New Mexico racing officials issue apology after horse was erroneously disqualified

A horse racing official in New Mexico has issued an apology to gamblers after a horse was erroneously disqualified from second to fourth place on March 3 when stewards at the Sunland Park racetrack mistakenly reviewed film from a different race.

A Separate Star, a Quarter Horse owned by Raul Saucedo and ridden by Omar Iturralde, was beaten by a neck in a 400-yard race last week before stewards lit the inquiry, according to the Paulick Report. 

After a short deliberation, A Separate Star was disqualified for interference, dropping the horse from second to fourth place.

But no interference was visible during the race and gamblers immediately called out officials on social media.

The explanation may have been revealed by an unidentified Sunland Park horseperson, who told the Paulick Report: ‘Word around here is they watched the wrong replay.’

Stewards reportedly reviewed wrong race footage where horse from same stall did interfere

Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, did not confirm that allegation, but did tell the Paulick Report that a mistake occurred.

‘We want to apologize to the people who put their hard-earned money on this race,’ Trejo told the Paulick Report. 

‘These are good stewards and I applaud them for being honest and admitting to the error immediately after it happened. They took the blame from the get-go. Despite that, we do owe an apology to the wagering public that bet on this race.’

Further confusing gamblers was the fact that the correct replay was shown on closed-circuit monitors throughout the track after the race, showing that no discernible interference occurred.

A new inquiry will be held on March 9, when A Separate Star is expected to be reinstated as the second-place finisher and the owner, Saucedo, will be given an additional $5,500 in purse money.

Unfortunately for gamblers, those who wagered on A Separate Star to place or show will not be compensated, according to the Paulick Report, which reports that roughly $36,000 was bet on the race.