Saratoga 5th - No DQ?

[CSC]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

The horse that was impeded was beaten a nose for 2nd. It's not hard to figure out their decision ... two things have to happen, 1.) a foul has to take place 2.) that foul has to cost a horse a chance at a better placing.

Like Rupert said - it's a little like pass interference in football. If the contact is significant - but the ball flies 15 yards over the recievers head and lands way out of bounds - it's no flag.

I understand the point, and all things considered I don't disagree. The consistency issue is what I don't like. How do you determine a horse was fading only when after a horse was significantly bumped then fell back, it's like saying the bumping had absolutely no effect on a horse's desire to run or had no effect on an outcome in a race. Just as in the original post of this thread, how do the stewards know Prado's horse achieved maximum placing had it not been bumped, since we do not know for 100% certain it would have placed higher had it not been bumped so vigorously. It's like saying all horses run the same race regardless whether they are bumped or not?