2016 Parx Oaks chart pulled for further review by Equibase
Equibase, which collects and maintains racing’s past-performance data, has pulled the chart of the 2016 Parx Oaks from its database to “review the implications” of an unprecedented ruling by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission awarding the win to two horses in the race.
The decision to pull the chart is as unusual as the ruling by the commission, which was issued two weeks ago. Under the ruling, Miss Inclusive, who was first across the wire, was declared to be a co-winner of the race with the second-place finisher, Eighth Wonder, even though Miss Inclusive was ruled ineligible for purse money due to a trace positive of the regulated medication clenbuterol.
In effect, the ruling declared that there was a dead heat for first in the race, which was held more than a year ago, on May 7 last year, at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. Winners of stakes races in the U.S. are credited with so-called “black type,” a reference to formatting in sales catalogs. The designation can have a significant impact on the breeding value of a horse.
“This is a unique situation,” said Jason Wilson, the president of Equibase, in a prepared statement released late Friday afternoon.
The Pennsylvania ruling two weeks ago was a settlement between the commission and the connections of Miss Inclusive, who is trained by John Servis and is co-owned by Servis and Main Line Racing Stable. Servis was initially suspended for 15 days for the positive and Miss Inclusive was disqualified from the $100,000 race.
However, Servis appealed the ruling, contending that the concentration of clenbuterol in Miss Inclusive’s post-race sample was below the state’s threshold level. The settlement ruling appeared to acknowledge that argument, stating that the amendments were due to the “articulated mitigating circumstances” of the case.
The ruling also stated that Miss Inclusive and Eighth Wonder should be considered co-winners of the race “for the purpose of both maintaining each horse’s racing record and determining each horse’s eligibility to enter in future races.”
The charts of Equibase races are used to populate its databases, and those databases are used to generate past-performance data as well as assist racing offices in filling their races. In the statement, Wilson did not indicate a direction Equibase was considering for any amendments to the chart.
“We view the integrity of the results and the data, and the clarity with which we can present it, to be paramount in this regard,” Wilson said. “We will inform the industry when a final determination about the official Equibase chart has been made.”