Condition VS Classification racing

[spreader]

Friday November 1, 11th race Chester

Condition reads NW 17.5K last 5 ,last start for purse greater than 30K ineligible, AE NW9 PM races or 90K life

The 5 horse gets in with 8 lifetime wins. However , won 150K in last 5 and 368K lifetime. So we end up with a field of 7 horses that have not won 17K in their last 5 starts and one horse that is averaging 30K per start in his last 5 races. I do not see how this is beneficial to owners or bettors(other than the owner of the 5 horse) Condition should be based on current form and earnings . Who cares about how many lifetime wins the horse has. Yonkers conditions make more sense because they take into account , and cap 2013 earnings as an added condition

[Just a Fan]

NW17.5L5 is the highest rung for trotters there, other than the open. So if the race sec'y doesn't write the AE NW9 clause into that class, there's nowhere for a NW9 horse to be classified other than the winners over. Its a race secy's judgement call as to whether NW9 types typically/historically would be more competitive in the W/O or the NW17.5. If he sees a trend that the NW9's are often too good for the NW17.5 class, he should remove the AE clause. This horse is probably not your typical NW9, but the race secy can't reject a horse if he's eligible for the class the way it was written.

I guess you can make the argument that by the time a horse wins 8 races, its time to put the big boy pants on and let him find his level against conditioned horses... no need to still do any favors to NW9 horses. If he is getting beaten up a few times vs the YR Open trotters while they wait for money to drop off his last 5, the owner could always take him to VD or Stga for their open to find a softer spot.

I can see how this particular example looks bad, but I don't know if its a bad thing to have a NW9 on that class on a regular basis. You'd have to keep track of how it plays out week to week.

I know he won at YR in 1:55 not that long ago, but his most recent race line doesn't look so hot, so maybe he isn't a cinch on Friday. If you are right that he is too good for that group, at least he will win out of that class immediately.

[spreader]

Good point re this not being your typical NW9 horse. He got parked in 27 and change after leaving from the 7 post in the open . Led to the 3/4 before fading to last. If you win in the upper level conditions with a Yonkers trotter, like it or not , you are going to end up in the Open Class waiting to drop lines from your last 6. Our trotter finished 3erd twice at the NW25k level and had nowhere to go but the open to drop lines before returning to the NW25K class to win. In addition to saratoga and VD , the owner could well afford to wait for Big M to open with over 300K in the bank this year. I have no problem with the secretary helping a NW9 horse , however a 2013 purse cap would solve this problem and be more equitable to the 7 other owners in this race while providing more value to bettors. We will find out on Friday one way or the other

[LottaKash]

Good posts on this subject....

Me, I don't pay too much attention to those niggling little subtleties....I compare the horses to each other, is all....

Horses in this particular condition/clas, usually will eliminate themselves anyway...

Still, it may or not be an advantage to any one particular horse, but so be it with me....

This time of the year it is much harder to fill certain classes and this little thing is just part of it, I guess...See it every year...