BO, this is a good point and it really comes down to philosophy on what is a disqualifiable (hope that's a word!) offense.

If you really wanted to nitpick, I'm sure you could theoretically make at least 1 dq per race in every race on every day, but would that really be a great idea?

If the standard was zero tolerance and any brush or bump at any point in the race was an automatic dq, is that the judging we would want as bettors? 10 minute inquiry for every race to decide where to place every runner who brushed another runner?

There needs to be a judging standard and while maybe the op's example would be a dq in another life at another track at another time, this brush or whatever you want to call it wasn't enough to pass the dq standard that these judges have set.

The bigger problem would be is if a similar situation DOES result in a dq a month from now by these same judges.