Racing authorities are investigating a malfunction of the stop-betting button at the start of the 3rd race on Sept. 26 at Golden Gate Fields that put the back-up system into play.  Tote confirmed that the stop-betting command was issued during the race, even though the stewards’ stop-betting button had failed at the break.

     A claim of “past-posting” was made by a patron at Keeneland who was wagering via simulcast on the Golden Gate Fields races.  The patron presented betting tickets to officials in the Keeneland mutuel department that he said he made after the horses had left the starting gate.

        Keeneland officials contacted Golden Gate Fields officials, who in turn notified Scientific Games (the track’s tote provider), the California Horse Racing Board and the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau of the claim.

             The stewards usually shut down the pools; however, a malfunction with the stop-betting button in the stewards’ stand resulted in the tote operator having to close the pools.  Golden Gate Fields’ initial results indicated that all sites on the network had not issued significant winning wagers after the break of the race.  The investigation is continuing.

Jean Anderson contributed to his report