A Judges Inquiry took place in Race 1 at Mohawk Raceway on September 3, 2010 that looked at a possible pylon violation by the unofficial winner
#3 Solar Kash (Steve Condren) going into the first turn. (click here for the chart)
The Judges referred to ORC Rule 18:08.02 for the Inquiry.
ORC Rule 18:08.02 states:
“A horse while on stride, or part of the horse’s sulky, that leaves the race course by going inside the pylons which constitutes the inside limits of the course, when not forced to do so as a result of the actions of another driver and/or horse, shall be in violation of this rule. In addition, when an act of interference causes a horse, or part of the horse’s sulky, to cross inside the pylons and the horse is placed by the Judges, the offending horse shall be placed behind the horse with which it interfered.
For the purposes of placing the following shall apply:
1. If a horse while on stride, or part of the horse’s sulky goes inside two (2) consecutive pylons, the offending horse shall be placed behind all horses that are lapped on to the offending horse at the wire,
2. If a horse while on stride, or any part of the horse’s sulky, goes inside three (3) or more consecutive pylons, the offending horse shall be placed last,
3. If in the opinion of the Judges a horse while on stride, or part of the horse’s sulky, goes inside a pylon(s) and that action gave the horse an unfair advantage over other horses in the race or the action helped improve its position in the race, the horse may be placed at the discretion of the Judges.”
The Judges viewed the pan and low pan shots for the Inquiry and the video is available below.
Using either shot, #3 Solar Kash can be found sitting second along the rail for driver Steve Condren. The Judges were trying to determine how many, if any, pylons #3 Solar Kash went inside as he went into the first turn. As the low pan shot shows a close up view of the Inquiry, the Judges ruled that #3 Solar Kash hit the top of one pylon, then went inside the next two consecutive pylons and finally hit the following pylon.
#3 Solar Kash was lapped by both #2 Slightly Tipsy (Sylvain Filion) and #5 Smokin Dabra (John Campbell), who finished in a dead heat for second. As the bolded section of ORC Rule 18:08.02 states above, #3 Solar Kash must be placed behind both of those horses.
As a result of the pylon violation, #3 Solar Kash was first placed third.
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