This makes me (once again) question whether or not inquiry's should affect pari-mutuel payoffs. There simply is no consistency in the rulings from track2track or even day2day.
This is a perfect example, in the Apple Blossom, yes there was a definite foul, but it did not affect the order of finish, the horse is left up.
In the Santa Anita Derby, Rock Hard Ten drifts in an impedes a horse he was running away from, again, a foul, but again it in no way affected the order of finish. In this case the horse was DQ'd.
If either of the horses bothered in these 2 races wound up finishing 4th (instead of 3rd) I could understand disqualifications keeping the "affect the horse's chance at a better placing" part of the rules in mind.
If the aforementioned rule where not in place, I could understand both horses being DQ'd.
Stewards make poor decisions all the time, and trainers, owners and jockeys have the right to appeal these decisions.
However, bettors, who as a whole are impacted financially even more than the connections, have no right to appeal.
And we wonder why this game has difficulty competing with casinos.