If a horse clips heels and a jockey falls during the running of a race, even when, as in the following case, both horse and rider walk away with no more than bumps and bruises, stewards are often called upon to adjudicate the outcome.
During Monday's fourth race at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., stewards made the call to disqualify the winner, Miss Nitap (7), for interference in mid-stretch after a claim of foul from the rider of the second-place finisher, K R Lucky Day (6). Miss Nitap was placed second, while K R Lucky Day was moved up to first.
The race chart is available here.
A head-on replay of the stretch run shows Mrs. Judy (5), inside K R Lucky Day at the eighth pole, darted across several paths to bump K R Lucky Day from the inside and impede the path of oncoming rival Birdie Call (8). Birdie Call subsequently clipped heels and stumbled, losing rider Daniel Flores in the process. The incident looks ugly on video, but both Birdie Call and Flores walked off the track under their own power. Flores took off the rest of his mounts for the day, complaining of minor pain in his left arm and shoulder.
Stewards may yet impose sanctions on the rider of Mrs. Judy, Gerard Melancon, as well as the rider of Miss Nitap, Thomas Pompell, but those sanctions will not affect bettors whose wagering dollars rode on the outcome of this race.
Did the Delta Downs stewards make the right call here? You be the judge!
The post You Be The Judge: Did Delta Stewards Make The Right Call? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
