PDA

View Full Version : Its Official, Aqueduct cutting down on racing days


mlbelang
01-31-2013, 05:08 PM
"In a move supported by the NY Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and NY Thoroughbred Breeders, we have reduced the racing days here at the Big A. The 6th, 13th, 14th, and 27th of February will be DARK. March 6th and 13th will also be DARK. Of course, we'll still be open for simulcasting at Aqueduct and Belmont Park."




This is a good thing for racing. Pleased and a bit surprised they made this decision.

DeltaLover
01-31-2013, 05:14 PM
"In a move supported by the NY Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and NY Thoroughbred Breeders, we have reduced the racing days here at the Big A. The 6th, 13th, 14th, and 27th of February will be DARK. March 6th and 13th will also be DARK. Of course, we'll still be open for simulcasting at Aqueduct and Belmont Park."
:ThmbUp:

This is a step towards the right direction. Ideally I would like to see a three days per week racing schedule ala Monmouth for example.. An extention to December's time off to a month or month and a half would also be beneficial for BIG A racing...

MightBeSosa
01-31-2013, 05:19 PM
said weeks ago the product was an embarrassment.

they really don't justify the large betting handle with the kind of racing they are putting on.

mlbelang
01-31-2013, 05:23 PM
said weeks ago the product was an embarrassment.

they really don't justify the large betting handle with the kind of racing they are putting on.

I tend to agree. The racing is nothing special. And I dont mean just talented horses. The betting opportunities just aren't there like they are at FG GP etc. (im biased toward grass racing anyway) . Small fields, cheap claimers, no grass....6F or 1 and 70....thats it.

They will likely lose a bit of money (a whole days worth of take-out) but the product itself will be better.

On the other hand, the handle may just redistribute into the other 4 days. So who knows. But less races = bigger fields. Something The A has been missing for quite some time.

Stillriledup
01-31-2013, 05:39 PM
I'd love them to race wednesday and take Thursday off instead...this leaves Gulfstream as the only 'real' signal running on wednesdays.

FrankieFigs
01-31-2013, 05:40 PM
I agree with the cutback to 4 days a week, too. Really hoping the product gets better over the next few weeks.

Robert Goren
01-31-2013, 05:42 PM
It is sad that the one of premier circuits has to resort to this. Minor league tracks run 3 days a week. Major league circuits run 5 or 6. That being said, it doesn't appear they had much of a choice. Hopefully this is a one year thing.

PaceAdvantage
01-31-2013, 08:56 PM
I tend to agree. The racing is nothing special.The racing over the inner track has never been "special." Except for the rare year when a Triple Crown contender makes his mark in the winter here in NY, it's always been pretty much the same, and there are those of us who have loved every minute of it...it's different, and it's unique...

Now, I don't enjoy the smaller than usual fields this year, but let's not act as if minus the small fields, things are radically different this winter compred to the past 20+ years....

OTM Al
01-31-2013, 10:09 PM
Less is less.

iceknight
01-31-2013, 11:09 PM
I'd love them to race wednesday and take Thursday off instead...this leaves Gulfstream as the only 'real' signal running on wednesdays. It is easier to do consecutive days off, isn't it?

rastajenk
01-31-2013, 11:20 PM
For whom?

andicap
02-01-2013, 10:07 AM
There are too many tracks running too many dates for the horse population. Especially horses don't run as often as they used to -- the breeding. The track was pretty much forced to do this by the new drug rules or it would have been racing 4-horse fields. Even the horsemen -- who want to run every day they an -- agreed on this step.

Less is MORE. Didn't we see that during the Monmouth meet a few years ago?

Robert Goren
02-01-2013, 10:13 AM
This has been tried in other places because of the short fields. I wonder how often it really works.

Delawaretrainer
02-01-2013, 10:43 AM
I would have entered a horse at Aqueduct but due to the non-uniformity of drug rules, I couldn't. I support the changes they have made but the extreme withdrawl times for therapeutic medication (2weeks) made it impossible for me to enter an extra race that popped up three days before the race. Uniformity of drug rules wpuld help. Because they are the first to go this extreme, they will lose ship ins.... Even with uniformity, they will lose entries when horses are withdrawn from medication and sound but may have metabolites in their system even though the drug's effects are long gone.

Robert Goren
02-01-2013, 10:53 AM
I might be wrong on this, But I don't remember that many horses shipping into AQU last year or the year before at this time of year. I like to see the numbers on ship-ins the last few years and compared it to this year before I blame the problem on that.

johnhannibalsmith
02-01-2013, 10:59 AM
I might be wrong on this, But I don't remember that many horses shipping into AQU last year or the year before at this time of year. I like to see the numbers on ship-ins the last few years and compared it to this year before I blame the problem on that.

You act like the problem can't be a combination of things. Of course those policies affect those that do ship to run. Is it the problem? No, because "the problem", like most problems, isn't a single problem, which is why "the problem" and its solution always seems to lead to another problem.

therussmeister
02-01-2013, 11:07 AM
This has been tried in other places because of the short fields. I wonder how often it really works.
This has been tried in all the other places. I think the majority of tracks that have been around since the 80's used to run more days per week, and have cut back to increase field size.

Ernie Dahlman
02-01-2013, 11:31 AM
I would have entered a horse at Aqueduct but due to the non-uniformity of drug rules, I couldn't. I support the changes they have made but the extreme withdrawl times for therapeutic medication (2weeks) made it impossible for me to enter an extra race that popped up three days before the race. Uniformity of drug rules wpuld help. Because they are the first to go this extreme, they will lose ship ins.... Even with uniformity, they will lose entries when horses are withdrawn from medication and sound but may have metabolites in their system even though the drug's effects are long gone.

It should be interesting to see how they have 6 days of racing at Saratoga without horses being able to ship in and reproduce their form. I believe we the bettors are the victims of something called unintended consequences

mlbelang
02-01-2013, 12:26 PM
It should be interesting to see how they have 6 days of racing at Saratoga without horses being able to ship in and reproduce their form. I believe we the bettors are the victims of something called unintended consequences

Why would Saratoga be significantly affected by this? 'Toga is the premier location on the East Coast in the summer. Why would this summer be any different then the last few?

I suppose what I mean to say is that I am not well rehearsed in the new drug rules NYRA has implemented at Aqueduct. Is it just for The A or are Belmont and Toga subject to them from now on as well?

Al Gobbi
02-01-2013, 01:02 PM
Why would Saratoga be significantly affected by this? 'Toga is the premier location on the East Coast in the summer. Why would this summer be any different then the last few?

I suppose what I mean to say is that I am not well rehearsed in the new drug rules NYRA has implemented at Aqueduct. Is it just for The A or are Belmont and Toga subject to them from now on as well?

All of NY Racing (including Finger Lakes) are subject to the new medication rules, which are expected to expand down the road. There will definitively be an effect on the racing at Belmont and Saratoga, especially when you take in that we are now in the heart of the foal population collapse.

OTM Al
02-01-2013, 01:43 PM
Less is MORE. Didn't we see that during the Monmouth meet a few years ago?

Monmouth was allowed to run whatever level claimers they wanted, were giving purses 6x the claiming level and didn't have drug restrictions. Less will be less.

Ernie Dahlman
02-01-2013, 04:15 PM
Less will be less.

The only group of horses there won't be less of will be NY breds, they have nowhere else to race

OTM Al
02-01-2013, 04:21 PM
The only group of horses there won't be less of will be NY breds, they have nowhere else to race

Sure they do. The better ones can race anywhere unless there is some new rule.

Stillriledup
02-01-2013, 04:23 PM
Sure they do. The better ones can race anywhere unless there is some new rule.

The competition is much weaker in the NY state bred races and the purses are huge all things considered...it wouldnt make much sense to race elsewhere, but you do make a valid point, there's no law keeping those horses in the state bred programs, they're eligible to race anywhere.

Ernie Dahlman
02-01-2013, 05:39 PM
[QUOTE=OTM Al]Sure they do. The better ones can race anywhere unless there is some new rule.[/QUOTE

My point is that the NY bred maidens, nw 1 and nw 2 would not leave NY because of the medication rules changes. The NY bred horses who can compete in open races will continue to do so (in and out of NY).