Pet Peeves In Racing

[Java Gold@TFT]

Everyone has their pet peeves but the one that is killing me right now is the number of on-air commentators or reporters who insist on calling the best filly in the land "Rachel Alexander".

The other one is public handicappers on TV who refer to horses in every race by their number and not their name. I don't mind both but some of us do follow horses by name and "I like the 3,4,7 in the 5th" does me no good if I have to look up their names in my notes. I only watch to see if they have an angle or info I may have missed before I make my own decision. Just use the horses name please.

Any others? And I'm not just talking about the standard lack of info like shoes, geldings, etc.

[illinoisbred]

My pet peeve is the frequent malfunctioning of the teletimer in route and turf races at hawthorne.Management seems oblivious to the problem;thetrack announcer doesn't seem to notice.This has been a problem for 3-4 years;so much that I invested in a stopwatch and time all routes twice.Also, I've noticed many of these incorrect times are printed as factual in the form.All causual players at hawthorne beware.

[illinoisbred]

Also,if i have to hear John G. Dooley compliment jockeys on their horsemanship and agility in situations where they clearly F'D-UP and put themselves in trouble I think I,ll puke.

[Tampa Russ]

Why can't "they" get the names of tracks spelled correctly? It bugs the crap out of me when I punch out a ticket from the automated teller machine and it says "Thistle Downs", or "Charlestown".

I know...it's a small gripe.

[DJofSD]

My pet peeve is the lack of time zone information. Adding PT, or CT, or ET would be appreciated.

[andymays]

If anyone here has followed my posts it is undeniable that I go absoulutely nuts when the Race Tracks that installed synthetic surfaces lie about them to the public!

They are not less expensive to maintain! In fact they are very expensive to maintain!

They are not infinitely safer! It is now debatable whether they are safer at all!

[Java Gold@TFT]

One more - On-air's who can't figure out if they are handicapping males or females. Please stop calling the fillies "he".

[bane]

Mine is:

The less and less of distance we see on cards.

The weaking of handicap fields.

When trainers don't let their horse take a turn while being saddled.

How sales have become the dominate force on breeding than racing.

[DanG]

• The back end of multi-race wagers taken off the grass (unavoidable, I know) ,but then not conveying the information and / or basic rules to the betting public in a clear and coherent manner. This goes double for ADW providers.

• Public handicappers, on air hosts, internet participants and / or the guy next to you with a three cornered hat being held to some bizarre level of responsibility that we often don’t to apply to ourselves.

[Tom]

Failure to get scratches posted early enough in the day do you can actually use them before you have to leave for the track or OTB hole in the wall.
I think 10:00ET to 10:30ET should be realistic. ;)

[macguy]

Racetracks offering more short sprints and fewer routes.

Even Hst has jumped on the bandwagon and now offers 1 or 2 "about" 3 1/2 furlong races every week, for older horses.

If the horse can't go at the VERY least 5f, and be competitive, then it really shouldn't be running.

[miesque]

Failure to get scratches posted early enough in the day do you can actually use them before you have to leave for the track or OTB hole in the wall.
I think 10:00ET to 10:30ET should be realistic. ;)

Amen to that!

[kenwoodallpromos]

My biggest most often notices pet peeve is not being able to see a horses' numbers on the backstretch and on turns (Tracks without GPS on the runners).

[CryingForTheHorses]

My pet peeve is trainers that are allowed to beat the system by getting stays on their suspensions...and KEEPING the money

[TommyCh]

The same colored saddle cloths on all horses, ala Breeders Cup and other races. It's marketing, not racing. I'll bet the Breeders Cup jockeys don't like it either.

[kenwoodallpromos]

My pet peeve is trainers that are allowed to beat the system by getting stays on their suspensions...and KEEPING the money
A stay in that case means staying at the track after getting caught.

[fmolf]

Inconsistent stewards rulings.Stewards in my opinion should be like nfl referees they should be independent and stay at one track say no longer than a month.Too many stewards have too many connections to the trainers and owners racing at their " home " tracks.

[Mineshaft]

1-When the race is running and your watching on the TV monitor they show the first 4 running places. Why does it take them so long to change the places when a horse passes another one? They keep the same 4 places up till they hit the stretch? WTF??

[rastajenk]

And then the signal gets lost! Picks up again on the gallop-out. The only time the screen goes blank is inside the eighth pole. How does that happen?

[Pell Mell]

The camera stays on the leader who is leading by 10 in the stretch so you can't tell who's coming on.

[TejanoRun]

I get annoyed by the photo finish pictures - you see where "they" draw the line, but you don't see where the finish (pole, wire or line) actually emanates from; at some tracks, the mirror is a few feet before or after the actual finish line, but you don't see that in the picture either; sometimes the pic is a reverse image, sometimes not; sometimes the advertising hanging below under the inside rail is just gone from the picture and you ask yourself -at least I do - where did it go, or if it's a reverse, why aren't the letters backwards? Is this the true picture?

Today in the final race at DelMar, I still don't believe the #8 got in front of the #2 for the place.

[positive4th]

my pet peeves are the ladies behind me at DMR who literally fall into the aisles after cashing like a $9 quinella...............

[TejanoRun]

Positive4th, that reminds me, there are a few guys at one of the local OTB parlors who don't do any handicapping, bet every race, throw money around wildly, and yell so everyone knows what horses they have, or when they win, or that the losing horses are "pigs" or "dogs".

I try to console my steaming anger that they just cash $2 show tickets.

One of these days after I'm liquored up, I'm going to go up to them and say "I've only seen a couple of pigs today. Those are horses."

[andymays]

my pet peeves are the ladies behind me at DMR who literally fall into the aisles after cashing like a $9 quinella...............


More than any other meet Del Mar is a place where rookies and tourists go. Get in line 10 minutes before post because it is likely that you will get behind someone with a $3 voucher trying to bet 10 cent supers and cover every horse. They take 5 minutes apiece to bet $3!

[DanG]

2 random cents…

First time at a racetrack, the betting windows are not exactly an inviting place. A window (or more at meets like Del Mar) should be dedicated to the newbie’s with preferably a teller who hasn’t fallen off the bitter cliff.

Very tough to have it both ways in creating new fans and simultaneously give them the Manson lamps :eek: when they take too long at the windows.

Of course; easy for me to say betting from home, but the times I’ve taken new people to live racing the process is foreign to them / the terminology is in Greek and the atmosphere is often intimidating. That doesn’t normally scream…come again.

[Java Gold@TFT]

Dan, opening day at Saratoga I went to a SAM in the paddock area after they left for the track. I got in a line with 3 guys in front of me with 7 min to post. There was a woman at the machine next to us. When I got done she was still there with 2 minutes to post and had yet to complete her $1 exacta bx of 3 horses. That's when I told my wife (who also doesn't understand how to run the machines) that I was taking her over to a live teller and helping call out her bets. I couldn't let her put anyone else through that type of agony that I had just watched. :rolleyes:

[ghostyapper]

Mine is:

The less and less of distance we see on cards.


As evidenced yesterday at america's "premier meet" the spa.

Three 6 furlongs races, four 5.5 Furlong races.. The only 2 races at a mile and up were on the turf.

I guess they figured since the first race was over 2 miles that it would all average out??

[Bruddah]

Race callers with British, Austrailian, South African, New Zealand et.al. accents. Those accents totally take away my ability to enjoy the call of the race, because I am always thinking "What the fu*k did he just say?". I am then thrown into catching up, as to what has happened in the race. Totally p*sses me off!! By the time I have figured it out, It's over. :mad: :mad:

[Tom Barrister]

$2,000 bets which come in after the race is half-over, almost always on the horse that has a clear lead ten seconds out of the gate.

[DanG]

Dan, opening day at Saratoga I went to a SAM in the paddock area after they left for the track. I got in a line with 3 guys in front of me with 7 min to post. There was a woman at the machine next to us. When I got done she was still there with 2 minutes to post and had yet to complete her $1 exacta bx of 3 horses. That's when I told my wife (who also doesn't understand how to run the machines) that I was taking her over to a live teller and helping call out her bets. I couldn't let her put anyone else through that type of agony that I had just watched. :rolleyes:
In my experience your type of help is few and far between Java and should be commended. I know I’m not alone in seeing some pretty ugly scenes at the windows. I’ve seen fights that would make a hockey player blush. :blush:

My favorite used to be when I would make a long series of complicated wagers and the teller was slow. Some a$$ in line would invariable make a comment and depending on how the day was going would decide whether they earned a new orifice or not. :D

Sorry about the drift…back on topic.

[DanG]

Race callers with British, Austrailian, South African, New Zealand et.al. accents. Those accents totally take away my ability to enjoy the call of the race, because I am always thinking "What the fu*k did he just say?". I am then thrown into catching up, as to what has happened in the race. Totally p*sses me off!! By the time I have figured it out, It's over. :mad: :mad:
Fortunately for the world typing in a “Mississippi” dialect is still acceptable. (Nothing derogatory meant by singling out the posters location and / or good people of Mississippi btw.) Just criticizing someone for an “accent” when we all have one is a concept I could never wrap my vocal chords around....he said in his best Jersey drawl. :D

[Bochall]

Hey Bruddah, Amen to that. If I hear another English/Australian/S African accent calling a race that isn't in one of those countries I am gonna hurl! Never been a fan of Denman (I'm a Durkin and Rodman guy). It seems Cali has gone Aussie!.....my other peeve is the lack of an interpretor when interviewing foreign jockeys. I heard a 4min interview with Leparoux (who mumbles) and didn't know a thing he said. Huh? Sacre wha? When Fernando Jara won the Belmont and Dubai WC I literally could not make out a word except for the occasional "horse" and "happy". Do the jocks justice by letting them express themselves in their native tongue. That way we will understand them and they won't come across as being dumb. Ya dig?

[Bruddah]

Fortunately for the world typing in a “Mississippi” dialect is still acceptable. (Nothing derogatory meant by singling out the posters location and / or good people of Mississippi btw.) Just criticizing someone for an “accent” when we all have one is a concept I could never wrap my vocal chords around....he said in his best Jersey drawl. :D


Yeah, I'm sure your Joisy accent would be just as annoying as my Southern drawl if we were calling races. So what say we go to Euro world and call the Arc. Do you think we would annoy the Euro Punters? Eh what old Bean!

[Bruddah]

Hey Bruddah, Amen to that. If I hear another English/Australian/S African accent calling a race that isn't in one of those countries I am gonna hurl! Never been a fan of Denman (I'm a Durkin and Rodman guy). It seems Cali has gone Aussie!.....my other peeve is the lack of an interpretor when interviewing foreign jockeys. I heard a 4min interview with Leparoux (who mumbles) and didn't know a thing he said. Huh? Sacre wha? When Fernando Jara won the Belmont and Dubai WC I literally could not make out a word except for the occasional "horse" and "happy". Do the jocks justice by letting them express themselves in their native tongue. That way we will understand them and they won't come across as being dumb. Ya dig?

I agree, but at least the jockey is not on the public address system calling the race as it develops. Besides, I always like to be at the windows collecting when they interview the jockeys. ;)

[DanG]

Yeah, I'm sure your Joisy accent would be just as annoying as my Southern drawl if we were calling races. So what say we go to Euro world and call the Arc. Do you think we would annoy the Euro Punters? Eh what old Bean!
Point taken;

That’s the interesting parts of ‘accents’. I never knew I had one until a blind date in California and the girl guessed where I was from in minutes. :D

[joanied]

Mine....
I'd like American's calling American races!!
too many sprints
synthetic surfaces
having to pay to register just to see video replays or results ect. on too many sites...DRF ect.
interviews with trainers/jockeys that are impossible to understand
not enough paddock coverage
too tight of camera shots during a race...especially at during the stretch run
not enough (if any) advertising on TV via the networks and other popular venues such as Fox TV...one of the best ads they have is the photo finish compared to the buzzer shot ect...should be shown on network TV during primetime...all the good race ads are run on TVG/HRTV...preaching to the chior!
ESPN sucks
for the newbies...not enough info in plain terms they can understand

maybe that's enough...for now;)

[harcapper]

I get annoyed by the photo finish pictures - you see where "they" draw the line, but you don't see where the finish (pole, wire or line) actually emanates from; at some tracks, the mirror is a few feet before or after the actual finish line, but you don't see that in the picture either; sometimes the pic is a reverse image, sometimes not; sometimes the advertising hanging below under the inside rail is just gone from the picture and you ask yourself -at least I do - where did it go, or if it's a reverse, why aren't the letters backwards? Is this the true picture?

Today in the final race at DelMar, I still don't believe the #8 got in front of the #2 for the place.

TR,

To answer your question, you will not see the finish pole wire or line because the photo print is taken from a borderless slide that was produced at the finish. What you are actually viewing when you view a photo are all of the horses at the wire. From nose to tail the entire image is being produced as the horses cross the finish point.

Har

[brdman12]

Mine is watching the odds drop on my horse as it rounds the turn for home...

[v j stauffer]

Mine is whenever you have an argument/discussion with a guy. Especially when they are complaining about something. You always get thier racetrack resume.

" I've been coming to the track for FORTY years"

Really?

You'd think by now you might have learned something.

2nd favorite is the same guy that's been playing forty years and knows the races are fixed.

Really?

You know you're being cheated and have continued to come back?

[OTM Al]

Mine is whenever you have an argument/discussion with a guy. Especially when they are complaining about something. You always get thier racetrack resume.

" I've been coming to the track for FORTY years"

Really?

You'd think by now you might have learned something.

2nd favorite is the same guy that's been playing forty years and knows the races are fixed.

Really?

You know you're being cheated and have continued to come back?

Amen. Nothing is more stupifying than a guy who is constantly complaining how everything sucks and everything is fixed and yet he's there day after day sending his money in. There are problems, yes, but the constant drumbeat of negativity get really old

[46zilzal]

Management treating patrons like dirt simply TOLERATING their being there.

I was once using a hand held tape recorder as the previous days races were running making some trip notes on three races. Some Bo-HUNK comes up and tells me "You can't record the races." I explained to him what I ws doing and even played back what I had recorded and then he threatened to kick me out.

I went to the racing office got the rules of racing and then asked him on what page did it say I couldn't make notes in my own tape recorder?

He had no answer.

I used to trade totes with people all over the world and at GGF would go to the clubhouse to find old $100.00 tickets as they were good to trade. I was told that this "trash" belonged to the racing association and I could be kicked out for picking it up. After writing and received notice from the CHRB that just the opposite was true, this idiot had to back down.

The disdain to customers is palpable at times

[46zilzal]

Mine is whenever you have an argument/discussion with a guy. Especially when they are complaining about something. You always get thier racetrack resume.

" I've been coming to the track for FORTY years"

Really?

I always respond to that hinting that they never learned a thing past the basics in commenting: "No you came to the track ONE year and just repeated it 39 times."

[46zilzal]

I get annoyed by the photo finish pictures - you see where "they" draw the line, but you don't see where the finish (pole, wire or line) actually emanates from; at some tracks, the mirror is a few feet before or after the actual finish line, but you don't see that in the picture either; sometimes the pic is a reverse image, sometimes not; sometimes the advertising hanging below under the inside rail is just gone from the picture and you ask yourself -at least I do - where did it go, or if it's a reverse, why aren't the letters backwards? Is this the true picture?

.
As I have worked two years as a photo finish photographer, that "line" is on the computer screen in the software from the scanning digital photo taken of the entire group of horses. The camera is RIGHT on the line scanning a narrow range continuously as long as one depresses the exposure (much akin to the reverse of the green lighted bar in a xerox machine as it moves across a page as the horses move against a STABLE recording point) You can look up the camera as it is called Finish Lynx and it is standard for horse races, Olympics and other uses

There are targets, PERPENDICULAR to one another on the inner and outer rail. EACH day before the first race goes, we have to run a test shot and those ORANGE TARGETS have to be evenly displayed on the top and bottom of the screen or someone has to go down and recalibrate them.

I have shown many a disgruntled owner the shots and never have had a dispute that could not be verified.

[Bruddah]

Point taken;

That’s the interesting parts of ‘accents’. I never knew I had one until a blind date in California and the girl guessed where I was from in minutes. :D


Yeah, I've heard some blind people say their hearing was much more sensitive because of their condition. :rolleyes:

[harcapper]

Mine is whenever you have an argument/discussion with a guy. Especially when they are complaining about something. You always get thier racetrack resume.

" I've been coming to the track for FORTY years"

Really?

You'd think by now you might have learned something.

2nd favorite is the same guy that's been playing forty years and knows the races are fixed.

Really?

You know you're being cheated and have continued to come back?

Vic,

It's usually the same guy who tells you that the're fixed right after bragging about his longevity. It's the natural reaction for someone who has not learned enough to build or even retain a bankroll.

[big frank]

right on

[Imriledup]

Mine is whenever you have an argument/discussion with a guy. Especially when they are complaining about something. You always get thier racetrack resume.

" I've been coming to the track for FORTY years"

Really?

You'd think by now you might have learned something.

2nd favorite is the same guy that's been playing forty years and knows the races are fixed.

Really?

You know you're being cheated and have continued to come back?

This is good stuff! Along these same lines, you can get the guy who loves to ask you if you've ever worked in the game or owned a horse (as if that is a prerequisite to winning money at the windows) and then tries to shoot down your opinion because there are plenty of people out there who 'know more'

[takeout]

I truly don’t know where to begin. Just a few off the top my head:

Takeout & breakage
No national rules
Misrepresentation of pool sizes
Players treated like mushrooms
Ridiculous tax laws
Slot machines

And soooo much more… including all that’s already been mentioned by everyone else.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Camera angles, especially in the stretch.
Many tracks don't include horses as close as 2 or 3 lengths away from the leader throughout the stretch.
You have to wait until the other horses literally hit the finish line before you have a clue about how the race for place, show, and or fourth is going, and if you blink, or you don't pick up the saddle cloth, you are SOL unless the announcer either guesses right or the results are posted on the board.

Just saw the first race at Suffolk and it inspired this post.

[Imriledup]

One more i thought of.


I can't stand when they post 2 dollar tri and super payouts on the screen. Very few people bet 2 dollar supers or 2 dollar tris, people bet dime supers and hit repeat or dollar supers and hit repeat, no one starts by calling out 'i'll have a 2 dollar super part wheel....."

NYRA is guilty of posting a 2 dollar super price.....2 dollar super price pays EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS but guess what?

You only have it for 10 cents and get 400 bucks. You go from "WOW I MADE A GOOD HIT to darn i can't even pay my rent with this"

All posted prices should be posted in 10 cent or 1 dollar prices. No reason to be posting 2 dollar prices other than WPS.

[Hajck Hillstrom]

Public handicappers, on air hosts, internet participants and / or the guy next to you with a three cornered hat being held to some bizarre level of responsibility that we often don’t to apply to ourselves.Mine are those fellas in the three cornered hats. Paul Revere and the Raiders excluded.

The female gender.... not so much. :lol:

[takeout]

I’ve noticed at Charles Town they have two different screens. One will say $2 payout, the other will say $1, and they’re both the same figure.

Often the announcer will announce a $1 payoff while the monitor they are showing has the same payout as being for $2.

One of those screens is right so why don’t they just use THAT one? :confused:

[rastajenk]

Along those lines, my local harness pit will post a $2 tri or super payout on the monitors, and right under it will post a $1 Box payout. Well, maybe it wasn't part of a "box" that you're holding. It could be a key, a part wheel, or a $1 straight; that really peeves me. :mad:

[Tape Reader]

The camera stays on the leader who is leading by 10 in the stretch so you can't tell who's coming on.

Absolutely!

Any pros out there that can explain this?

[KingChas]

Horses not being released in the starting gate by the gate crew member after the gates open.
Virtually destroying any chance of the horse winning the race.
Been seeing this to much at Monmouth lately.
Coincidental,I'm sure. ;)

[joanied]

Originally Posted by Pell Mell
The camera stays on the leader who is leading by 10 in the stretch so you can't tell who's coming on.


:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: drives me insane:bang:

[takeout]

When you’re at the track and they turn the monitors off before the replay of the last race is over.

[Imriledup]

When you’re at the track and they turn the monitors off before the replay of the last race is over.

I HATE that. Good peeve.

[Stillriledup]

Ok, about a year and a half has passed since we listed our peeves, here's my question. Has any racetrack changed anything, or are these peeves STILL out there peeving you?

I know racetrack execs read PA (who doesnt) so they should have been able to implement some of these suggestions.

Have they? Has anything changed for the better/bettor?

[JohnGalt1]

Ok, about a year and a half has passed since we listed our peeves, here's my question. Has any racetrack changed anything, or are these peeves STILL out there peeving you?

I know racetrack execs read PA (who doesnt) so they should have been able to implement some of these suggestions.

Have they? Has anything changed for the better/bettor?

:lol:

[joanied]

Still no advertising on TV (besides the race channels)...horses that should stay in training are still being retired to the shed too soon...still too many tracks. Still no serious without mercy drug enforcment rules & penalties.

[BlueShoe]

The camera stays on the leader who is leading by 10 in the stretch so you can't tell who's coming on.
Do not play little Hastings, but if I recall correctly, they are way ahead of the major tracks on this one. When the leader has a big lead on its way to an obvious win, they will go to PIP (picture in picture). The leader will be shown in the small box while the larger screen will focus on the rest of the field as they come down to the wire to contest the minor placings. Big help for exacta, tri, and super players. Other tracks would be wise to adopt this practice.

[NY BRED]

ugh, how about the price/quality of food at the track.


I'f I were running a track, I'd have the public sync with the horse's
preferred cuisine:

Carrots Julienne

Organic oatmeal

Alfafa /green salads

And peppermints for desert

:jump: :jump:

[BlueShoe]

ugh, how about the price/quality of food at the track.
Right, lets start with the most basic staple of all, coffee. Some tracks and otb sites charge $2.00, plus tax, plus the expected tip. When a restaurant charges two bucks, at least you get a refill or even two, but not at the track. Coffee should be under a buck a cup, imo.

[delayjf]

People who handicap at the window. The only bet that should take any time is the pick six - which they should require bet cards for.