Tote malfunction prompts refunds at Penn National
A malfunctioning router at the communications hub for United Tote in Hillsboro, Oregon, led to betting pools remaining open following the start of the second race at Penn National Race Course on Wednesday night, a tote official said.
After discovering the software failure, Penn National management decided to refund the approximately $152,000 wagered on the race rather than going through the time-intensive process of figuring out which tickets were purchased before the race began, said Chris McErlean, vice president of racing for Penn National.
McErlean said the stewards at the Grantville, Pennsylvania, track realized there was a problem when they could not close and lock the pools with the button from their console. He said they immediately called the mutuels department to report the problem. The tote officials on site also could not lock the pools for the race. Twodoorsdown, owned by Galby Stable and trained by Michael Salvaggio Jr., won the $5,000 claiming race.
“We were potentially looking at significant amounts wagered past post,” McErlean said. “We felt it was fairest to declare the race a no-contest.”
—John Scheinman
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