You Be The Judge

The second parimutuel race for RUS was conducted at Hanover Raceway last night and was won by Radical Dreamer in 2:03 for rider Marit Valstad in the first leg of the Norway vs. Canada RUS series.  Once again the race was well-contested (due to video quality issues, I am not posting it but you can find it here).  Wagering was once again robust with a combined handle (WPS, Exactor and Triactor) of $2,726, the highest individual race handle of the evening, even exceeding the eliminations for the Dream of Glory stakes which were contested last night.

You Be the Judge
This edition of You Be the Judge uses the second elimination of the John Cashman Jr. Memorial last night at the Meadowlands and involves Sebastian K, in particular driver Ake Svandstedt's drive.

You can watch the entire race or if you prefer you can go to the 49 second mark and pick it up from there.  If you start at the :49 point, You will have see Creatine, after setting a :26 first quarter apply the brakes in an effort to get a breather.  Then you see Svanstedt look over at Mister Herbie once, then twice before deciding to make a move.  Well, you take a look.





After the second look, Svanstedt moves Sebastian K to the outside when Mister Herbie is already up to Svandstedt's helmet.  At first glance, it certainly looked too close to comfort.  The judges decided no place was required.  What do you think?


After watching the replay several times I noticed Tim Tetrick having applied the whip before Sebastian K made his move, had stopped the whip and re-applied it after Sebastian K was clear.  However, as the horse made his move, Tetrick didn't do anything to take up his horse.  Some people would say the fact Tetrick stopped using the whip should indicate interference.  However, at this point in the race, a driver should not be constantly using the whip so the lack of whip usage doesn't indicate taking Mister Herbie up.