Via TD Thornton
Last Saturday’s GII runner-up Remsen S. owner of the Aqueduct at the Aqueduct filed an objection with the New York State Game Commission (NYSGC) over the manager’s disqualification of the winner. nose during that race following both an investigation and complaint of an athlete’s error regarding the track.
Dave Grening’s Daily race form first reported the news on Thursday. He quotes Jeff Drown, the owner of the person who finished in second place Zandon (Start up), who said that the actions of the victor Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and that pony’s rider, Irad Ortiz Jr., made him win.
“Certainly, the outcome is influenced by the way the race is organized,” said Drown DRF.
Mo Donegal skimmed the heels of the four ahead to exit the traffic at the top of the lane and was ready to plunge into the upper lane with an effort beyond Zandon and driver John Velazquez.
The two ponies took the eighth column in the lock jump, then Mo Donegal closed the gap between them under a right-handed stick work from Ortiz. But being pushed into tighter areas seemed to encourage Zandon, who fought back fiercely when the two collided and collided near power lines.
The caller of the Equibase chart described how Irad Ortiz Jr threw “repeatedly exaggerated left-handed crosses near the runner-up’s face” in an “attempt to intimidate” Zandon.
Ortiz said shortly after the December 4 win: “We fought a big race. “[Velazquez] riding his horse and I riding mine. It was a good race and we drew a little bit up front, but it was a beautiful race. ”
Velazquez said that Mo Donegal “got ahead of me and I just missed. He lay on top of me right in front of the rope and hit me very little.”
Drew Mollica, a New York-based attorney who specializes in racing-related cases and is representing Drown, told TDN that the very tight win rate is part of the assessment.
“My client’s position is without a doubt it was a foul. The facts speak for themselves. If Mo Donegal had won by eight goals, you could say [the actions of the winner and his jockey] does not affect the outcome of the race. But Zandon was beaten by an inch,” said Mollica.
Two other factors could come into play if the NYSGC chooses to consider it.
The first was that the day after Remsen, Ortiz was suspended for 30 days by Aqueduct managers for careless riding, primarily for his role in unlocking another rider in the December 3 race. But state manager Braulio Baeza Jr. talk to DRF On Sunday, part of that penalty also involved Ortiz’s riding in the Remsen area, “although the official ruling on Ortiz’s suspension has nothing to do with Remsen,” Grening wrote.
The second factor involved having two alternate managers working at the Aqueduct on Remsen day.
DRF reported that Baeza State manager and Jockey Club manager Jennifer Durenberger both failed to start Saturday’s races. “Stephen Pagano, a manager at Monmouth Park, filled out Durenberger. Carmine Donofrio, a longtime commission manager at New York Racing Association tracks who retired nearly eight years ago from that position, has filled Baeza,” Grening wrote.
When asked if alternative managers would affect his client’s appeal plans, Mollica said, “In New York, as you know, the ultimate arbiter of anything is someone. state management. But the problem here is that the horse was hit an inch. ”
