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Derby chart corrected, shifting five in stretch By Matt Hegarty Daily Racing Form Equibase has revised the official Kentucky Derby chart to fix what company officials said were errors in the stretch call, ultimately changing the positions of five horses at the eighth pole. The changes most significantly affected A P Valentine and Fifty Stars, who finished seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Derby. A P Valentine was placed 14th at the stretch call in the revised chart as opposed to ninth. Fifty Stars was placed ninth instead of 11th. Chuck Scaravilli, the data collection manager of Equibase, said chartcallers had noted that A P Valentine was farther behind than indicated in the first chart while scouring still photos and videotapes of the stretch run after the chart was produced and distributed. "It's a manual process of calling horses, and with a big field like that, by the time you get through all 17 horses, they have sometimes changed positions," Scaravilli said. "So in the interest of accuracy, we had to issue the new chart." The net result is that A P Valentine ran the last eighth of a mile much faster than indicated in the first chart, when he was listed as 10 3/4 lengths behind at the stretch call. In the revised chart, A P Valentine is listed as being 15 lengths behind with an eighth of a mile to run. In both charts, A P Valentine was beaten by 13 lengths. No finish positions were impacted by the adjustment. The changes have already been entered into Equibase's database, so any past performance information will reflect the new data. Three other horses - Arctic Boy, Songandaprayer, and Balto Star, who were 12th, 13th, and 14th at the stretch call in the first chart - were all affected by the adjustment to A P Valentine's position. Each horse was moved up one placing in the amended chart. |
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