 Is the Jockey's Claim of Foul a Thing of the Past?
In the past they would wait about 5 minutes or so to declare a race official so that any jockeys could launch a claim of foul if they felt there was something up in the race (I believe it also had something to do with weighing in - as horses could be disqualified if a jockey came in too heavy).
But nowadays races are declared official almost immediately. I was curious to see and the time from the first race ending at Mountaineer to the time it was declared official was 23 seconds. So there is absolutely no chance that a jockey can actually launch a claim of foul. I guess, therefore, the only inquiries in a race nowadays can be called by the stewards if they notice something. In fact you'll notice in many races that if a horse appears to have been interfered with the inquiry sign will go up while the race is going on.
I know why they started doing this - in surveys given to patrons asking what they disliked most about live racing, one of the main beefs quoted was wait times between when a race ends and when it is declared official. But still they have to give some time for a review of the race. I know in Britain and Australia they still generally wait several minutes before declaring the race official and inquiries can often take 1/2 an hour to decide.  | 
BETCRIS 
02-28-2006, 04:11 AM
