Race With Incorrect Finish Goes Official at Keeneland

Rainy weather wasn't the only potential source of complaints on opening day of the Keeneland spring meet.

A race at the Lexington track went official with the wrong order of finish April 8 for a period of minutes after the fifth race, an allowance race on turf won by Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Healing . Though Keeneland posted the winner (No. 3) correctly on its tote board and television feeds, the second- and third-place runners—Red Hornet  (No. 9) and Rochambeau  (No. 8)—were posted in the opposite, incorrect order. The place and show horses finished three-quarters of a length apart.

The mistake affected place wagers, as well as multiple exotic payoffs, such as the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta.

Keeneland eventually posted a message on its track simulcast feed, noting its plans to correct the mistake.

"Any tickets already cashed with the incorrect running order will be honored," read a portion of the statement. "The race is being repriced and once repriced the new running order prices will be official."

Keeneland's television feed statement did not clarify what the amended payoffs would mean for bettors that wagered via advance-deposit wagering platforms, nor did it acknowledge that many tickets might have been tossed away, considered losers.

Keeneland later said advance-deposit wagering platform accounts "will be adjusted to reflect the correct pricing." 

Traditional mutuel tickets purchased at racetracks or simulcast centers could have been tossed away by some bettors, considered to be losers.

Placing judges at racetracks are responsible for determining the accurate order of finish before that information is distributed to the tote company and other racetrack entities. Mistakes occasionally occur such as one publicized incident at Kentucky Downs in September 2020. There, the wrong horse was initially posted as having won before the error was caught before the race was declared official.

The sixth race at Keeneland was delayed approximately 20 minutes as a result of the payoff snafu. Post times were revised for the rest of the card, as well.

A Keeneland release at 7:15 p.m. ET said that officials determined the error in the fifth race was due to a United Tote operator error.

"While safeguards to prevent this from happening are in place, additional measures are being taken to create further checks and balances," the Keeneland release said.