If in a horse race, by some quirk of fate, every jockey gets unseated at the last fence and all the horses fun on past the finish line, could it then be a foot race between the jockeys to get to the line first?
No. The horse (which is the official entrant in the race; jockeys may be substituted for one another) is effectively disqualified upon losing its rider, as it will no longer be carrying the correct weight.
Obligatory video. Note the uploader erroneously (as spark240 says) that the horse won.
In National Velvet,even though the Pie wins, because Velvet can’t stay on for a certain distance after crossing the finish line, they are disqualified. But that’s in England–so who knows what other wacky rules they follow.
OK, lets say I bred a super smart horse, not exactly Mr. Ed but intelligent enough to understand what a horse race is, what route to take , how to get into the stalls and have the drive to win. If we loaded him up with the appropriate amount of weight, could he (theoretically) race without a jockey?
There have been many instances in hurdle and steeplechase races where jockeys have caught their rides after falling, remounted and finished the race. Even champion chaser Kauto Star had the indignity, but almost won. So if you chased it down and went back to complete the course why not? Although I think there are moves to ban remounting in England.
Many years ago an Australian jockey fell off before the post and, by not letting go of the reins, was dragged over the line by the horse. The stewards ruled that dragging the rider was more arduous than carrying him and it remained the winner.
An Australian horse, Passion Moon, once did what you suggested in your last post. After unseating it’s rider at the start of a race, it positioned itself perfectly in running, threaded through a gap to grab the lead on the line and then turned around and went back to the winner’s stall. He raced from 1955-69, and (depending on what record book you look at) had between 281 and 295 starts , so knew the job he had to do.