I'd be surprised if the stewards did not have a hand in this. The rule is a NYS Gaming Commission rule and is thus subject to the stewards' interpretation.

One problem is that "known to the public" is subject to a variety of interpretations. Given that the announcement was made only shortly before the close of betting, what do we do about players who are at other tracks, at simulcast centers, or have briefly left Living Room Downs to grab a beer? How long before the close of betting does an announcement have to be made at the track in order for most of the betting public to have heard about it and had time to react? I'm not a fan of the NYRA stewards, but this was not an easy situation.

The real question is what took so long to make the decision to take the remaining races off the turf. I had an LOL moment when I read someone's post about possibly moving the races to Finger Lakes, but there was also an element of truth in it. Given the Churchill Downs precedent, NYRA must have been worried about being forced to suspend racing (either on the turf or completely) and "round up the usual suspects" if any more problems occurred on Sunday.