The Worst DQ Ever

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

Okay, I'll take the 10-1. Maybe we can find someone who filmed it from a blimp.

--Dunbar

I wish we did.

Considering the horse inside Preemptory checked severely just as the turn broke, simultaneous to Preemptory moving from the five to two or three path, it seems like a very reasonable inference that a foul occurred. I am not saying I think that makes it a fair DQ.....but I would bet if you had a blimp shot you would see it was one. There is a big difference between the bumping that took place before this and the steady that took place after it.

I get the argument, and wish DQs were only based on what we know conclusively, but this isn't even in the bottom 50% of mediocre calls.

[freddymo]

Every track should have a "Johnny LaRue's Crane Shot" for such situations

[Indian Charlie]

How are there even blind spots in the first place?

Just how much more would another camera or two cost?

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Just how much more would another camera or two cost?

I'm not excusing it but it costs a lot more than you think.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I'm not excusing it but it costs a lot more than you think.

I have a pretty good idea.

In the grand schemes of things however, it's not that much.

[blackthroatedwind]

One of the most inane DQs I ever saw involved a DQ from second. It cost me a measly $100, but it was so outlandish that I called the stewards at the involved track, and actually got confirmation they didn't know what they were looking at.

The winner was clear, but as the field rolled into the stretch, there were three horses abreast following him. The inside horse came out sharply, bumping the middle horse, who in turn bumped the outside horse. The inside horse finished 4th, the middle horse 2nd, and the outside horse 3rd. They DQed the second horse. It was madness.

So, I asked the steward, did he not realize the inside horse caused the whole thing....and he agreed. But, he said the middle horse then fouled the horse outside of him...and thus the DQ. I then asked if he realized the middle horse was not responsible, and he said he did, but he still fouled the outside horse.

I kid you not.

That man is no longer a steward.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

One of the most inane DQs I ever saw involved a DQ from second. It cost me a measly $100, but it was so outlandish that I called the stewards at the involved track, and actually got confirmation they didn't know what they were looking at.

The winner was clear, but as the field rolled into the stretch, there were three horses abreast following him. The inside horse came out sharply, bumping the middle horse, who in turn bumped the outside horse. The inside horse finished 4th, the middle horse 2nd, and the outside horse 3rd. They DQed the second horse. It was madness.

So, I asked the steward, did he not realize the inside horse caused the whole thing....and he agreed. But, he said the middle horse then fouled the horse outside of him...and thus the DQ. I then asked if he realized the middle horse was not responsible, and he said he did, but he still fouled the outside horse.

I kid you not.

That man is no longer a steward.

Some of the stewards are just completely incompetent. It's incredible. I'm glad the guy that made the call you're talking about is no longer a steward.

[Rupert Pupkin]

If you watch it from the regular pan shot and you hit the "freeze" (or pause) button right as the horse starts to take up, you will see that Preemptory is at least 1 1/2 lengths clear at that point.

With regard to whether Preemptory came in at all, I don't think there is any clear evidence from the head-on shot that he even came in. He may have slightly come in, but it's not conclusive. If he came in, I don't think he came in more than a foot (until well after the incident).

He obviously came in after the incident. He's obviously not going to go five-wide around the turn with nobody (except the winner) inside of him.

I think the main incident was simply a continuation of the bumping that had been going on between the 3 horses going down the backstretch. There was bumping between the 1a, the 1, and the 5 before they went into the turn. When they went into the turn, it got much worse and that was when the main incident occured. The 1a had been leaning in and bumping the 1 all down the backstretch. Then on the turn they end up bumping really hard. To me, all the evidence sows that the 1a, who was getting and bumping the 1 before the main incident was the culprit.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Every track should have a "Johnny LaRue's Crane Shot" for such situations

I don't know why Guy Cabalerro was always giving LaRue a hard time about the crane shots.

For those of you who don't know what we're talking about, we're talking about SCTV (which was just as funny as the old Saturday Night Live IMO).

[blackthroatedwind]

You're correct....there is no conclusive evidence and I think it was a poor choice to DQ the horse.

The rest is conjecture, be it on your part, the stewards part, or mine.

There will, sadly, most likely be a worse call somewhere this week.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

You're correct....there is no conclusive evidence and I think it was a poor choice to DQ the horse.

The rest is conjecture, be it on your part, the stewards part, or mine.

There will, sadly, most likely be a worse call somewhere this week.

There was a call in NY about 2-3 years ago that I could never figure out. It was a 2 horse race coming down the stretch. The winner sligtly came in on the runner-up but it was nothing major and he beat him by 2 lengths or so. The incident positively did not affect the order of finish. It would have been one thing if the horse who was slightly impeded ended up running 3rd. Then the stewards could have said that the winner may have cost the other horse 2nd place. But this was not the case. The horse who was slighlty fouled by the winner ran 2nd and the incident positively had no effect on the order of finish. I wish I could remember the race and the horses involved but I can't. Can you remember that race from my description? It was definiely one of the worst calls ever.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

There was a call in NY about 2-3 years ago that I could never figure out. It was a 2 horse race coming down the stretch. The winner sligtly came in on the runner-up but it was nothing major and he beat him by 2 lengths or so. The incident positively did not affect the order of finish. It would have been one thing if the horse who was slightly impeded ended up running 3rd. Then the stewards could have said that the winner may have cost the other horse 2nd place. But this was not the case. The horse who was slighlty fouled by the winner ran 2nd and the incident positively had no effect on the order of finish. I wish I could remember the race and the horses involved but I can't. Can you remember that race from my description? It was definiely one of the worst calls ever.

You're not thinking of the Powerscourt DQ at Arlington, are you? I know that one was thought by many to be a poor DQ decision.

--Dunbar

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

You're not thinking of the Powerscourt DQ at Arlington, are you? I know that one was thought by many to be a poor DQ decision.

--Dunbar

No, that's not the race I was talking about. I was talking about some allowance race in New York.

With regard to Powerscourt, here is my opinion:
I think it was definitely a bad decision. I had a chance to watch the replay in slow-motion several times. Although Powerscourt came in badly, he really didn't interfere with anyone. Epalo was being hit right-handed and was coming in on his own. Epalo was the one who really interfered with Kicken Kris. By the time Powerscourt had cut off Epalo, Powerscourt was already clear of Epalo. The Kickin Kris incident had already occured by this time. Powerscourt and Epalo were both coming in at the same time. There was no contact between them. Eventually, Powerscourt passed Epalo and cut in front of him. But as I said before, at this point the Kickin Kris incident was over.

If you have the race on tape, watch the slow-motion of the head-on. You need to watch it several times to really get clarity on it. The first few times I watched it, I was not sure what the correct decision was. But after watching it several more times, I was convinced that Powerscourt should not have been disqualified

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

There was a call in NY about 2-3 years ago that I could never figure out. It was a 2 horse race coming down the stretch. The winner sligtly came in on the runner-up but it was nothing major and he beat him by 2 lengths or so. The incident positively did not affect the order of finish. It would have been one thing if the horse who was slightly impeded ended up running 3rd. Then the stewards could have said that the winner may have cost the other horse 2nd place. But this was not the case. The horse who was slighlty fouled by the winner ran 2nd and the incident positively had no effect on the order of finish. I wish I could remember the race and the horses involved but I can't. Can you remember that race from my description? It was definiely one of the worst calls ever.

It sounds like you're talking about Silver Squire - but that race was about 8 years ago at Saratoga.

He blew by the 2nd place finisher and won by 6 lengths and was DQ'd for very lightly brushing him as he blew past.

He was a Kimmel horse that Migliore rode. I disagree with about 80% of takedowns - but that one was incredibly bad. I think Migliore threw a fit after the race.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

It sounds like you're talking about Silver Squire - but that race was about 8 years ago at Saratoga.

He blew by the 2nd place finisher and won by 6 lengths and was DQ'd for very lightly brushing him as he blew past.

He was a Kimmel horse that Migliore rode. I disagree with about 80% of takedowns - but that one was incredibly bad. I think Migliore threw a fit after the race.

That may have been the race I was thinking of. I didn't think it was that long ago but it probably was.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

You're correct....there is no conclusive evidence and I think it was a poor choice to DQ the horse.

The rest is conjecture, be it on your part, the stewards part, or mine.

There will, sadly, most likely be a worse call somewhere this week.

Get rid of 30% of the races and it gets less expensive to equip the industry correctly? Golden Gate having races is the problem not the equipment they dont have nor should EVER get.