Start of race-Stewards

[BetHorses!]

I just hate the fact that anything goes when the gate opens

Yesterday's finale at the Spa the winner bumped the deuce pretty hard obviously im bias cause I was on the 2 but what to you think?

They never even look !

scroll to 2:25 for slo mo head-on

http://www.nyra.com/saratoga/videos/race-replay/STD/2014/20140804/9/pan/

[PressThePace]

They looked....just didn't make a change. I had win tickets on both horses, but since the 2 only got up for 3rd, I was relieved that there was no change.

[PressThePace]

The fact that Velasquez corrected the horse quickly is the key here. If the horse continued into another path, it would merit more consideration.

[Stillriledup]

But there's some sort of bump in every race at the start, very seldom do all the horses break in an exact straight line. Would you like to see a DQ in every race? Would you like to see the highest standard possible brought to maintaining a straight line and knowing that there's at least a 50% chance the winner of every race will be placed last for brushing a horse out of the gate who finished up the track?

They can just let anything go at the start or they could DQ every horse who bumps another horse, just play bingo with the numbers, if it finishes 85671234 they can DQ all 4 top runners and make the result 1234.

Is that what we want, 10 minute inquiries every race and just chaos with the results?

[BetHorses!]

But there's some sort of bump in every race at the start, very seldom do all the horses break in an exact straight line. Would you like to see a DQ in every race? Would you like to see the highest standard possible brought to maintaining a straight line and knowing that there's at least a 50% chance the winner of every race will be placed last for brushing a horse out of the gate who finished up the track?

They can just let anything go at the start or they could DQ every horse who bumps another horse, just play bingo with the numbers, if it finishes 85671234 they can DQ all 4 top runners and make the result 1234.

Is that what we want, 10 minute inquiries every race and just chaos with the results?


This wasn't some sort of bump, the deuce almost went down and it caused him to be 11th of 11 at the start bumped "solidly" by the eventual race winner.

[thespaah]

I just hate the fact that anything goes when the gate opens

Yesterday's finale at the Spa the winner bumped the deuce pretty hard obviously im bias cause I was on the 2 but what to you think?

They never even look !

scroll to 2:25 for slo mo head-on

http://www.nyra.com/saratoga/videos/race-replay/STD/2014/20140804/9/pan/
not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Rider of the :1: corrected the path almost immediately. Yes the :2: was bumped, but this happens. One cannot expect the horses to break in a straight line every time.
Now, had the :1: continued to interfere or cause other horses to change course for an extended period of time( say two or three seconds) it is conceivable the Stewards would be within their purview to disqualify the offending starter.

[EMD4ME]

not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Rider of the :1: corrected the path almost immediately. Yes the :2: was bumped, but this happens. One cannot expect the horses to break in a straight line every time.
Now, had the :1: continued to interfere or cause other horses to change course for an extended period of time( say two or three seconds) it is conceivable the Stewards would be within their purview to disqualify the offending starter.

I met get blasted for this but here goes:

Increase the distance between each gate by another foot.

Place 2-5 foot long soft but hard enough material that springs forward with both doors as they spring open. That way, the first bump that the horse makes is with these 'door attachments' instead of the neighboring horse.

[davew]

I met get blasted for this but here goes:

Increase the distance between each gate by another foot.

Place 2-5 foot long soft but hard enough material that springs forward with both doors as they spring open. That way, the first bump that the horse makes is with these 'door attachments' instead of the neighboring horse.

but what about all those 12 horse fields? how wide does the track/turf need to be?

[BetHorses!]

not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Rider of the :1: corrected the path almost immediately. Yes the :2: was bumped, but this happens. One cannot expect the horses to break in a straight line every time.
Now, had the :1: continued to interfere or cause other horses to change course for an extended period of time( say two or three seconds) it is conceivable the Stewards would be within their purview to disqualify the offending starter.


I agree about the rider correcting almost immediately. But if that happened down stretch its a dq... Someone mentioned they looked at it was there an inquiry?

[thespaah]

I met get blasted for this but here goes:

Increase the distance between each gate by another foot.

Place 2-5 foot long soft but hard enough material that springs forward with both doors as they spring open. That way, the first bump that the horse makes is with these 'door attachments' instead of the neighboring horse.
Why would you think you'd get blasted for thinking outside the box?
In my world, any idea that can possibly improve something that is need of improving is worth examining

[thespaah]

I agree about the rider correcting almost immediately. But if that happened down stretch its a dq... Someone mentioned they looked at it was there an inquiry?
Not necessarily.
Two factors must be considered.
Did horse A improve his finishing position as a result of the contact?
Did the actions of Horse A cause a horse or horses to lose finishing position or lose their action that affected their position in the final standings?
I'm not a walking rule book. I make my opinions based on my very basic knowledge of racing rules and sprinkle in some common sense.

[RXB]

I just hate the fact that anything goes when the gate opens

Yesterday's finale at the Spa the winner bumped the deuce pretty hard obviously im bias cause I was on the 2 but what to you think?

They never even look !

scroll to 2:25 for slo mo head-on

http://www.nyra.com/saratoga/videos/race-replay/STD/2014/20140804/9/pan/

Hey BH, about 20 years ago the head steward at Hastings told me that they allow for some bumping during the first three strides because the horses often don't come out in straight paths. That looks like the case here.

After the third stride, they expect the jock to have control and the horse to be travelling in a non-interfering direction.