Human error was at the root cause of a snafu in which the starting gate was positioned at the wrong distance for the 12th race at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 9, according to a New York Racing Association release.
The race was scheduled to be contested at 1 1/8 miles on the Mellon Turf Course, but the starting gate was placed as if it was a 1 1/16-mile race.
READ: Last Race at Saratoga Contested at Incorrect Distance
Stewards did not become aware of the mistake until after the race was declared official.
"The Stewards are responsible for overseeing the integrity of every race here on the NYRA circuit," said NYRA steward Victor Escobar. "We would like to apologize to the betting public, fans, and racing participants for failing to meet those standards on Saturday."
Escobar was one of three stewards monitoring Saturday's races along with Braulio Baeza Jr., the New York State Gaming Commission steward, and Cody Watkins, The Jockey Club steward.
NYRA said it would implement measures to ensure racing officials and stewards verify starting gate positioning prior to each race.
Beginning Aug. 10, NYRA is requiring verbal notification between the head starter and stewards to confirm the correct gate location. In the coming days, NYRA will add improved visual identifiers to each starting location specific to distance and rail setting options.
A similar incident also occurred in 2018 at Saratoga when a 1 1/16-mile race was run at 1 1/8 miles.
A New York State Gaming Commission spokesperson did not respond to a request for a comment.
