A few questions

[Pubby]

Any help is appreciated.

1. Was watching the Tesher NYCOTB show on Sunday morning w/ guest Ken Ramsey (owner). He spoke of his Monday winner Watershed Event (Sar 6th). Didn't tout him much but said he was entered in his previous race because racing sec needed to fill the race. Obviously this race was used merely as a workout. Ramsey used a term for this type of situation but I can't remember what he called it and was wondering if anyone else knows the term.

2. With respect to turf races, does anyone have any opinion/experience of which class of turf races tend to be the most wide-open? if there is any discernable difference.

Thanks again.

[JackS]

Pub- I have my own problems with turf but my guess would be Mdn. It seems to me that breeding plays a big part in this type of race. Not surprising to me anymore to see Mcl's beat straight maidens on this surface. A general knowledge of breeding among non-winners would probably go a long way. The trend could be different for different tracks though so, a little effort to discover what might be going on at your particular track would be in order Good luck.

[BillW]

Pubby,

Here are the turf races in my database. Averages possibly don't answer your question, but this is what I have.

# Fav. W-W. Ave. Ave. Win % by Odds Range
Type Races Wins Wins Odds Purse <2:1 2-5 5-10 10-20 >20:1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All 8802 33% 17% 6.10 $ 41334 25% 40% 21% 10% 5%
Fast Track 8115 33% 17% 6.05 $ 39398 25% 40% 20% 10% 5%
Off Track 687 29% 14% 6.68 $ 64205 21% 35% 26% 13% 5%
Turf-Fast 8115 33% 17% 6.05 $ 39398 25% 40% 20% 10% 5%
Turf-Off 687 29% 14% 6.68 $ 64205 21% 35% 26% 13% 5%
Turf Routes 6515 33% 14% 6.07 $ 45817 24% 39% 21% 10% 5%
Turf Sprints 2287 34% 25% 6.18 $ 28565 25% 40% 19% 11% 5%
Males 5002 32% 17% 6.16 $ 42225 23% 41% 21% 10% 5%
Females 3800 34% 16% 6.02 $ 40162 27% 38% 21% 10% 5%
2 YO 373 37% 17% 6.27 $ 40210 29% 35% 19% 11% 6%
3 YO 1005 32% 15% 6.26 $ 53753 25% 36% 21% 12% 5%
3 YO & up 5369 33% 18% 6.15 $ 41503 25% 40% 21% 10% 5%
4 YO & up 2055 33% 14% 5.85 $ 35024 23% 42% 21% 10% 4%
Gr. Stk 327 31% 14% 6.04 $258333 27% 38% 20% 10% 5%
non-Gr Stk 656 34% 16% 5.57 $ 79087 28% 38% 20% 9% 5%
Alw 2483 33% 16% 5.86 $ 35969 26% 38% 21% 10% 4%
Opt. Clm 509 34% 17% 5.05 $ 37499 26% 43% 21% 8% 3%
St Alw 417 37% 18% 5.88 $ 17229 31% 39% 15% 10% 5%
Claiming 2551 31% 18% 6.39 $ 23415 20% 42% 22% 11% 5%
MSW 1456 35% 16% 6.38 $ 32143 26% 38% 20% 10% 6%
MdnClm 403 32% 16% 7.21 $ 13284 23% 40% 19% 10% 8%



Bill

[saratoga guy]

Ramsey called Watershed Event a "hustled" horse in his race prior to Monday's.

He gave a brief explanation but maybe it wasn't clear: The previous race, the 2nd on 8/13 at Saratoga, was a $65K claimer. Only six were entered. Sometimes, in order to get enough horses entered in a particular race so that it will "fill", the racing secretary calls around to trainers who have horses appropriate to the conditions to see if they'll enter.

When you hear someone talking about a race "filling" that's what they mean -- before the race is actually carded to be run it has to have a minimum number of horses entered. Obviously the racing secretary won't run a claiming race with three horses. So he'll call around to try and find two or three more to enter.

That's what Ramsey was referring to. For the 8/13 race the racing secretary told them he needed to fill the race and they accomodated him by racing Watershed Event that day. Hence he was a "hustled" horse.

[Pubby]

Thanks guys.

Billw - The chart is very helpful. Seems like things even out in the long run but looks like on "off" tracks there are good opportunities waiting at more than 5-1.

Saratoga - I understand what you're saying. To me, this hustling would/should result in the racing office writing a race later as a thank you to the owner. Not sure if it was yesterday's race or not, but since it was the last day of the meet I used WE just in case. Wouldn't it be nice to know about these hustles as they occur? Sometimes I can figure out who is in just for a workout in these small fields, but not always.

[JackS]

A "thank you"? Maybe but, this is like a suggestion from the boss. A suggestion from the RS would be the equivilent of your boss asking you to work late if it won't interfere with any plans you might have. Compliance is probably close to %100.

[Pubby]

point taken Jack. Would love to hear from anyone having personal experience with this situation. Maybe I'm obsessing on this but I find the placing of horses in races to be one of the most interesting factors in my handicapping.

[cj]

First thing to know is that the public usually doesn't ever find out which horses were "hustled."

Second thing to know is these horses win more often than you would think. If they look like they fit on paper, they will probably run well.

[Valuist]

Colonial Colony won the Stephen Foster as a "hustled horse".