Sealy Hill DQ reversed; triple tiara is hers

Sealy Hill, disqualified from her first-place finish in the July 1 Bison City Stakes at Woodbine, has been reinstated as the winner following a day-long Ontario Racing Commission appeal hearing on Wednesday.

The decision makes Sealy Hill the first winner of the triple tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, which was inaugurated in 1999.

Sealy Hill, owned by Melnyk Racing Stable, had been demoted to third place in the $250,000 Bison City after the stewards ruled she had lugged in under jockey Patrick Husbands and caused Quiet Jungle to steady at the eighth pole.

Street Sounds was awarded the top prize, which was worth $150,000, and Quiet Jungle was elevated to second, worth $50,000. Third money was $27,500.

Husbands and Sealy Hill's trainer, Mark Casse, appealed the decision. After evidence was presented on Wednesday, the racing commission reversed the rulings of the stewards.

Sealy Hill won the opening leg of the triple tiara series, the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on June 10, and the finale, the Wonder Where over 1 1/4 miles on turf on July 28. With the additional $122,500 in Bison City purse money, she now has earned $778,022 this year.

The racing commission said it will release the reasons for the decision in writing at a future date.