Ripped Off?
So … following the news that former NYRA officials have been indicted for reporting false jockey weights, racing fans and anyone who bet on a NYRA race in 2004 should be outraged, right? After all:
But I did a spot check of the results of the races specifically mentioned in the indictment, and here’s what I found:
| Date | Track | Race | Horse # | Odds | Finish |
| June 23 | Belmont | 7 | 1 | 48-1 | 5th |
| July 11 | Belmont | 3 | 10 | 14-1 | 3rd |
| July 17 | Belmont | 8 | 9 | 41-1 | 9th |
| August 16 | Saratoga | 1 | 11 | 52-1 | 9th |
| August 16 | Saratoga | 2 | 4 | 23-1 | 7th |
| August 30 | Saratoga | 6 | 6 | 24-1 | 12th |
| November 6 | Aqueduct | 9 | 4 | 11-1 | 3rd |
| November 7 | Aqueduct | 8 | 10 | 55-1 | 8th |
| November 12 | Aqueduct | 1 | 8 | 94-1 | 7th |
Bettors seemed to do a pretty good job of assessing the alleged affected horses’ odds, even without the overweight information. Could this be because weights aren’t all that relevant to most handicappers? This shouldn’t be taken as a defense of wrongdoing — but I am wondering if the attorney general’s office isn’t being a just a bit overzealous in its prosecution of this case.
More: Bill Finley reports in the New York Times that evidence was gathered using surveillance cameras in the jockey’s room and that in at least one stakes race, a horse carrying too much weight won: “According to the indictment, the scheme included 10 stakes races, including the Cigar Mile, run at Aqueduct. Santos won the $350,000 race aboard Lion Tamer, who was reportedly carrying 115 pounds with Santos aboard.”
About those extra pounds: The indictment alleges that jockeys rode anywhere from seven to 15 pounds overweight. That’s a lot. “It sounds a little far-fetched to me,” said retired rider Eddie Maple to Times-Union writer Tim Wilkin. “I rode at 116 (pounds), and you could tell if I put on 2 pounds. That’s a lot of weight in our game.”
