this is a non-story imo. 1. this goes on ALL the time (i.e. trainer will enter a 'rabbit' to try and bait the opp to chase into a hot pace setting up his other entry) 2. IF Restoring Hope fouled any other horses then their jockeys would have claimed a foul following race 3. The stewards observe and review even w/o an objection claim
This is NOT to say I don't believe the fix was in… something odd about the clean trip w/o any real closing challenge in last 1/4 (Justify is NO Secretariat) but the real story is you want to dig is looking into what horses didn't run/enter. A lot of $$ in play here, plenty to divvy up to ensure 3crown and the stud fee bonuses of what that brings. Will be hard/impossible to find a $$ trail, but rest assured barns/owners were paid not to run. (just imo as someone who has spent a lifetime on backside @ racing- jockey agnt, chaplain, and fan)