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Judging Question

#1 · October 4, 2026, 1:09 AM

@bgtolex25, this one is for you. Or, anyone else for that matter.

Norm,

In the THE DAYTON PACING DERBY GRAND CIRCUIT STAKE tonight at Dayton Raceway, Best Chip raced his heart out and finished second at 6-1, if memory serves me correctly. Around the half, I noticed the broken equipment and thought that this horse was racing the race of his life. A few minutes after the race was over, the Inquiry sign went up. Apparently, the broken equipment occurred before the race.

I'm thinking there's no way they could take this horse down. The Judges didn't do that, but what they did made no sense to me. They refunded ALL of the tickets involving him. I would have been SO pissed if I had had the exacta as shown (it was paying a LOT), or if I played WP or WPS.

Thankfully for the ownership group, the refund doesn't affect the purse, as he will get the second-place check.

Do you think the Judges made the right decision?

I don't know why the USTA chart above doesn't show a place price for Women Layer. I don't recall if there was one or not.

Fact Check: I went to Xpressbet, and there was, in fact, a place payout for Women Layer:

USTA really messed up that chart, as they show the SHOW price on Women Layer as what the PLACE price really was. Or was it? Can't trust anyone anymore. Norm, we would trust you implicitly!

BTW: "Women Layer". What a very strange name for a colt!

#2 · October 4, 2026, 4:23 AM

First, I don’t understand it either on the refund. Thinking about it, I can definitely see a refund if he finished out of the money. I want to ask if a partial refund for “win” tickets only is possible.

I will ask my contacts down here. It will be next week, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are hesitant to make a definitive comment concerning another judge’s decision. But I promise to share what I find out.

You should reach out to the Dayton judges. They don’t have an open invitation like Harrah’s Philly, but it would be interesting to hear about their response.

https://www.pennentertainment.com/hollywood-dayton/visit-us

#3 · October 4, 2026, 4:37 AM

By the way, the Atomix Hanover race at The Meadows, where he finished 2nd to the horse in the passing lane and pylons were an issue…

The Presiding Judge taught much of the course that I am in the middle of testing for. I’m not talking about it until my tests are graded. And I am not feeling good about today’s medical portion of the test. I should have studied the material more in advance and maybe had some professional training in the laboratory testing field😜

Lonnie has reacted to this post.

#4 · October 4, 2026, 2:29 PM

Quote from Bgtolex25 on October 4, 2026, 4:23 AM

First, I don’t understand it either on the refund. Thinking about it, I can definitely see a refund if he finished out of the money. I want to ask if a partial refund for “win” tickets only is possible.

I will ask my contacts down here. It will be next week, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are hesitant to make a definitive comment concerning another judge’s decision. But I promise to share what I find out.

You should reach out to the Dayton judges. They don’t have an open invitation like Harrah’s Philly, but it would be interesting to hear about their response.

https://www.pennentertainment.com/hollywood-dayton/visit-us

Thank you, @bgtolex25. I will reach out to them and see if they reply.

#5 · October 4, 2026, 2:30 PM

Quote from Bgtolex25 on October 4, 2026, 4:37 AM

By the way, the Atomix Hanover race at The Meadows, where he finished 2nd to the horse in the passing lane and pylons were an issue…

The Presiding Judge taught much of the course that I am in the middle of testing for. I’m not talking about it until my tests are graded. And I am not feeling good about today’s medical portion of the test. I should have studied the material more in advance and maybe had some professional training in the laboratory testing field

You got this! We know how focused you are on things that are dear to you.

#6 · October 6, 2026, 4:39 PM

@lonnie

On Sunday one of my classmates was feeling your pain and went on a rant. Our test moderator and USTA official just listened and said very little, just as we were told to act if someone wanted to complain about another official.

I did ask another classmate, who is an associate judge up in the B tracks in Canada, about what he thought of the issue.

He said that they can’t just refund the “win” tickets, as I had wondered.
He agreed with the Dayton judges. He said that if the horse had won, then they would have ruled that he “persevered” thru the equipment break and not taken action.

Dollars to donuts that when I ask the KY judges, they will respond just like the USTA official. Keep us posted if you hear from Dayton.

#7 · October 6, 2026, 5:08 PM

@bgtolex25, thank Norm,

I wrote them per their website, but I don't think it goes to the judges unless they forward it. Either way, I haven't heard anything yet. Not even an acknowledgement that they received it.

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