Hurdle-hurtle

[Suff]

Whole bunch of horses and Jockeys down in the 2nd at Saratoga...

only two finishers of 7 starters. Why do they persist with these things.

[cj]

I haven't seen that many objects go down since I last bowled...anyone who bets this stuff needs therapy! :D

[Suff]

I haven't seen that many objects go down since I last bowled...anyone who bets this stuff needs therapy! :D

My horse won...:lol: I just paged the Doc.

[Suff]

5-4 -all tri. He he.... Show pool pays 5-4 as place poll. $8.70 to show///$7.50 to place.

[Suff]

Whole bunch of horses and Jockeys down in the 2nd at Saratoga...

only two finishers of 7 starters. Why do they persist with these things.

make that 9 starters. Forgot two were coupled.

2 of 9 to the wire. And Nascar has crash's?

[Steve 'StatMan']

That was awful & bizarre. I'm wondering if the winner surging at the last hurdle and passing the leaders while they were jumping caused the other horses and/or riders to be distracted for the landing, as the prior two leaders stumbled and fell on landing, and all but 1 other were affected by the spill.

Gads, seeing replay. 1st time home, 1 fall. Bkstr, one took a jump bad & pulled up. 7 left. Looks like they sped up turing for home. Winner passed 1 of 2 leaders near the final jump, passed the other in the air on the final jump, and those two fell, knocked one sideways that didn't fall(the only other finisher). The rest must have fallen over the original fallers. They showed the head-on and side one time for the stewards inquiry, but they aren't showing the head-on replay of the race again. Looked bad enough just on the pan shot and they went out of view. This is a very bad sign although its only 12 minutes to post now :( and now Georgeous Jan is previewing the 3rd.

[Suff]

That was awful & bizarre. I'm wondering if the winner surging at the last hurdle and passing the leaders while they were jumping caused the other horses and/or riders to be distracted for the landing, as the prior two leaders stumbled and fell on landing, and all but 1 other were affected by the spill.

:(

That was my take as well. When the 5 went to crank it up he kind of rankled the pace suddenly and the change in glide just before a hurdle for the horses trying to also crank it up......foiled them

[Steve 'StatMan']

Maybe not showing the head-on wasn't a totally bad sign. The race took 3:45, and the pan shot and head-on replays take that long plus a little of the gate and finish out time. Hard to find 7 min. 45 sec. between races to devote to replays, while not showing probables, paddock & previews. Still, that head-on would not be pleasant to watch. Hope all involved are going to be OK. No word over the broadcast yet.

[toetoe]

Haven't seen so many go down since "The Devil In Miss Jones." But shouldn't it be a non-race, with so few finishers?

[Steve 'StatMan']

Well, the winner was quite legit, surging to the front at the last jump (nice pick by the way Suff!) so for that alone I'm thinking it should stand. Plus it happened on the final jump, so everything else had played out up to that point.

[cj]

If they canx every time something like that happened in a 'chase, they wouldn't have betting on 95% of them!

Wait, they already don't have betting on 95% of them!

[Figman]

Anyone notice the last horse to cross the final jump, the horse that had already lost its rider earlier in the race? This horse must have been shocked to see all the carnage of fallen horses and jockeys on the ground as he came ove the jump. Yet he managed after landing to then jump over a jockey AND another fallen horse. Quite a display of agility!

Weird things happening at Saratoga. A few days ago a horse got its nose stuck in the side of the gate upon the start of its race.

[lsbets]

Any word on the condition of the horses and jocks? That one looked like it could have been bad.

[BillW]

That was pretty rough to watch. I'm becoming less and less of a fan of jump races. The only bright spot was that 2 of the horses that were DNF's actually left the course and weren't involved in any falls. I hope all Jocks and horses are well.

A question regarding handling of the purse. The chart showed a finish order for the DNF's - did the purse get distributed based on the ammount of the race completed? I noticed the wagering pools were not distributed that way - i.e. the tri was paid to ALL in the 3rd slot.

Bill

[lsbets]

Not to make a joke of a very bad situation, but shouldn't the tri have been refunded since "ALL" did not finish the race? All that finished was an exacta. What is the NY rule on this?

[PaceAdvantage]

I'm a rarity. I like the jump races. It's a nice change of pace....can't figure out why all the "elites" in the racing press have to have such a shitfit everytime they card jump races at Belmont and Saratoga....

Here's a novel idea....don't bet em, just watch em....

[BillW]

I'm a rarity. I like the jump races. It's a nice change of pace....can't figure out why all the "elites" in the racing press have to have such a shitfit everytime they card jump races at Belmont and Saratoga....

Here's a novel idea....don't bet em, just watch em....

I just hate seeing the falls. I don't like falls on the flat either :( they just seem to be more predominant un the jumps. Otherwise I could really like the racing.

Bill

[cj]

Here's a novel idea....don't bet em, just watch em....

Why would I want to watch horses falling down and being injured, a far more likely event in a jump race? If you like that, maybe you should try NASCAR. :eek:

I've heard Durkin mention in interviews how he thinks we need whipping rules like they have in Europe for the welfare of the horse. Its no wonder a race like yesterday's would have him upset, and I can't blame him.

[PaceAdvantage]

There's always an exception to the rule. The race on Wednesday was the exception.

Are we to ban all hunters and jumpers now? Ban all jump races? That will inevitably just send more unwanted horses to the slaughterhouse.....

I don't see anything wrong with these races, and I think they are enjoyable to watch, but maybe it's just me....

[cj]

Probably a bit of an overreaction on my part. Side note: Is New York racing hurting so bad they have to card CLAIMING RACE jumpers?

[Figman]

CJ,
There are many people like PA and myself included that don't just tolerate the steeplechase races but actually enjoy them. Here is a look from the steeplechase point of view. See page 18 of the August 18th SARATOGA SPECIAL daily newspaper for an article by Sean Clancy entitled "THE SHIRT".
http://www.saratogaspecial.com/files/081805.pdf

[Bubbles]

Probably a bit of an overreaction on my part. Side note: Is New York racing hurting so bad they have to card CLAIMING RACE jumpers?They do card those races, but they've been for the last few years, at least.

[Tom]

Probably a bit of an overreaction on my part. Side note: Is New York racing hurting so bad they have to card CLAIMING RACE jumpers?

They card State Bred races...I'd rather bet mules.:bang:

[Steve 'StatMan']

Be careful, Tom. You might end up with State Bred Mule Races! :D

[Tom]

Be careful, Tom. You might end up with State Bred Mule Races! :D
Ever been to Finger Lakes?! :lol:

[Observer]

The most important fact about that unfortunate race Wednesday is that everyone walked away okay.

And while it seems spills are more frequent in jump races than flat races .. the flats have had their share of disasterous chain-reaction incidents. It's a tough part of the game, whichever the discipline.