Don't want to go on but some have missed the point in this entire incident which,imo,is solely about the stewards decision making capabilities, not the rules or jockey behavior.

1.This was a discretionary call by the stewards.The whip strike was unintentional according to the stewards and did not cause an automatic DQ.

2.The DQ was made because the stewards felt that MM would have maybe won had he not been struck by the whip.

3.A racing novice can see that there was virtually no chance that MM would have won that race as the incident unfolded.To suggest, in this case, that MM may have "come again" and won if not struck looks very remote after viewing the race carefully.At best this was a case of "insufficient" grounds for DQ as the final outcome of the race was not changed by the incident.

4.This discretionary call by these stewards shows lack of basic racing knowledge and calls into question their overall expertise to make decisions that can affect many people for millions of dollars.Such power should only be in the hands of persons with the highest skill levels in adjudicating the rules of racing.

5.Given the above, it seems far better that the powers that be take the discretion away from the stewards and make the DQ automatic for any whip strike, period.


At Aqueduct on Sat or Sun there was not one person who spoke of the incident and was not at a loss in understanding the stewards decision.


Mike