jimgotchian, a man obsessed with crusading against what he believes to be blatant hypocrisy/corruption within the CHRB. He was all over the Mandella/state vet Rick Arthur connection during the initiation of bicarb testing as well as the hiring of a public trainer/lawyer to counsel stewards on drug rules/law. Unfortunately, because of his almost pathologic hatred of the CHRB (he's probably brought dozens if not hundreds of frivolous lawsuits against the board) he's pretty much a laughing stock in the CA racing industry. In fact, a lot of the CHRB budget woes that were newsworthy within the last year were as a result of having to spend thousands on the legal defense for Jerry's lawsuits.

So, with that backstory, is it possible that the stewards were avoiding an all out war with this owner dude by disqualifying his horse from a stakes win?

Because the filly's name is clearly a slap in the face of the CHRB, you'd think they'd be chomping at the bit to take her down, but then again, keeping in mind all the "punishments" handed out for excessive bicarb, when was the last time the CHRB or its stewards acted with any sort of guts?