Midnight Soiree stakes DQ reversed

The owners of Midnight Soiree have won their appeal of the disqualification of their filly from first to second place in the $100,000 Martha Washington Stakes on July 7 at Gulfstream Park, and Midnight Soiree is once again the winner of the race. The ruling was made by Jeff Noe, a former Gulfstream Park steward who served as the hearing officer in the case, and was announced Sunday.

Midnight Soiree, with jockey Luca Panici aboard, crossed the finish line first in the one-mile Martha Washington, three-quarters of a length in front of Camila Princess. The pair engaged in a bumping match through the final furlong that appeared to have been precipitated by Camila Princess, with both fillies equally at fault the remainder of the way.

Following a lengthy deliberation, the stewards reversed the original order of finish, disqualifying Midnight Soiree from first to second and awarding the victory to Camila Princess.

Noe wrote in his ruling: “After reviewing the films of the race and hearing all testimony, it is evident to me that #8 Camila Princess initiated the contact in midstretch with #7 Midnight Soiree, which continued approaching the finish line. Therefore, the decision of the stewards to disqualify Midnight Soiree is reversed.”

The order of finish for the Martha Washington is now officially Midnight Soiree first, Camila Princess second, and Whiteheelgirl third.

Lisa Lewis trains Midnight Soiree for Randy McBride, James W. Pickering, Terry Hookstra, and Arcilla Hudgins.

“I don’t envy the stewards for the job they have to do in these types of cases, but we felt very strongly right from the start that our filly hadn’t done anything wrong, that Luca hadn’t done anything wrong, and that she deserved that stakes win on her résumé,” Lewis said.

Lewis said she has not made any plans for Midnight Soiree.

“We wanted to get through this first before we looked ahead,” she said. “We just felt like everything was on hold until we could put this behind us.”