This year at The Meadowlands, especially the last few months, I’ve seen a lot of drivers pull their horse off the inside late, cutting off horses that were moving well on the outside. There were three instances of this Friday (July 12) night. In the fourth race, a 2-year-old trot, Tom Horn was sitting second. Cattleshark, making his first lifetime start, was hustling up on the outside. David Miller pulled Tom Horn out in front of Cattleshark, which forced Tim Tetrick to take a hard hold and check his horse.

Later in the seventh race, an amateur driver race, the 6 horse, Machlicious, pulled out late in the stretch and hit the wheel of the 7 horse. The driver of the 7 horse made an “objection” but the judges let it stand, although the 6 horse clearly came out and banged into the wheel of the 7. Maybe the judges thought that it didn’t change the finish position but to a lot of observers, it looked like it might have because before the interference, it appeared that the 6 and 7 were going to finish noses apart, but the 6 clearly interfered with the 7 as he came out, which gave him the placing.

In the eighth race, the 4 horse, Camera Man, another 2YO first time starter, was hustling up when the 2, Hidalgo, pulled out in front of him. This wasn’t as abrupt as the other two races.

Let me make some observations here. First of all, I’ve been watching races at The Meadowlands since its inception and I’ve even called charts there when filling in for the late, great Charlie Singer, and I’ve never seen so many horses pull out late directly in front of a moving horse as I’ve seen this year.

In many instances, it’s a clear violation. For instance, in my opinion, David Miller clearly impeded the progress of Cattleshark in the fourth race and that should have caused an inquiry, at the very least. In the seventh race, driver William Clark was correct to lodge an objection, and the 6 horse should have been DQ’d and placed third.

The eighth race was borderline, I admit, but I mention it because it was another example of a late move off the pylons right in front of a horse that was moving well on the outside.

Now, admittedly, the drivers are doing this intentionally to gain an advantage. Some would call it “race riding.” But the bottom line is, it’s against the established rules of the sport. If a horse is moving well on the outside, drivers are not supposed to pull their horse out and impede the other horse’s progress. If a driver wants to pull first over, the driver is supposed to do that when he has full clearance, not at the last second as the horse on the outside is at his wheels or along his flank.

As we know, there have been some bad accidents already this year and these late pulls are dangerous. I was especially surprised to see two of the top drivers in the sport do this in 2-year-old trotting races, cutting off horses that were making their first lifetime starts.

The other problem is how it affects the bettors. Cattleshark, who was 2-1, was moving quickly and looked like he had a good chance at the exacta before he was sawed off.

The bottom line is, I’ve never seen this at The Meadowlands. Sometimes you’ll see it at small tracks that have low handle, although generally speaking, even that’s rare. Some years ago, a few drivers at The Meadowlands were pulling their horse “half in, half out” and the judges stopped that nonsense. Now, it doesn’t look like the judges are actually there. Is anyone minding the store?

If you let the drivers do whatever they want, they’ll try to cut other horses off or do whatever they can to gain an advantage. It’s the judge’s job to make sure that they follow the rules.

Bob Pandolfo / Northhampton, PA