Santa Anita fields

[andicap]

Saw a story about the full fields at SA fueling a larger handle.

So why are there more entries this meet at Santa Anita? What happened to the six-horse fields of the past?

[shanta]

Saw a story about the full fields at SA fueling a larger handle.

So why are there more entries this meet at Santa Anita? What happened to the six-horse fields of the past?


Just a guess here:

A while back So.Cal Fan posted about some behind the scenes cracking down on trainers and certain "questionable training procedures ( chemical)".
Maybe now the folks who had gotten out of the mix then because of what they were up against are slowly coming back in the action.

Richie :)

[OTM Al]

Remember too the reproductive loss syndrome hit California worse than elsewhere, so the racing population there has been recovering as well

[cj]

The turf horses received a nice break from racing during the disastrous Hollywood meet, that has to have helped.

[so.cal.fan]

I think there are at least two reasons I can think of.
First, remember Hollywood Fall meet was a disaster...no turf racing.....very little interest from horsemen in running there......
Second, the weather at Santa Anita has been fantastic. We have had 70 and 80 degree racing days. With no constant rain storms like we had last winter meet, horses can train steady, so you have more fit horses ready to run.
I know this is true, because you have several fields come up with SEVERAL contenders......not easy to pick the winner. A very good handicapper I know was alive to 5 horses in the last race to hit the pick 4. He missed......when I say good handicapper, I'm talking, probably the best handicapper at Santa Anita. This tells me a lot about what's happening at Santa Anita.
In any event, there are some very good competitive fields for bettors.

[GMB@BP]

I think there are at least two reasons I can think of.
First, remember Hollywood Fall meet was a disaster...no turf racing.....very little interest from horsemen in running there......
Second, the weather at Santa Anita has been fantastic. We have had 70 and 80 degree racing days. With no constant rain storms like we had last winter meet, horses can train steady, so you have more fit horses ready to run.
I know this is true, because you have several fields come up with SEVERAL contenders......not easy to pick the winner. A very good handicapper I know was alive to 5 horses in the last race to hit the pick 4. He missed......when I say good handicapper, I'm talking, probably the best handicapper at Santa Anita. This tells me a lot about what's happening at Santa Anita.
In any event, there are some very good competitive fields for bettors.

I posted this elsewhere, but it really has been a great meet compared to the past few years, as good or better then del mar. It would be nice of they could cancel HP fall forever, but that will not happen.

[so.cal.fan]

:ThmbUp: " It would be nice of they could cancel HP fall forever, but that will not happen".
GMB!
Would you mind sending that comment to the California Horse Racing Board?

I could not agree with you more!!!!!!!!

[Sailwolf]

:ThmbUp: " It would be nice of they could cancel HP fall forever, but that will not happen".
GMB!
Would you mind sending that comment to the California Horse Racing Board?

I could not agree with you more!!!!!!!!

How about cancelling Oak Tree??????????:confused:

[so.cal.fan]

Oak Tree has been a successful meet since the 1970's.
Hollywood Park fall meet has not.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Here is what they did:
"http://www.chrb.ca.gov/press_releases/2005_12_01_press_release.pdf."
They "fixed" the racing surfaces by slowing the tracks down and lessening the injuries, just like I told the board and Ca. tracks they needed to do!
Like I said, the tracks overall are running slower except once in a while like sloppy track or when they groom it too fast like Sunday.
It took a group od trainers to lose too many day rates to get the Ca. racing industry to listen. The positive reaction was quick- like the big pick 6.
I emailed SA Sunday to tell them the track is getting too fast again, so they slow it a little this week back to what I call "normal" speed.

[GameTheory]

What's the workman's comp situation in CA now? That drove a lot of stables away...

[GMB@BP]

What's the workman's comp situation in CA now? That drove a lot of stables away...

Its slightly better, but one factor is the overall health of the economy in general, IMO.

[rrbauer]

Workmens Comp issue:
Rates have been lowered and "relief" occurred by way of subsidy payments initially and now they payoff all runners in a race. Thru 5th place with purse money (as usual) and the others get $400 per in "appearance" money. I can see low-budget outfits entering a horse for exercise (they would still have to pay the jock....don't know what that fee is these days) and getting some feed money for their trouble.

Weather:
Last season, '04-'05, half of the race dates had "off" tracks. That limited entries, raised scratches and lowered the number of people attending/playing there and lowered handle. Few off-tracks this season. Also, there are some trainers who simply won't train or run their stock on off-tracks.

First turf racing in SoCal since Oak Tree which has already been mentioned.

Keep in mind that so far this meet you've seen the best of Santa Anita due to the factors mentioned. Don't be surprised when field sizes start to drop and shortfielditis returns.

[Sailwolf]

Workmens Comp issue:
Rates have been lowered and "relief" occurred by way of subsidy payments initially and now they payoff all runners in a race. Thru 5th place with purse money (as usual) and the others get $400 per in "appearance" money. I can see low-budget outfits entering a horse for exercise (they would still have to pay the jock....don't know what that fee is these days) and getting some feed money for their trouble.

Weather:
Last season, '04-'05, half of the race dates had "off" tracks. That limited entries, raised scratches and lowered the number of people attending/playing there and lowered handle. Few off-tracks this season. Also, there are some trainers who simply won't train or run their stock on off-tracks.

First turf racing in SoCal since Oak Tree which has already been mentioned.

Keep in mind that so far this meet you've seen the best of Santa Anita due to the factors mentioned. Don't be surprised when field sizes start to drop and shortfielditis returns.


I thought the fee for a jock was 50.00 plus 10% of the purse

[Sailwolf]

Workmens Comp issue:
Rates have been lowered and "relief" occurred by way of subsidy payments initially and now they payoff all runners in a race. Thru 5th place with purse money (as usual) and the others get $400 per in "appearance" money. I can see low-budget outfits entering a horse for exercise (they would still have to pay the jock....don't know what that fee is these days) and getting some feed money for their trouble.

Weather:
Last season, '04-'05, half of the race dates had "off" tracks. That limited entries, raised scratches and lowered the number of people attending/playing there and lowered handle. Few off-tracks this season. Also, there are some trainers who simply won't train or run their stock on off-tracks.

First turf racing in SoCal since Oak Tree which has already been mentioned.

Keep in mind that so far this meet you've seen the best of Santa Anita due to the factors mentioned. Don't be surprised when field sizes start to drop and shortfielditis returns.




For an example of short fields, just look at the Bay Meadows recently concluded meeting. It seem like 6 horse fields 65% of the time

[Topcat]

Second, the weather at Santa Anita has been fantastic. We have had 70 and 80 degree racing days. With no constant rain storms like we had last winter meet, horses can train steady, so you have more fit horses ready to run.

SoCal and RichardBauer have it right-its the weather. There have been only a couple of days of rain in all of December and January and into mid-February-that may change this week by the way. And the weather around the rest of the country has been harsh at times.

[GMB@BP]

SoCal and RichardBauer have it right-its the weather. There have been only a couple of days of rain in all of December and January and into mid-February-that may change this week by the way. And the weather around the rest of the country has been harsh at times.

I believe the numbers are still up considerably when you go back two seasons when they had similar numbers. I agree comparing to last seasons disaster is not all that accurate.

[rrbauer]

I believe the numbers are still up considerably when you go back two seasons when they had similar numbers. I agree comparing to last seasons disaster is not all that accurate.

Two seasons ago was Magna's big brain-fart whereby if you wanted to bet on Santa Anita you either had to be there in person; be at a simulcast site in person; or, bet via XpressBet. I don't remember the exact figs but when the smell lifted they were down in handle something like $80 million for the meet. So anything compared to either of the past 2 years should have a positive bias.

[GMB@BP]

Two seasons ago was Magna's big brain-fart whereby if you wanted to bet on Santa Anita you either had to be there in person; be at a simulcast site in person; or, bet via XpressBet. I don't remember the exact figs but when the smell lifted they were down in handle something like $80 million for the meet. So anything compared to either of the past 2 years should have a positive bias.

ok three seasons then might be best?

[rrbauer]

ok three seasons then might be best?

Probably, but that exceeds the capacity of my memory bank..... :)