Videos, in the words of an administrative law judge, showed a “series of races involving — as a rule — tired, reluctant, skittish or disinterested horses moving at a slow pace down the dust-choked path.”

But a state appeals court said state regulators were wrong to try to punish a tiny North Florida pari-mutuel facility that in 2014 turned to slow-motion, two-horse races as it tried to meet the requirements of its state license.