LottaKash
09-02-2008, 10:38 AM
Recently there was a thread about your favorite Harness Tracks that you play.....I thought I would expand on this a bit further, or rather reduce it to one-track, that, if you couldn't or wouldn't be allowed to play at all the available tracks, but, at only one track, what would it be.???...
Some of us keep betting records, and some do not, I suppose the ones with the records, regardless of how much you like or don't like a particular track, would, if wanting to be a winner in the long run, make some or most of your best plays at that most profitable track....Of course there are still many players that do not keep such records and just play the track they like the most....Sometimes it may have something to do with the locale, I suspect brand loyalty here...With the advent of ADW's, viewing the races at just about anywhere in the country is a daily reality, and for me, brand loyalty is no longer an issue.....
Bob "Pandy" Pandolpho, once was asked, "what was his favorite track/s to play", and I believe his respnse was something like "the ones that I make the most money at".....And so it goes with me, as when my handicapping had taken somes turns for the better, I began keeping records of my most successful tracks, consequently I found myself gravitating to those tracks more and more....
Being a great respecter of Early Speed and Racing Position, I have found the track that I go to most often for a win, and it is Harrah's Chester.......
Chester is a very unique racetrack in that, being a 5/8's of a mile track, one would think that it would have a nice-enough long stretch, that would allow horses who made a mistake or were at an early dis-advantage, to make up for those deficits.....Not true...the stretch is only 434 ft in length, and off the top of my head, I would say it is the shortest stretch of all harness tracks....I mean Yonkers Raceway, a front-runners paradise, has a stretch of 660 ft.....But, the "Great Equalizer" is the Starter adjustable, staggered starting gate....This unique starting gate, just before the start of the race is manipulated by the starter in the car, to allow for a slanting of the gate that allows the last 4-post positions a more fair start at the beginning of the race.....Racing on a 5/8's mile track has always posed a big problem for horses starting in the outside post-positions as, the start of the race is so near to the first turn, and horses often get hung out badly on that first-turn.....Not so much at Chester, with the advent of the staggered started gate, a well meant front running horse has a great equalizer in this type of gate.....I wish all of the small tracks would adopt this gate, as it would open up the handicapping a bit, and all those chalk horses would be lessened somewhat, giving others in the race a better chance to win.....I mean have you ever watched Human athletes compete at track-running, and don't they use a staggered start in a lot of the races ???.....So why not in harness racing ?
Now Chester, is a very speed favoring track, firstly because of the gate mentioned above, and that the winnigest moves are made just before the 3/8's and just past the 5/8's poles....Also, as with most small tracks, Chester has an inside passing lane in the stretch, and this is also great for early speed horses, as you don't necessarily have to be the leader of the race to win, as you can sit in the 2-hole and often the 3-hole and make a run in that short stretch.....
So, if you have done your handicapping well, and are alert to the quickest horses, as of now, and play the drivers who use this track to their advantage, you have a great shot at winning many races, using horses with good early and attacking speed.....I still marvel at times, at how you can get a good price on a very good horse at this track....This track is tough on closers, and unless the front-enders are victims of their own busted pace, they are at an extreme dis-advantage.....But, when you see a horse that is not an inheritor of a busted pace, and shows a fast-sharp rally in his race, you are looking at, perhaps, next weeks monster....
Early Speed at Chester, there is nothing like it, anywhere .....
best,
Some of us keep betting records, and some do not, I suppose the ones with the records, regardless of how much you like or don't like a particular track, would, if wanting to be a winner in the long run, make some or most of your best plays at that most profitable track....Of course there are still many players that do not keep such records and just play the track they like the most....Sometimes it may have something to do with the locale, I suspect brand loyalty here...With the advent of ADW's, viewing the races at just about anywhere in the country is a daily reality, and for me, brand loyalty is no longer an issue.....
Bob "Pandy" Pandolpho, once was asked, "what was his favorite track/s to play", and I believe his respnse was something like "the ones that I make the most money at".....And so it goes with me, as when my handicapping had taken somes turns for the better, I began keeping records of my most successful tracks, consequently I found myself gravitating to those tracks more and more....
Being a great respecter of Early Speed and Racing Position, I have found the track that I go to most often for a win, and it is Harrah's Chester.......
Chester is a very unique racetrack in that, being a 5/8's of a mile track, one would think that it would have a nice-enough long stretch, that would allow horses who made a mistake or were at an early dis-advantage, to make up for those deficits.....Not true...the stretch is only 434 ft in length, and off the top of my head, I would say it is the shortest stretch of all harness tracks....I mean Yonkers Raceway, a front-runners paradise, has a stretch of 660 ft.....But, the "Great Equalizer" is the Starter adjustable, staggered starting gate....This unique starting gate, just before the start of the race is manipulated by the starter in the car, to allow for a slanting of the gate that allows the last 4-post positions a more fair start at the beginning of the race.....Racing on a 5/8's mile track has always posed a big problem for horses starting in the outside post-positions as, the start of the race is so near to the first turn, and horses often get hung out badly on that first-turn.....Not so much at Chester, with the advent of the staggered started gate, a well meant front running horse has a great equalizer in this type of gate.....I wish all of the small tracks would adopt this gate, as it would open up the handicapping a bit, and all those chalk horses would be lessened somewhat, giving others in the race a better chance to win.....I mean have you ever watched Human athletes compete at track-running, and don't they use a staggered start in a lot of the races ???.....So why not in harness racing ?
Now Chester, is a very speed favoring track, firstly because of the gate mentioned above, and that the winnigest moves are made just before the 3/8's and just past the 5/8's poles....Also, as with most small tracks, Chester has an inside passing lane in the stretch, and this is also great for early speed horses, as you don't necessarily have to be the leader of the race to win, as you can sit in the 2-hole and often the 3-hole and make a run in that short stretch.....
So, if you have done your handicapping well, and are alert to the quickest horses, as of now, and play the drivers who use this track to their advantage, you have a great shot at winning many races, using horses with good early and attacking speed.....I still marvel at times, at how you can get a good price on a very good horse at this track....This track is tough on closers, and unless the front-enders are victims of their own busted pace, they are at an extreme dis-advantage.....But, when you see a horse that is not an inheritor of a busted pace, and shows a fast-sharp rally in his race, you are looking at, perhaps, next weeks monster....
Early Speed at Chester, there is nothing like it, anywhere .....
best,