Belmont 3rd Race Saturday

[bogeydaman]

I have not seen any other posts on this topic (unless I missed it), but was wondering if anyone else saw what happened in the 3rd at Belmont on Saturday (and were as shocked as I was below). 3 horse race which turned into a 2 horse race when the co fave was scratched in the gate.

I was watching the simulcast from my local track and had a small wager on the longer price of the 2 horses. When the race went off the prices on the board, TV screen, etc as the race went off, etc showed 8-5 and 1-5 on the 2horses. As stated the longer priced horse (including myself win). It takes about 15 minutes after the running of the race when the mutual system finally updates and I find that I get the amount of my bet back (thus they obviously refunded all bets).

So here is the question, does anyone know if they announced that they were running for purse money only (on TVG, any of the simulcast outlets, at Belmont, etc) prior to the running of the race??? The reason I ask is that I knew a lot of people around me who had losing tickets in the race that "hit the floor" and had no idea that the race was cancelled (since the board the entire race had the odds of the race on the board). I did not even see an announcement on the Belmont racing screen stating that the race was cancelled following the running of the race. The only way you could tell is that after the running of the 4TH race the payoff was for an all button in the 3rd race. Is there a NYRA rule that you cannot have betting on a 2 horse field (why did they make this purse money only).

I saved a buddy of mine about $20 in tickets (he had them in his back pocket), but I know a number of other people around me were not so fortunate.

NYRA should be ashamed of how this situation was handled. I have no problem in the cancellation of the race, but they have to update the board and make a general announcement prior to the running of the race. If this did occur at Belmont then something should be done in the future to notify its simulcast outlets.

Not sure if I am the only one that was impacted by this decision. Interested in others views