The Associated Press photo (left) was shot close to the same time and from nearly the same angle as the Getty image in question.

What it is nonsense, plain and simple nonsense.

Jose Santos did not carry a battery.

The whole thing began because someone noticed what appears to be a black object in Santos' hand in a picture taken by a Kentucky Derby photographer. The picture has become racing's version of the Zapruder film. But what is that black object? It could also be a shadow, a discoloration of the silks of the horse (Empire Maker) behind Funny Cide, a clod or dirt, the underside of the palm of Santos' hand or...a battery. But why the rush to judgment, why are the Churchill Downs stewards so eager to cast premature suspicions concerning Santos, the Kentucky Derby and racing in general based on such flimsy evidence? Maybe Churchill steward Rick Leigh should have given the matter a little more thought before he told the Miami Herald: "I've looked at [the photograph], and it looks very suspicious."

Maybe the Churchill stewards and everyone else ready to hang Santos should take a minute to look at some other evidence that clearly exonerates him. While the photo taken by Getty Images that seems to show Santos gripping an object has been circulated in every newspaper from Louisville to China, there is an Associated Press photo out there that shows clear as day there is nothing in his hand. The photo was clearly taken within a fraction of a second of the Getty photo and probably at a slightly different angle. In the AP photo, the only thing that can be seen in the gap in Santos' hands is the greenish colors of Empire Maker's silks.

At Belmont Saturday, an enterprising photography wonk enlarged the Getty photo with precision equipment zooming in on Santos' hand. After putting the photo under such a microscope, it's once again obvious that there is nothing in Santos' hand.

"It''s absurd," Funny Cide's trainer Barclay Tagg said. "Terry Meyocks (NYRA President & COO) has blown the picture up. It is clear as day. You can see right through his whole hand. You can see the colors and horse's ear. I don't know what they are talking about. They're nuts."

And what about the fact that Santos switched his whip back and forth from his right to left hand several times in the stretch? How exactly is he supposed to do that while carrying a battery?

"I'd have to be a magician to have a battery," Santos told the Daily Racing Form. "Where am I going to hide that thing?"

And does want to listen to the astute and knowledgeable television analyst Randy Moss, who works for ESPN? He watched a frame by frame version of the NBC telecast and also concludes there is nothing in Santos' hand. Moss writes that it is "very obvious" that the dark object in the photo is actually the underside of Santos' palm.

Shouldn't everyone be paying more attention to the fact that the reporter who wrote the original story clearly botched his interview with Santos. He has him explaining that the object is a "cue ring" used to summon the outrider. That that is the dumbest excuse anyone could have possibly come up with made Santos look like a liar. It appears that when Santos was reached by the reporter, he had no idea what he was talking about. He must have assumed the reporter was asking him about the bracelet he worse on his left wrist, a Q Ray bracelet used to deal with his arthritis. By the way, Santos, a native of Chile, speaks English like the Duke of Wellington. This was just a sloppy interview.

By Monday afternoon, after meeting with Santos, his agent and his attorney, the Churchill Downs stewards will fully exonerate him. Count on it. Hopefully, they retract any statements they have made about this being a suspicious situation. They need to do that and they need to make a forceful statement that there is not a scintilla of doubt in their minds that Jose Santos did nothing wrong.

Once that step has been taken, then this will start to blow over. But think of the lasting damage that will have been done. Racing was needlessly dragged through another scandal, just months after the Breeders' Cup Fix Six and Jose Santos' good name will have been besmirched.

All this because of an inconclusive spot on a photo and because a lot of people didn't have the good sense to think this thing through before overreacting. What a shame.