Vino Rosso’s camp cries foul
The stretch run of the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park was a battle between two top contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in early November. But in the end it was Code of Honor who was elevated to first place by the stewards who disqualified Vino Rosso for drifting out and making contact with Code of Honor in a photo finish at the wire.
Jockey John Velazquez lodged a claim of foul against jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., the rider of Vino Rosso. After some deliberation the order of finish was reversed and Code of Honor is on his way to the Breeders’ Cup Classic and a fee-free spot in the starting gate on November 2 at Santa Anita.
UPDATE: Horseracingnation.com is reporting that the connections of Vino Rosso are crying sour grapes over the stewards decision.
Horse racing fans on either side of the debate are embattled in a war of words in the comment section on the story of the DQ at HorseRacingNation.com where the current count of comments stands at 370.
Ultimately the stewards decision is final and will remain that way regardless of any appeal by Vino Rosso’s camp. But in viewing the race live and multiple times at different angles, there wasn’t enough of a disruption of the “action” of Code of Honor to warrant a DQ of Vino Rosso who was our top choice in the Gold Cup.
What do you think?
