SHAKOPEE, MN – The disqualification of Maximum Security out of the Kentucky Derby and the recent reminiscences of the non-DQ of Codex in the 1980 Preakness after apparently interfering with Genuine Risk turning for home has brought a lot of attention to objections, inquiries and disqualifications.  We spent some time with Canterbury Park stewards David Hooper, David Smith and Stanley Bowker to talk about the process in Minnesota.

OBJECTIONS

A jockey, trainer or owner can call an objection.  In the vast majority of races it is the jockey that calls an objection.

Before the start of the season, the stewards meet with the jockeys and they go over the rules of racing including differentiating between competitive riding and dangerous riding.  They also cover the procedures of how to file an objection.  By the time the hour-long annual meeting is over, everyone should be on the same page.

“In the old days,” said Minnesota Chief Steward David Hooper, “the riders would come back, get unsaddled and then report to the Clerk of Scales if they wanted to claim foul. The Clerk of Scales would then call up the stewards and pit the jockey on so he could lodge and explain his objection.”

It would be several minutes before anyone was aware there was even going to be an objection, never mind the time taken to adjudicate the issue.

In the interest of keeping the card moving along the racing industry moved to a ‘fast official’ years ago.  Now, shortly after the horses are unsaddled, the race becomes official and the crowd moves along to the next race on the card.

“Now the procedure is the rider who wants to claim foul alleging there was interference heads to the nearest outrider after he pulls his mount up,” said Hooper. “The outrider uses the walkie talkie to let us know the objection.”

“As the riders come back to unsaddle,” he continued. “We call down to the clerk of scales and let him know who we need to speak to when they get back.”

In the interim, while the jocks make their way back to the unsaddling area, the stewards queue up the portion of the race to look at on their TV screens and begin to look at the incident in question.

They pull together all the information gathered – the statements and the race replay – and then render their decision.

“We really are trying to find reasons to not take a horse down,” said Hooper.  “Not trying to find ways to take a horse down.”

INQUIRIES

Inquiries are called by the stewards when they see something in the race that needs to be reviewed.  It may or may be accompanied with a jockey’s objection.

“Any of us can light the inquiry sign,” said Hooper.  “No one is dominant up here.  If someone sees something, they can turn on the sign.  What we’re trying to do is buy time.  We want to have time to go and take a look at the incident.  Was there an incident that appears to be a foul and did it affect the outcome of the race?”

The process is then relatively the same.  As the jockeys come back after the race, some are told that the stewards want to talk to them and they are interviewed about the race.  The stewards then decide if any change is warranted.

“We look at it four or five times from as many as two or even three camera angles,” Hooper continued.

In the state of Minnesota, the reason for disqualifying a horse boils down to one thing: did the incident cost the horse a better placing?  Generally, it has to be from a money placing (the first five spots for owners and betters).  Rarely will you see a horse disqualified from ninth to tenth.

In most states that is the standard, though it used to be in some states that a foul was a foul regardless of its degree or affect on the outcome of the race.  You could have a horse that was clearly not going to hit the board get affected by a late charging horse that ends up winning the race but subsequently being disqualified for affecting an also-ran.  That’s not to say that if a foul occurs at Canterbury but didn’t affect the finish that the rider is off the hook.  The rider can still be suspended for careless riding with the results of a race not being changed, but the basis of a disqualification rests upon the potential placing of the horse absent the event(s) in question.

“There are two hearings, essentially, that take place,” said Hooper.  “One that originates from the stewards’ stand to the winners’ circle after the race to adjudicate the claim of foul and then the next racing day we meet with the riders involved, go over the video with them, get their impression and then we can take action if we feel there was careless riding or we may not if we determine it was the horse’s fault.”

While much has been made of stewards’ deliberations and the potential for split decisions, non-unanimous verdicts are rare.

“Overwhelming majority of the time it’s unanimous,” said Steward David Smith. “I can only think of one or two times where the decision wasn’t unanimous in the four years that I’ve been here.”

Last season there were 667 races run at Canterbury Park.  Of all those races run there were a total of 48 inquiries (26) and objections (22) resulting in 12 disqualifications.  In 2017 over 648 races there were 57 inquiries (34) and objections (23) which resulted in 16 disqualifications. Only 2% of the races run over the past two seasons were altered by disqualifications and only about a quarter of all inquires and objections resulted in a change.

While owners and players may not agree with every decision made, hopefully this brings a little clarity to the decision-making process that occurs when an inquiry or objection occurs.  You can follow what the Stewards are watching and discussing each racing day through the Stewards Daily Report found on the Canterbury Park website.