The Harness Racing world was abuzz late into the night on Saturday (July 17) and the banter was still going strong well into the next week as everyone seemed to have an opinion on the Meadowlands Pace disqualification of Charlie May. While the Judges must make a decision on the clock and stick to it, on the other side of the glass us Sunday morning quarterbacks are afforded the time to think it through and perhaps alter our decision. Huddled in the winner's circle under an umbrella I watched the Judges review of the incident. My initial thoughts were that Southwind Gendry took a bad step and stopped momentarily causing driver Brett Miller, who was following his cover with Charlie May, to pull up sharply and cause a chain reaction which wiped out nearly half the field. In my head both Southwind Gendry and Charlie May would be disqualified for interference. Interestingly enough, if the Judges were considering whether Southwind Gendry was at fault they never indicated that to the public by "blinking" his number on the toteboard. As everyone now knows, Southwind Gendry was judged not to have interfered with Charlie May, who was disqualified from first and placed ninth for impeding three horses. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Still confused by the outcome, as were a number of people I spoke and texted with, I called on a Hall of Famer for their opinion and was enlightened somewhat by the conviction they showed in Brett Miller being at fault. The reasoning was that Miller, as evidenced by the fact that he lost momentum while on a break and came back to win the race, was sitting on a ton of horse with Charlie May and should've been prepared to make his move instantaneously in the event of his escort tiring or showing signs of weakness. Basically he was keeping Charlie May too close to Southwind Gendry, virtually in line with his wheel from the visual evidence, and almost inviting trouble. The conversation opened my mind to other possibilities, but it wasn't until I got home the next morning and watched the race a number of times, including in slow motion, that my mind switched gears completely. For my money, a disqualification requires clear visible evidence and the only clear-cut images were that of Charlie May impeding a number of horses. Watch it in slow motion . . . Brett Miller had Charlie May half-out quite a few strides before the incident occurred. He was waiting for the perfect moment to unleash his horse when it appeared Charlie May stepped on the wheel of Yannick Gingras' (Southwind Gendry) bike. There are two possibilities: 1) When Southwind Gendry bobbled he caused interference to Charlie May. 2) Charlie May simply stepped on the wheel of Southwind Gendry or ran into him irrespective of the former's troubles. The fact is there was absolutely no video evidence to prove either theory with 100% certainty. We often hear the words "it's a game of inches" and it certainly proved true here. From the visual evidence, if Brett Miller moved Charlie May a bit earlier or if he kept him directly behind cover, the incident likely wouldn't have happened. It's a shame that Charlie May was disqualified. It would've been a great story to see this Ohio-bred for an Ohio-based trainer and owned/bred by Don Tiger, who is appealing the disqualification, win the Meadowlands Pace. We also have to feel badly for the connections of American Courage, Rockyroad Hanover and Abuckabett Hanover, all of which were never provided a fair opportunity to win the race. With that said, while Charlie May won't be listed in the record books as the winner and his connections will not see a purse check, he was the best horse in the race. All of the talk about one of the horses following him sweeping to the lead to win is a reach in my book. Yes, they all appeared to have more in the tank, but Charlie May lost valuable ground and still won the race. It would've taken a monumental effort by any horse following him to win. The one saving grace is that the Meadowlands Pace was only the second major race on a long calendar of events. These same horses will have the opportunity to shine in the Adios, Cane Pace, Milstein, North America Cup, Little Brown Jug, Tattersalls, Breeders Crown and many more races as the year moves along. For many of them, hopefully the Meadowlands Pace won't define their year and smoother sailing and better fortune is in their futures. Meadowlands Pace Night News & Notes While I agree with the Judges in the Meadowlands Pace I must stand against them in their race 2 disqualification the same night of Take All Comers. Between the first and second calls, Take All Comers was challenging for the lead when driver David Miller saw an opening in the pocket as Yannick Gingras gapped with Brookview Bolt. Miller grabbed his horse in an attempt to secure that prime spot as Gingras quickly tried to close the space. Visually it appeared that Miller had ample room and was only denied the spot because Gingras' horse gained too much momentum and couldn't be restrained in time. This is one of those incidents which never would've happened in an overnight race because Miller would've easily been allowed to tuck in the pocket. The visual evidence (right) shows Miller had clearance and every right to pylon position. Everyone will have a favorite moment from Meadowlands Pace Night and one of mine did not involve the on-track action. I was chatting with Jeff Gural as he sat in the grandstand taking in the racing when a gentleman came up to him to say hello. He introduced himself as an attorney from Illinois and horse owner who was a huge fan of Mr. Gural. They talked for a minute as I took their picture and then the man said thank you and walked away. Jeff turned around to return to his seat and lo and behold two fans snuck in behind him to take his spot. I joked, "That was priceless," he responded, "It was a good seat, too." New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy couldn't have been more gracious in his visit to The Meadowlands last Saturday. He took pictures with many fans and walked through Trotters visiting virtually every table, shaking hands and posing for multiple photos. Even I got a handshake, making him the third Governor I've run into at the track. Pretty sure I met both Richard Codey and Jon Corzine in the elevator at the old Meadowlands grandstand. I once saw Chris Christie across the street at Met Life Stadium but apparently he couldn't find his way to the other side of the sports complex. After Mother Nature put one over on the track crew at The Meadowlands during the Pace eliminations, they were very much prepared on Pace Night. While listed as "good" and "sloppy" at times, the track was always playing fast and the times showed it. Along those lines, apparently it is impossible to win a major trotting race without stopping the timer in the 1:50 range. Dancinginthedark M won a Dancer division in 1:50 1/5, Manchego won in 1:49 4/5, Beads trotted the mile in 1:50 4/5 in the Hambletonian Maturity and Sonofamistery won his Dancer in 1:50 2/5. Keeping in mind that the Hambletonian record is 1:50 1/5 and that horses no longer have to race two heats in one day, how far are we from seeing the first sub 1:50 Hambletonian? Could it happen on August 7? Sonofamistery, who stayed flat the entire mile for just the first time in his last three starts, could finally be coming around according to driver Brian Sears. "The horse has a couple of issues that Marcus [Melander, trainer] has been working on. He is also maturing and getting a little better head about himself," said Sears. Melander added, "Today [July 17] we finally got the right shoeing on him and everything right." Dancinginthedark M's driver Tim Tetrick tossed aside any notion that his charge was steppy on the final turn. "I was just taking my time. They were going enough and I figured why try to beat them in the turn when I can beat them late," said Tetrick. "He's got a big motor. His lungs are strong and right now he is fun to sit behind." Outside of the Meadowlands Pace, there were a number of horses which simply had poor racing luck on the card: Lyons Sentinel was stacked up fourth over and did everything she could to finish fourth. After getting wiped out in the Graduate final, Ruthless Hanover was parked every step and went a brutal mile while challenging the leader hard. That's some bad luck in consecutive big-money starts. Ready For Moni was forced to race three-wide most of the first turn and didn't clear the lead until well past the half yet still held for third in the Hambletonian Maturity. In the same race, Next Level Stuff was stuck in a stretch traffic jam as a breaking horse blocked her course. Eventually it cleared up and she finished very well. In the second division of the William Haughton Memorial, Bllack Hole was last at the head of the stretch and no horse was moving faster in the final sixteenth of the mile. That's a wrap for the Meadowlands Pace. Time to move on to another busy weekend of stakes action. May the best horses win!