Stewards order Santa Anita race purse redistributed

CYPRESS, Calif. - The $71,510 purse of a Santa Anita race on June 24 has been ordered redistributed after the stewards ruled owner Nick Cafarchia was ineligible to run race winner My Italian Babbo because of a suspension announced the preceding day.

The suspension involved financial responsibilities.

The decision was announced Sunday. Stewards Grant Baker and Kim Sawyer voted to disqualify My Italian Babbo and redistribute the purse, while steward Scott Chaney voted against a disqualification.

The grounds for the decision were two California Horse Racing Board rules pertaining to an owner being ineligible to participate because of a suspended license, and that a horse can be disqualified on the basis of a valid protest.

The purse of the race has been redistributed to the second- through sixth-place finishers: Record Highs, Crown the Kitten, Unapologetic, Street Moxie, and Rye Patch.

Cafarchia, 78, was suspended on June 23 after failing to appear at a hearing regarding a claim of an unpaid bill filed by a local horse farm. Despite the suspension, My Italian Babbo was allowed to race when racing board staff and the stewards failed to notice Cafarchia had a runner entered on June 24. At the time, Sawyer described the oversight as “a perfect storm.”

Richard Baltas, who trains My Italian Babbo, said after My Italian Babbo’s win that Cafarchia was unaware that he had been suspended.

At the time, Baltas angrily defended his client who he said had “never had a financial issue and he’s been in the business for 25 years. I was told this slipped through the cracks,” Baltas said.

Cafarchia appeared before the stewards on June 25 to settle the financial complaint.

On June 30, two owners who had runners finish second or third filed complaints with the California Horse Racing Board, arguing My Italian Babbo should not have been allowed to start because of Cafarchia’s suspension.

A hearing on the case was held at Del Mar on Sept. 2. In the statement of decision that accompanied Sunday’s ruling, stewards Baker and Sawyer argued that since Cafarchia’s license was suspended on June 24 that My Italian Babbo should have not been allowed to start.

“The majority feels that if we do not uphold these rules (it is) poor precedent for future similar situations,” the statement read. “We also feel that allowing this horse's win to stand would undermine the credibility of the California Horse Racing Board’s licensing procedures.”

Chaney, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that the stewards had discretion in the matter and should not disqualify My Italian Babbo.

Chaney wrote that, while Cafarchia should have been aware of the financial hearing, he did immediately settle the claim with the horse farm. In addition, Chaney said My Italian Babbo did not gain an unfair advantage in the race and “won the race on its own ability and rewarding the horses that were unable to win the race constitutes unjust enrichment.”

Cafarchia has been ordered to forfeit the $43,680 first prize. My Italian Babbo, a 5-year-old gelding, has made two subsequent starts: winning the $147,000 California Dreamin’ Handicap at Del Mar in August and finishing second in an optional claimer at Santa Anita in October.