The tenth and final race at Saratoga today was just a cheap Maiden claimer on an otherwise typical Wednesday card. But it’s got the racing faithful talking- specifically about DQ’s or lack there of.

If you watched it you know what we’re referring to, if not find it online and have a look.

The Daily Racing Blog is of the opinion that the #1 should have come down- he didn’t. We move on.

But not without doing a little research. On the NYRA/Saratoga webpage we found a STEWARDS’ DECISIONS tab.

What follows is cut and pasted from that very page:

Welcome to the Stewards’ Corner, where you will find explanations of the decisions that our stewards make on race days.

Directly following any decision they make having to do with the official order of finish, including inquiries and objections, the stewards – one appointed by The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), one appointed by the New York State Gaming Commission, and one appointed by The Jockey Club (TJC) – provide an explanation of what happened and the reason for their decision.

Stewards’ inquiries are a two-step process.

The first is the decision that the stewards make regarding whether interference affected the outcome of the race. This decision is made in real time and may result in a disqualification if the stewards believe the interference altered the order of finish.

The second part of the inquiry happens the following race day during formal film review with the relevant riders. A rider may be fined or suspended if the stewards believe interference was the result of careless or reckless riding.

In that instance, a ruling is issued and the rider is given time to decide whether to appeal. Once that decision is made and the ruling is public, the ruling will be added to the Stewards Decision website.

So regarding race 10 at Saratoga this afternoon, we will (seemingly) never know how the stewards arrived at their resolution.

The last decision published on the stewards page from Saratoga was September 4th of last year.

There was a total of five published decisions from the entire meet last season.

Here comes another opinion; for the sake of transparency would it not behoove NYRA to publish ALL the stewards decisions (of inquiries) on the website?

Good, bad or indifferent, DRB feels the betting public (ya know, the lifeblood of the sport) deserves to know what goes on behind the shroud of secrecy.

What’s the downside? Unless NYRA has something to hide, throw back the curtain, show us how you operate.