Why are there always so many scratches at Belmont?

[keithw84]

It seems like on an average day, more horses get scratched from races at Belmont than from all the other tracks I watch. Any reason why?

[senortout]

It seems like on an average day, more horses get scratched from races at Belmont than from all the other tracks I watch. Any reason why?

I think its partly because there are so many horses 'cross-entered'.....and so many large stables, too.

A cross-entered horse may have the trainer searching for an easier spot, and this means he's in for today's race and one tomorrow or the next day, and maybe even one at a nearby track on the same day!

And the coupled entry without any real intention of running both parts, or in some cases like today, all 4 parts, is common as well. All you gotta do is get the post position draw and scratch the ones who don't draw favorable post positions!....then there are those horses entered in a grass race for running only if the race comes off the grass, which is a far more common occurrence on the east coast than out west....so you see.....its part of the game. Trainer may even have a coupled entry in there which includes a horse he thinks is a lock, if only a certain other horse should scratch out. Its a big poker game now. If that other horse doesn't scratch out, he may scratch his hot horse, thinking he can't beat the other one.

[thespaah]

this is the one issue that has had me scratching my head for years.

IMO it is simply too easy for trainers to scratch their horses out of races.
I believe the Standardbred folks have it right.
A horse may be scratched only if determined to be sick by the track vet or based on a ruling by the Judges.
The reasoning behind this is simple. To insure full(er) fields.

[Thomas Roulston]

Another issue is the arbitrary 12-horse field-size limit that is observed in virtually all races at Belmont. With turns that wide and sweeping, and given the width of the track, they can easily do 16 at many distances, especially those with a long run to the nearest turn (e.g., 1 mile+ on dirt, and even 7f on the WTC and 6F on the ITC).

Why force horses to scratch when their connections actually do want to run and are not looking for an excuse to scratch?

[jonnielu]

It seems like on an average day, more horses get scratched from races at Belmont than from all the other tracks I watch. Any reason why?

It is the race track version of the bait-and-switch marketing technique. Usually, the horses that tend to scratch are exactly the ones that would make the race competitive, if it were a full field.

The large percentage of handicappers make their plans the night before, or early in the morning. With 4 possible upsetters running tomorrow, most handicappers that will plan to bet NYRA tomorrow.

Once all of those horses scratch out, the handicapper will still bet NYRA because it is to late to run another track. Another bonus is that this gives the chalk an extra advantage, and the captured handicapper will go ahead and bet the chalk at less then 2-1 where he might not normally.

The handicapper still wins, but he doesn't make much money, and figures that tomorrow will be a better day, especially when he sees those 4 possible upsetters in the advanced edition that he spends his profits on, on the way out. ( this is figurative, I see from the empty stands that at least 37 other people play online)

It's Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown's field goal attempt. The holder has the most fun.

jdl

[SaratogaSteve]

Another issue is the arbitrary 12-horse field-size limit that is observed in virtually all races at Belmont. With turns that wide and sweeping, and given the width of the track, they can easily do 16 at many distances, especially those with a long run to the nearest turn (e.g., 1 mile+ on dirt, and even 7f on the WTC and 6F on the ITC).

Why force horses to scratch when their connections actually do want to run and are not looking for an excuse to scratch?

back in the day and up to the mid-90's, the max limit at NYRA was 14 starters, not 12 on the main track, for a non-stakes race. Certain turf races [Saratoga ITC, Belmont ITC, 9 furlongs] they limit to 10 typically. They used to run 1 if not 2 races per day at this field size. In fact, there were 1 or 2 races at Saratoga this year than ran a full field of 14. I'm sure this was reduced to maintain a healthy entry base, along w/ cutting out Mondays...