Yesterday and today: May 11 racing highlights

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: STRANGE DAY AT PARX

It was one strange day at Parx Racing yesterday.

It began in the fourth race when Change of Seasons, a horse that had been listed as scratched, not only ran in the race — but also won.  The James Noble trainee posted a 1 3/4 length victory at odds of 10.70-1.

According to Equibase: “The Equibase site, under scratches and changes, lists Change of Seasons as being scratched at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The site then notes that Change of Seasons ‘will run,’ in a change listed at 2:42 p.m. The race went off at 2:31 p.m. with Change of Seasons breaking from post 2.”

That release also notes that two major online wagering sites had the same error.

In that same race, one horse, Midnight Games, unseated his rider in the post parade, ran off, and was scratched, while another, Blitzensmajikreign, injured himself in the gate and also was scratched.  All of that led to a 10-minute delay in the post time.

Two races later, Seven Storms injured himself in the starting gate and was scratched.  According to the official chart: “The horses left the starting gate 23 minutes past scheduled post time.”

Two races later, the delay was up to 24 minutes, and the ninth and final race went off 25 minutes after scheduled post.

All told, that was one scratched winner, three post parade/gate scratches, and 25 minutes worth of delays.