As anyone who’s been paying attention to my Pick Four posts knows, I’ve had my share of bad beats. I’ve lost Pick Fours due to photo finishes; I lost a Pick Four due to a DQ; I once even missed out on cashing in on a Pick Four play because I decided to cancel my tickets based upon the weather. But, thank God, I’ve never had a bad beat like many people playing Belmont Park suffered Sunday.
Race 10 at Belmont Park Sunday was won by Mister Dooley, with Luis Saez aboard. But if you had Mister Dooley on your Pick Four or Pick Six tickets, you lost.
Briefly, what happened was this: prior to the start of the race, during warmups, Mister Dooley lost a shoe, which was discovered just prior to Post Time as the horses were entering the starting gate. NYRA officials decided to scratch Mister Dooley and let him run for purse money only; and then, without delay, finished loading the gate and began the race.
Obviously, this was not an optimal decision. The other horses could have been backed out of the gate, Mister Dooley could have been re-shod, and then all horses re-loaded, with the race being run with a minor delay. Indeed, ironically enough, this is exactly what happened later in the day at Santa Anita. Prior to the running of Race 8 - The John Henry Turf Championship it was noticed as the horses were entering the gate that one of the entrants, Code of Conduct, had lost a shoe during warmups. The horses were backed out of the gate, Code of Conduct was re-shod, and then the race was run after a slight delay. Now, I realize that the good people of Southern California have the reputation of being more laid back and patient than your typical New Yorker, but there’s just no good reason why this couldn’t have also been done at Belmont Park.
Granted, if you were playing the Win/Place/Show pools or the late Double starting with Race 10 at Belmont Park and they announce Mister Dooley is scratched right before the race begins, you at least get a refund for your wagers. Yeah, it sucks to see the horse you liked cross the finish line first and not make a nickel’s worth of profit on it, but at least you haven’t lost anything; all the money you bet is refunded. And if you had Mister Dooley in the Double that ended with Race 10, at least you collect on the consolation Double (provided, of course, that you got the first half right). Likewise with the Pick Three; it’s not the payoff you truly deserve, but at least you have more money in your pocket after the race is over than you did before it began.
But such is not the case with the Pick Four or the Pick Six. Race 10 was the penultimate race at Belmont Sunday, making it the third leg in the Pick Four and the fifth leg of the Pick Six. So all bets in those pools were in several races ago; there’s no changing those plays, even if NYRA hadn’t started Race 10 virtually simultaneously with the announcement that Mister Dooley was scratched. So under the rules of the Pick Four and Pick Six, once Mister Dooley was scratched, bettors who had him on their Pick Four and Pick Six tickets were given the Post Time Favorite in his place; which turned out to be Hudson Miracle, who finished ninth, thirteen and a half lengths behind the winner, Mister Dooley.
My heart goes out to those who had Mister Dooley in their Pick Four and Pick Six plays. Hopefully NYRA never does anything so foolish again.
Peace and Love,
Jimbo
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