Scratches

Originally Posted by dino

I can't think of another sport where you can officially enter and then withdraw because you would have to play against a good team or good player.
Racing needs to do something about this. The word gets out that Baffert has a nice firster running today and half the field is allowed to scratch. That's BS and maybe Hammer can explain it when he's on the show next week.
They aren't even allowed to do that in dog racing so allowing it in horse racing doesn't say much for the sport.

No one in the field is "allowed" to scratch. By the same token no one can be forced to run a horse they don't wish to.

At Santa Anita if a horse scratches out of the body of the race such as today. That horse is on the "list" and cannot enter in another race for 10 days.