Odds On Equelles, the heavy chalk and very talented horse trained by Robin Schadt and driven by John Campbell, moved to the lead off a super-slow first quarter. You can see after making the lead John snatched the horse up a little bit, going a third quarter in a respectable 28.4. Younger horses, sometimes unable to stop and start quickly, crumpled a little bit in the backfield. This triggered a ten minute inquiry, and the colt was pitched.
The result of the placing was formidable. There was a bridgejumper in the show pool which had his bankroll wiped out, and the race was for a purse of $85,800.
I am never too concerned with calls as a bettor, simply because some will go with me, some will go against me. They are a perfect definition of racing's randomness. However, this DQ does not sit right with me (nor does it sit well with the youtube poster either).
"Slow quarters" are perhaps the most inconsistent call in all of racing. When horses get torched in a quarter it is common-sensical that the driver would want to get some sort of a rest. At times they need to be called but they are not. At times, like above, they are called when they probably should not.
The circumstances in the above that make this a no call, in my opinion:
- The first quarter (29) was incredibly slow and well below a 27 and change par time for this horse and class. First quarters tell the tale on how the rest of a race is going to go.
- The second quarter was incredibly fast (27), which is about two seconds faster than par.
- The third quarter was not slow. 28.4 is not slowing things down aggressively.
- These are two year olds and some of them are very green. It can look worse than it probably is.
- It can be argued Brian Sears should've pulled his hot horse and caused the issue, not the leader.
- In a phrase - this was a messed up race, and in no way representative
That's okay,if so, for the connections and well-deserved. It doesn't help that bridge jumper that lost a pile of money though.
4 comments:
Supposedly all three judges voted for the DQ. My guess is the DQ stands.
The fractions don't matter per se; it is slowing up the tempo too quickly which is the problem. The video cuts part of the review, I would like to have seen a head on.
All that being said, if it takes that long to DQ the horse, it probably wasn't that obvious in which caes the decision should have been to leave him up.
Even if the fractions "don't matter" the fact that the horse in the 2-hole was clearly not bothered speaks volumes.
This was absolutely one of the worst calls in harness racing.
I too feel the pain for the betting public. The connections of the horse may have recourse in their search for accountability. The betting public was screwed big time.
I agree: the pocket-sitter was not bothered, and Sears' actions precipitated the incident.
Terrible call!! these clowns need to be held accountable!
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