Santa Anita stewards defend Breeders’ Cup Classic call on Bayern win
Santa Anita stewards, Scott Chaney, Kim Ward and Tom Ward, explain their unanimous decision not to make any changes in the order of finish of Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Santa Anita’s autumn meeting ended on Sunday with its three stewards holding a news conference to defend their decision to let the result stand in Saturday’s controversial $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Bayern won by a nose over Toast Of New York, but it was the start of the 1 1/4-mile race that generated lots of opinions about whether Bayern should have been disqualified after veering left out of the gate and bumping race favorite Shared Belief.
Scott Chaney, representing the stewards, said they all agreed Bayern interfered with Shared Belief and nearby Moreno.
“Then we had to determine most specifically whether it happened at the point of the race, that is the start, where it cost No. 6 Shared Belief and/or No. 4 Moreno the opportunity at a better placing,” Chaney said.
After reviewing video and speaking to Bayern jockey Martin Garcia and Shared Belief rider Mike Smith, Chaney said the stewards were unanimous. “In our determination, it didn’t happen in the point of a race where it was reasonable to speculate that they didn’t finish in a position where they were reasonably expected to finish, which is the language of the rule.”
Shared Belief ended up fourth and Moreno was last in the field of 14. There also was a bumping incident involving Toast of New York and Shared Belief 150 yards after the start. The stewards determined that did not impact the finish.
On Sunday, after meeting with Garcia, the stewards decided to take no action against him.
The stewards did take action in the closing day $200,000 Goldikova Stakes, disqualifying the second- and fourth-place finishers for interference in the stretch of the mile turf race. The winner was Filimbi with jockey Joel Rosario.
Jockey Rafael Bejarano had the most wins at the autumn meeting, his 21st riding title at Southern California tracks. Bayern’s trainer, Bob Baffert, took the training title.
Thoroughbred racing moves to Del Mar on Friday for a 15-day meeting that will run through Nov. 30.
Twitter: @LATSondheimer
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