Reid: There is No Future Without Transparency

From a Concerned Bettor, Horse Owner and Racing Enthusiast

The day started off so promising. I might live in Richmond, VA but my attention was glued to one of my favorite days in all of horse racing - Industry Day at Grand River Raceway. It made me feel ever more homesick than usual to think that I would miss the 25th anniversary of a day of racing I cherish seeing live.

Sadly, this excitement dissipated quickly at the conclusion of the second race.

It was the first stakes race of the card and featured some of Ontario's best 3-year-old pacing fillies. Solar Sister and Wrangler Magic seemed poised to have another showdown, this time on the half-mile oval in Elora, ON. All was going according to plan when the fillies made their way around the final turn with Solar Sister showing the way and Wrangler Magic anxiously waiting for clearance up the passing lane. The stretch battle never happened and at a glance to many it may have looked like Solar Sister kept Wrangler Magic at bay until a final surge just before the wire. Something had gone awry here and even before the inquiry sign was posted I tweeted: "Sure looked like SOLAR SISTER w/ McNair took away the passing lane from WRANGLER MAGIC. She blew by past wire. #IndustryDay25 #HorseRacing". There were some others on twitter that shared the same sentiment and upon watching the replays and head-on shots it was very clear that there was going to be a disqualification. It certainly isn't common but it does happen from time to time, the lead horse moves into the passing lane and impedes the trailing horse who is entitled to it, but every time it results in a placing. The inquiry into the stretch drive was taking longer than expected but there was no way they could leave this horse up, could they? With each replay the case strengthens, as Solar Sister doesn't just move slightly into the passing lane but rather take the entire path away giving Wrangler Magic no opportunity to enter it until just before the wire.

The inquiry sign comes down and to my disbelief Gary Guy announces that Solar Sister will remain the winner as posted as she did not violate the rules of the passing lane. To be completely transparent I bet Wrangler Magic and even told some friends who recently signed up with HPIBet to do the same (I advised them to take advantage of the 3% back promotion). I thought I had missed something and quickly needed a second opinion, which more quickly turned into a 3rd and 4th opinion. When everyone agreed that the horse should have been disqualified, I needed to go to the source. I called the judges at Grand River Raceway and in fairness the gentleman I spoke to was very polite and accommodating. He advised me that Solar Sister was not taken down because, while she did enter the passing lane, she did not cause any interference. I was confused and asked if entering the passing lane in the first place is a violation and I was told again, it is only a violation of the rules if interference occurs. He went onto say that while Solar Sister entered the passing lane, Sylvain Fillion (the driver of Wrangler Magic) never had to check his horse or stop driving. I pointed out that when he did have clearance that they blew by the leader after the wire and the rebuttal to this was that they only judge what happens before the finish line. I respectfully accepted the explanation but something did not feel right the rest of the day. If this was the case, why even have a passing lane and why doesn't every lead driver shift his horse over and take half the lane away every single race, yet alone when they are racing for $105K.

I found a rule book and found the ruling in question:

Rule 22.05.02.02

1. no horse shall pass on the extended inside lane entering the stretch for the first time,

2. the lead horse in the home stretch shall maintain as straight a course as possible while allowing trailing horses full access to the extended inside lane, and

3. horses using the open stretch must have complete clearance of the pylons.

The above says nothing about interference. Rather, it clearly illustrates that a horse on the lead must allow trailing horses full access to the passing lane. Solar Sister provided zero access to the extended lane until it was much too late. If the passing lane is for the trailing horses, should it not already be considered their path? Meaning any kind of impediment should result in a disqualification. The rules are crystal clear but somehow on Grand River Raceway's biggest day the judges got it wrong. There was nearly $34,000 dollars wagered on the race and a purse of $105,000 on the line. With so much at stake how can something like this happen? This is not a judgment call or open to interpretation - if a horse on the lead enters the passing lane and takes away access from a trailing horse they cannot be deemed the official winner.

All the marketing in the world cannot overcome these kind of errors. Think about the tickets that were ripped up in vain by both experienced bettors all the way to the other extreme of first time race-goers. The word of mouth from either or any group in between can set racing back even further from where we once were and where we should be. If someone wagered on Wrangler Magic and was aware of the rules or made aware of the rules we might lose that person forever and have to deal with the stigma of race fixing. Was the race “fixed”? No. Could that be the perception? Of course. Consistency and transparency is needed for this sport to be taken seriously. Detailed explanations by the judges either on camera, microphone or in print where they are accountable to the decisions they make is only a start. Gary Guy should not have be forced to be a messenger with a vague explanation. The rule should be quoted, explained and an explanation of the decision should be given (like many major thoroughbred tracks do).

Harness racing has a fraction of the fan base and following of other major sports and while it might never be able to get to a stratospheric level, we only hinder it by being vague and worse sweeping incidents like this under the carpet. The biggest travesty is that in all likelihood the connections of Wrangler Magic will appeal the decision and end up being deemed the official winner of the race but what about the bettors? It will be a decision that comes much too late for the ripped up tickets and the fans/potential fans that were lost. This a beautiful sport that can be made more popular with every new person that is exposed to it but we must shake the stigmas of the past and the only way we do this is by creating an environment of accountability and transparency.

Sincerely,
Robert Reid Jr.
@RobertReidJr on Twitter

The views presented in Trot Blogs are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Standardbred Canada.