Who Holds the Stewards Accountable?

[Wandering Eyes]

The New York Gaming Commission steward at Saratoga, Braulio Baeza Jr., rules with an iron first. Make any mistake, no matter how small, inadvertent or innocent, and you will be penalized, fined as much as $4,000. Just ask trainer Gary Contessa, clocker Richie Glazer, former senior vice president of racing operations Frank Gabriel Jr., racing secretary Keith Doleshel and Assistant Racing Secretary Rob MacLennan. Each one made what amounted to an innocent and minor mistake and they paid a hefty price.

There are, of course, three stewards. But the Gaming Commission steward is the only one who can hand down suspensions or fines. Baeza is allowed to seek the opinion of the other two stewards, but the final decision is left up to him and him only.

Common sense rarely seems to enter into the equation. Things happen, people make mistakes and when that happens you don't need to always throw the book at them. For instance, Contessa was fined $4,000 in 2024 after he claimed a horse at Saratoga and ran it back at Delaware Park 45 days later. He did not know that the rule, which had been that you had to wait 30 days to run a claimed horse outside of New York, had just been changed. He even checked the NYRA website, which had not been updated and still listed the old rule. Maybe some sort of punishment was appropriate, like a fine of $500, but certainly not $4,000. Contessa said that Baeza told him “We give fines that count now.” Baeza rules with a heavy hand.

So what happens when the stewards make a mistake?

It happened again Saturday at Saratoga when the last race on the card was run at the wrong distance. The race was carded at a mile-and-an-eighth on the turf but was accidently run at a mile-and-sixteenth. This wasn't the first time it had happened. A similar issue occurred at Saratoga in 2018, when the fifth race on the Aug. 8 card that year was run at a mile-and-an-eighth instead of a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

On Sunday, NYRA issued a statement on the race run at the wrong distance. It read: “Saturday's final race at Saratoga Race Course [Race 12], which was scheduled and carded at 1 1/8-miles on the Mellon Turf Course, was instead contested at 1 1/16-miles due to an incorrect gate placement that was confirmed after the race was made official.

“On Saturday, the temporary rail was set at 18 feet on the Mellon Turf Course which dictates an alternate starting location to accommodate for the change in distance around the circumference of the inner rail of the track. However, the gate was incorrectly placed at the starting location for a 1 1/16-mile race.

“Following this incident, staff from The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) met with the Stewards and determined that human error caused the gate to be placed in the incorrect position. NYRA has implemented measures to ensure that racing officials and Stewards proactively acknowledge and verify the correct gate placement prior to the start of every race.

“The Stewards are responsible for overseeing the integrity of every race here on the NYRA circuit,” said NYRA Steward Victor Escobar. “We would like to apologize to the betting public, fans and racing participants for failing to meet those standards on Saturday.”

It's not just running races at the wrong distance.

This year's GII Hall of Fame S. at Saratoga may go down as the most controversial race of the meet. Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) was first past the wire, but was disqualified for allegedly bothering two horses on the first turn. Just about everyone, except for the three stewards, agreed that the horse never should have come down.

Then there was the infamous 2023 Great White Way S. fiasco in which the stewards apparently disqualified the wrong horse. Brick Ambush (Laoban), crossed the wire second in a division of the $500,000 stakes for New York-breds, but was disqualified and placed last. It was a roughly run race, but Brick Ambush, racing wide, clearly wasn't involved in the bumping.

To its credit, NYRA has taken steps to be more transparent. A “Stewards' Review” segment airs once a week on the NYRA feed. When it came to Zulu Kingdom, Escobar and Jockey Club steward Cody Watkins gave in-depth answers to Sterling's questions about the Hall of Fame S. and showed drone shots of the race. Serling asked all the right questions and expressed his opinion that it was a bad call. Baeza was conspicuously absent from the broadcast.

Acacia Clement also interviewed Escobar about the Zulu Kingdom DQ on the “Saratoga Live” broadcast on Fox.

But the question remains: Who's policing the policemen? Clearly, the answer is no one. Baeza should answer to the New York Gaming Commission, but no there has ever shown any concern about mistakes made by the stewards or even acknowledged that mistakes have been made. You wonder if the Gaming Commission is paying any attention. Baeza can't fine himself, though maybe he should.

It is, or should be, the responsibility of the stewards to make sure a race is run at the correct distance. With millions bet on races at Saratoga, this mistake was far more egregious than Contessa running a horse out of town before it was out of jail.

Enough already. Executives from the NYRA, the Jockey Club and, particularly the Gaming Commission, need to sit down with the stewards, told that they are concerned about the number of mistakes they have made and Baeza's draconian punishments. They need to do a better job and, if not, changes need to be made in the stewards' booth.

 

Best of Luck to Tyler Conner

Jockey Tyler Conner, who was seriously injured in a July 24 race at Colonial Downs, took to social media to announce that he is mending but will not ride again. He explained that he broke his C1 vertebra, has a compression fracture of his T5 vertebra, and is recovering from central cord syndrome due to bruising his spinal cord.

“I was fully paralyzed for a small amount of time,” said the 31-year-old Conner on X. “Everything's kind of slowly coming back… everything feels like it's asleep, especially my hands. My left hand is basically useless at the moment.”

He should be commended for making a difficult and brave decision. He could have been killed in the spill and it is not yet clear whether or not he will fully recover. There are few things in life more dangerous than being a jockey and he decided he was done risking his life. It's amazing that more jockeys, after being seriously injured, don't make the same decision.

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