Horse Racing : They Didn’t Collect on These Items

A Miami television station tried hard Tuesday night to bring some cheer into the lives of the bettors who held tickets on Chief’s Crown in the Flamingo Stakes.

“Your tickets are probably worth more as collectors’ items than they would be if you cashed them,” an announcer said.

Very unlikely.

Somebody who had bet $100 to win on Chief’s Crown March 30 at Hialeah would have collected $230 if the colt hadn’t been disqualified by the stewards. Try getting that much from a collector. The market for famous worthless mutuel tickets has never been that strong.

Fans bet more than $70,000 to win on Chief’s Crown. They had the winner when the horses crossed the wire, and they had the winner again Tuesday when the Florida racing commission overruled the Hialeah stewards and reinstated Chief’s Crown.

But in between, when it counted, Proud Truth, the second-place finisher, had been ruled the winner, and Hialeah was forced to pay off on him.

So owner Andrew Rosen and family have their $150,000 for Chief’s Crown’s victory, but the bettors who risked $70,000 on the horse are out of luck.

“That’s one of the sidetracks of the industry,” said Mike Mackey, Hialeah’s general manager. “Some got lucky, some were unlucky. We had a lot of grumblers calling Tuesday, but the complaints have slackened. The real loud ones I referred to the state parimutuel wagering department. Nobody has said they would be suing.”

Mackey was the man who brought the Rosens, John Galbreath and Henryk de Kwiatkowski together, persuading them to abide by a decision that a panel of former stewards would make after reviewing the original decision by the Hialeah stewards.

Galbreath owns Proud Truth, and De Kwiatkowski owns Stephan’s Odyssey, who he felt had been fouled by Proud Truth before finishing third. De Kwiatkowski filed the first appeal, prompting the Rosens to file on their own behalf. The review panel didn’t change the third-place finish of Stephan’s Odyssey.

“They were fortunate that men like Mr. Galbreath and John Veitch (Galbreath’s trainer) were involved,” said Keene Daingerfield, the Kentucky steward who is considered the dean of racing officials. “Mr. Galbreath is one of the few sportsmen left. Many others would have gone to court over this race.”

Daingerfield had been asked to join the review panel, as had Johnny Rotz, the former jockey who used to be a steward in New York. Both men declined.

“Keene Daingerfield would have gotten involved in that right after he had his lobotomy,” said Mike Barry, a Louisville wit.

Many knowledgeable racing observers, after watching several videotaped angles of the Flamingo stretch run, believed that the Hialeah stewards had erred, so the decision this week was probably the correct one.

But Daingerfield and other veteran racing officials wondered about the sagacity of overruling stewards on a judgment call--whether Chief’s Crown did drift far enough in the final 30 yards of the race to interfere with Proud Truth.

“I haven’t seen the films of the race, but I’ve talked to a lot of respected people who have,” Daingerfield said. “What they seem to be saying is that the Hialeah stewards could have disqualified Chief’s Crown, but they didn’t have to.”

In Kentucky and New York, to name two states, racing rules don’t permit a stewards’ disqualification to be overruled.

“In Kentucky, it’s just like in baseball,” Daingerfield said. “When an umpire calls a runner safe or out, or calls a ball or strike on a batter, that’s it. When stewards disqualify a horse for interference here, nobody can change it. Maybe that’s not legal, but we’ve gotten along with that rule with no problems.”

The basic difference between horse racing and team sports is that racing relies heavily on videotape replays in reaching decisions. Major league baseball and the National Football League have considered using replays but have not done it yet.

Stewards’ disqualifications in California may be appealed to the California Horse Racing Board. Daingerfield, 74, said he could not recall another stewards’ decision anywhere in a major race ever being overturned.

“In a way, I was shocked that they’d change what the stewards ruled in the Flamingo,” said Pete Pedersen, a steward at Santa Anita. “I have sympathy for the Hialeah stewards--they were in a tough spot. I hope it doesn’t start a trend. We can make mistakes and we should be subject to review. We shouldn’t be above that. But for a judgment call, I have great concern about the precedent that the Flamingo might set.”

Two of the three stewards at Hialeah are paid by the track. All three are licensed by the state, which also pays the third steward.

John Brunetti, the president of Hialeah, ran a colt in the Flamingo, as did Galbreath, a member of the track’s board of directors. There’s something wrong about stewards on the track’s payroll making decisions involving horses owned by track management.

There is also something wrong about Devil’s Bag, the beaten heavy favorite in last year’s Flamingo, not being tested after that race for illegal medications.

Hialeah’s stewards are honorable people, and there’s no reason to suggest that Devil’s Bag’s loss was chemically caused, but the betting public deserves better.

In California, some stewards were on track payrolls until shortly after the 1975 Santa Anita Handicap. That race was won by Marje Everett’s Stardust Mel, after a stewards’ inquiry into possible interference in the stretch. Some of those same stewards were to be working later in the year at Hollywood Park, where Everett is chief operating officer, and now all of the California stewards are paid by the state.

Florida’s reasons for not testing Devil’s Bag don’t wash. Bob Rosenberg, director of the wagering division, said greyhound racing drains the budget and prevents the state from testing as many horses as it would like.

Walter Blum, the state steward, said: “Devil’s Bag didn’t look like a drugged horse.”

When Eddie Maple, riding Stephan’s Odyssey in the Flamingo, would not claim a foul against Proud Truth, owner Henryk de Kwiatkowski said: “Eddie Maple won’t be riding my horse in the Kentucky Derby.”

Had Florida officials moved Stephan’s Odyssey up from his third-place finish after the hearing this week, trainer Woody Stephens was hoping he would be able to soften De Kwiatkowski’s stand. But Stephan’s Odyssey was left in third place, and now Maple won’t even be riding the colt in Tuesday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

Laffit Pincay will be. Pincay won the 1982 Belmont Stakes for De Kwiatkowski and Stephens with Conquistador Cielo, and he’s won the last two Belmonts, with Caveat and Swale, and last year’s Kentucky Derby, with Swale, for Stephens.

Pincay said after riding Skywalker to victory in the Santa Anita Derby that he thought Rhoman Rule would be the horse to beat in the Kentucky Derby. Rhoman Rule, ridden by Jacinto Vasquez, is scheduled to run in the Wood Memorial April 20 at Aqueduct.

Racing Notes Folk Art, ridden by Laffit Pincay, stumbled at the start but still won Wednesday’s Beaumont Purse at Keeneland by four lengths and will probably run next in the Ashland Stakes April 20. Also due to go in the Ashland is Fran’s Valentine, who won the Santa Susana Stakes at Santa Anita in her last start. In winning Wednesday, Folk Art showed that the fetlock injury she suffered the other day was minor. A bale of hay was dropped from a loft near her stall and made a loud noise when it hit the ground. The 3-year-old filly was spooked by it and ran through the protective webbing at the front of the stall.

Precisionist, who swept the Strub series at Santa Anita, will probably be entered today in Saturday’s $200,000 San Bernardino Handicap, but trainer Ross Fenstermaker isn’t sure he will run. “Mr. (Fred) Hooper will make the decision,” Fenstermaker said. Precisionist has been assigned 127 pounds, which would make the 4-year-old colt the high weight by seven pounds over other probable starters.