CHRB Issues Recommendations After Juvenile Turf Snafu

A California Horse Racing Board investigation into the snafu before the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Del Mar resulted in no complaints being filed but led to five recommendations meant to prevent similar occurrences.

The Juvenile Turf was marred by a veterinarian's premature recommendation to scratch Godolphin's Modern Games , the 9-5 favorite at the time, after his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate, Albahr , reared and became entangled beneath the starting gate. The two horses were alongside each other.

Albahr ultimately was scratched, and Modern Games, uninjured, left via the front of the gate when it was opened by the gate crew. The report stated that "veterinarians on scene initially believed that Modern Games had forced his way through the starting gate, and they made the decision to scratch him."

CHRB executive director Scott Chaney said following the incident that one veterinarian called the stewards advising the scratch, even though no on-course exam had yet been conducted. 

When informed by gate personnel that Modern Games did not force the gate doors open, veterinarians inspected him and advised stewards that Modern Games was fit to compete. Having been scratched, his reentry in the Juvenile Turf allowed him to run for purse money only, per CHRB rules. 

"If a horse is removed from the wagering pool due to a totalizator error, or due to any other error, and neither the trainer nor the owner is at fault, the horse shall start in the race as a non-wagering interest for the purse only and shall be disregarded for pari-mutuel purposes," a CHRB regulation reads.

When the race was finally contested after a delay, Modern Games prevailed in the one-mile grass race, earning first place of $520,000 for his connections. But bettors who had included him in their wagers received no winnings. Winning payoffs returned for the horse that was second across the wire, Tiz the Bomb , as if Modern Games had not been in the race.

Though many wagers on Modern Games were refunded, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6 wagers that included Modern Games received the eventual favorite, Dakota Gold , in place of Modern Games unless a different horse was named as an alternate selection when the wager was placed. When Dakota Gold finished off the board, those tickets that automatically received the favorite became losers.

Boos reverberated in the grandstand as Modern Games returned to be unsaddled, with many in attendance upset by what unfolded.

It is a frequent procedure at many tracks for a bettor to get a post-time favorite in large, multi-leg bets when a horse is scratched.

The CHRB investigative report, conducted by supervising investigator Michael Barker and issued March 3, concluded that "the regulatory veterinarians' hurried recommendation to scratch Modern Games could potentially have been avoided if a protocol requiring one person on the veterinary staff and one person in the pari-mutuel department be in charge of scratches had been in place."

More veterinarians are onsite during the Breeders' Cup than for racing in California at other times of the year. 

Additionally, the investigation revealed that "it was clear that inconsistent radio communication (affected) the events that transpired. Various witnesses indicated that they made calls over the radio that were not heard or received by the intended recipients. At some points witnesses resorted to cell phone communication to ensure their messages were relayed."

The report continued: "CHRB executive director Scott Chaney declined to file complaints for two reasons: (1) The difficulty of proving a violation given that a condition precedent to a violation of this rule is that a horse actually broke through the gate; and (2) more importantly, animal welfare is of paramount importance in the CHRB's application of rules and creation of protocols."

Recommendations from the report include the following:

(1) There is one designated racing veterinarian and he or she is the only person who can recommend a scratch to the stewards and the only person who can communicate a scratch to the stewards.

(2) The tote company and the pari-mutuel department must each designate one person who can effectuate a scratch or purse money only designation by the stewards. Both must agree before either action can take place.

(3) A horse cannot be placed back into the mutuel pools after it has been scratched without approval of all three stewards.

(4) A pari-mutuel committee meeting should be held to consider changes to pari-mutuel regulations. Issues that may be considered include but are not limited to: (a) advisability of a purse-money-only designation and (b) requiring advance-deposit-wagering companies to follow the example of brick-and-mortar wagering facilities in California by providing bettors with the opportunity to name alternate selections for scratched horses in Pick "n" wagers involving four or more races.

(5) Associations, particularly on days when there are large crowds and competing bandwidth, must provide an adequate communication system for racing officials.