HOT SPRINGS — The Arkansas State Racing Commission voted 4-1 on Saturday morning to void a $5,000 claim made Feb. 10 by trainer Steve Asmussen on behalf of owner Mike Langford of Jonesboro, even though the claim didn’t meet the new Oaklawn Park criteria for invalidation.
The vote returned Big Son of a Gun, a 5-year-old Texas-bred gelding, to owner Richard Penn and trainer J.R. Caldwell.
Langford appealed to the commission after stewards, following new claiming guidelines, ruled the claim legal.
And the commission ruled that while Big Son of a Gun was able to walk off the track, the horse should have been removed by ambulance.
The method of removal was at issue since a policy Oaklawn implemented this year allows claimants one hour after the race becomes official to void the claim, if the horse is fatally injured during the race or vanned off.
State steward Stan Bowker told the commission the mile race was a “very, very unique situation” because three horses were injured.
Big Son of a Gun, according to testimony during the 40-minute hearing, came out of the race with serious injuries in two legs (bowed tendons, one pre-existing).
Bowker and association veterinarian Lee Cyphers told the commission that horses who bow tendons during a race would normally be taken off the track by ambulance.
Big Son of a Gun pulled up on the first turn and Kesagami pulled up on the backstretch. A third horse, Minimast, pulled up after finishing seventh.
In what became a triage situation, Kesagami and Minimast were more badly injured, Cyphers said, so they were removed from the track by ambulance (Oaklawn has two horse ambulances).
Neither Kesagami or Minimast were claimed.
During the chaos, Big Son of a Gun was moved to the 6-furlong chute for safety reasons and later led off the track by one of Caldwell’s grooms, according to testimony.
That scenario would normally prohibit claimants from asking to have a claim voided.
Commissioner Mark Lamberth of Batesville, a horse owner, praised stewards for following the letter of the law, but noted Big Son of a Gun was the victim of extraordinary circumstances and should have been vanned off the track.
Bowker said Asmussen’s Oaklawn assistant, Darren Fleming, requested the claim be voided about 20 minutes after the race became official.
Commission chairman Cecil Alexander voted to uphold the claim.
Sports, Pages 28 on 02/24/2013