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by Frank Vespe
At its monthly meeting Thursday afternoon, the Maryland Racing Commission held a hearing regarding the the ninth race at Laurel Park on August 16.
Here’s your chance to play steward.
In the race the Jennifer Shannon trainee #4 Union Blues, with Luis Rodriguez in the irons, showed speed from the first jump of the six-furlong allowance contest, led the field around the bend, turned back a challenge, and seemed en route to the victory. But, under right-handed encouragement, he drifted down from the two-path towards the rail and shut off his rival, #2 Graves Island.
In the video below, Union Blues is #4 in the maroon and white colors and, as it begins, is dueling for the lead inside of a rival. Graves Island, #2 and in blue and white, is in third and on the rail.
Do you take Union Blues down?
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Maryland’s rules of the race read as follows:
“A. During the running of a race:
“(1) Unless caused wholly or partly by some other horse, a horse may not:
“(a) Carry another horse in or out;
“(b) Cross or weave in front of another horse without sufficient clearance;
“(c) Jostle another horse;
“(d) Intimidate another horse; or
“(e) Impede another horse; and
“(2) A jockey may not:
“(a) Strike another horse or jockey;
“(b) Ride in a careless manner; or
“(c) Unnecessarily cause the horse the jockey is riding to shorten its stride with a view toward claiming foul against another horse or jockey in the race.”
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It appears likely that Union Blues would have won the race with or without the apparent foul that he committed. According to testimony at the hearing, Rodriguez believed that he was clear of his rival, Mychel Sanchez, so that he caused no foul by coming over.
The stewards rejected that argument, however, believing that Union Blues did, in fact, interfere with his rival. As to the notion that his foul did not impact the outcome of the race, Maryland’s rules notably do not include whether the foul affected the placing as a matter for the stewards to consider.
In this event, the stewards took down Union Blues and slapped the jockey, Luis Rodriguez, with a three-day suspension for careless riding. The Racing Commission upheld that decision Thursday.
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Gary Quill
27th Oct 2018Seems Mychal Sanchez (jock aboard #2) did a bit of “grandstanding” to sell it to the stewards. When Union Blues crossed over to the rail, he was clear. There is a consensus among horseplayers that often when the apparent foul is not a slam dunk, it comes down the parties involved… right or wrong, that’s the cry I’ve heard for year.
The Biz
27th Oct 2018I know that’s a go-to for horseplayers, but it’s hard to see in this case. Even if you believe that that’s how they make decisions – I generally don’t – why would they prefer the PRX-based connections of Graves Island over the LRL-based J. Shannon? Or the ship-in rider over the local?
c
27th Oct 2018Usually it’s about making out-of-towners look good in order to make the track look good for people to send their horses to. Also, apprenticeship has to play a part in this given the Jockey seems to have a normally erratic and aggressive riding style.
Frank C
27th Oct 2018Leave out the innuenos. The question is, if you were a steward would you take the winner down. As a retired steward of over twenty years my answer is a definite NO. The stewards and the commissioners who upheld this decision should be ashamed of themselves. As for the three- days suspension for the bug rider, the stewards should hold their heads in shame. Of course, they never made a mistake. Bring the rider in by all accounts but three days.
Black Tie Affair
28th Oct 2018By letter of the law, then, yes, I think Union Blues has to come down. To me – and this is just the opinion of someone who works in the industry and has probably watched a few hundred thousand races in his lifetime, but has never been a steward – he arguably intimidates Graves Island and did not have sufficient clearance to cross over. That begs a question, though – do the Maryland regulations stipulate what constitutes “sufficient clearance” – in other words, is it quantified – or is that a judgment call?
The shame of it is that the incident almost certainly did not affect the outcome of the race. I feel badly for those who bet on Union Blues and for his connections.
Backstretch
29th Oct 2018Since it’s a judgement call on the part of the stewards as to whether a horse caused interference, it should then be a judgement call as to whether the interference affected the outcome of the race, which in this race, it clearly didn’t.