The Scoop

by Ed Meyer

posted on March 6, 2009 in General Discussion | 1 Comment >>

Long ago when I would attend the races with my dad, I would grab the section of The Daily Racing Form and look in the back for the official rulings. This was the place where the wrongdoings of the race world were record of the town crier.

You could find some of your favorite trainers, owners, and jockeys on this page.

This was a way that an ordinary person was kept in the loop of the official rulings of the stewards. They are the governing body of racing, and if you have ever been called before the “stews”, you would swear this was your adult trip to the principal’s office.

I would read the ordinary rulings that drew a warning or a small fine for an infraction of the state rules. But on occasion, you would find yourself reading some things that would leave your mouth hanging open.

As I write this, I remember some of the stuff that would catch your eye as not being the average infraction:  fighting in the jock’s parking lot, grooms partaking of illegal substances, track management misdoings, and once I read that a groom was banned from the track for a lewd act with an animal. Now that would send the town crier on the warpath.

This section of the DRF has fallen by the wayside over the years. I remember that a few of my friends made the pages of this publication, and the shame it brought. But daily racing jurisdictions are keeping track of anything that is out of bounds. For example, this can be found in Kentucky under the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC). Here is the site for you to keep up on doings in racing.

http://www.khrc.ky.gov/stewardsjudgesrulings/thoroughbred/