110-1 Winner of Race Was Wrong Horse

Youngstown, OH (AP) - Horse racing officials in Ohio have suspended three people after the longshot winner of a race turned out to be a he instead of a she.

The state's racing commission concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing by those who allowed the wrong horse to run under a different name at Hollywood Gaming's Mahoning Valley Race Course near Youngstown. The horse that was supposed to race was a winless filly listed as a 110-1 longshot. Instead, a male from the same stable won by nearly eight lengths.

The commission's executive director says a stable worker brought the wrong horse out for the race in early November and another employee failed to properly check the horse before it ran. The mix-up wasn't discovered until after the bets had been paid out.

A $2 wager on Ruby Queen to win paid off $220. Anybody who did win kept their money, while those who had placed bets on the next three finishers were able to cash in if they still had their ticket, said Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for track owner Penn National Gaming Inc.

The company, which operates casinos and race tracks in 16 states, did its own review of what happened. The employee who was the identifier is no longer employed by Penn National, he said.

“This was a very unusual circumstance,” Tenenbaum said. “It was simply a series of errors.”

The stewards suspended the identifier 60 days and fined him $500. The stable worker was suspended 30 days and fined $500. The horse’s owner was suspended 30 days and fined $500. A substitute trainer was fined $200.
A new layer of post-race checks will be added at all of Ohio’s thoroughbred tracks to prevent a repeat, the racing commission director said.