2 mile marathon at Mnr tonight

[CBedo]

The 8th race at Mountaineer tonight is a two mile marathon starter allowance for those who have started fro 10,000 or less in 2008 or 2009.

First off, how in the heck did the racing secretary come up with these conditions/distance combination? He currently has a field of seven entered.

Secondly, I'd love to hear other's view of handicapping these marathons in general, and this one specifically.

[misscashalot]

Generally go for the early speed, pray for a 27 second first fraction, grab a beer and enjoy.

[cj's dad]

- look for the horse that fits the racing secretary's agenda for writing this horses--t race in the 1st place.

I've found that odd conditions favor a certain entry - usually for paying back a favor to a trainer for filling a field.

[markgoldie]

Have no particular interest in this event at all. However, marathoning is generally speaking a specialty-driven affair, meaning that those that specialize in such races tend to do better than those stretching out, even if their figs are better.

It seems we may have such a situation tonight, since the apparent favorite (4-5) morning line belongs to the #3 Helicopter, who is not a marathon specialist. Combine that with the fact that his lofty recent numbers have been earned on AW, and you have a potential vulnerability at a very low expected odds.

The recommended upsetter would appear to be #5 Dancer's Legacy, who is a tested marathoner and has recently won over this track at a mile and three-quarters. He was beaten by the #6 at 2m +70 at FE, but that loss was only a tad over 2 lengths and Dancer's Legacy was off a nearly 4 month layoff at the time. Also, the loss was avenged last out at MNR to the tune of over 7 lengths.

So Dancer's Legacy is worth a shot as an upsetter and I'd be inclined to take 3-1 or better.

[Pell Mell]

From what I can see these races have been carded pretty regular there. Usually in a marathon series the races get longer as the series goes on.

I normally don't like these races because there are horses that seem to be specialists in these starter races.

In this particular race I would take the value on the #6 because with the addition of the 3 yr old chalk horse there may be some pace in here and the 6 runs best coming well out of it.;)

[sally]

Looks like :6: paid 12.00...6.60...5.00

nice pickin' Pell Mell !!

[Tom]

They are giving us a long race to make up for the lack of racing coming up - they are going down Jan/Feb, back on March 1. 12/21, I believe, is the last day.

[CBedo]

Looks like :6: paid 12.00...6.60...5.00

nice pickin' Pell Mell !!I ended up using the 4, 5, & 6 and tossing the 3 in the late pick 3 and the late double. Too bad there wasn't much value in the first two legs. The double was nice at just under 60 dollars to the 7 in the last.

Helicopter (the 3) had too many questions at that price. I figured if he beat me, I could live with it. I did not use the 7 and will have to go back and look at that one again. I thought the 5 ran a heckuva race given that he put pressure on the 3 most of the way around. The 4 was my longshot closer who was flying late, but I think spotting the field about 30 early was just too much to ask! For about 80% of the race, he wasn't even on the screen. The announcer couldn't even calculate the lengths behind, just saying "a long way back."

[thelyingthief]

every in attendance will be required to run 2 miles.

[SMOO]

every in attendance will be required to run 2 miles.
That would seem to be the only fair thing to do.

[46zilzal]

We need more of these. A whole asect of racing is being hidden (stamina horses) by not allowing them a platform to show their stuff.

Woodbine has recognized this as well.

[CBedo]

We need more of these. A whole asect of racing is being hidden (stamina horses) by not allowing them a platform to show their stuff.

Woodbine has recognized this as well.If there is demand for it, the secretaries will write them for sure, but this one only attracted 7 entries.

[stu]

On December 6th, Woodbine Race 5 had a 1 mile and three quarters garner 16 entries, 14 went to the starting gate, and 12 perserved to the finishing line.

The top five finishers were within in a length and a quarter of each other at the end.

[stu]

Mountaineer has a 2 miles and one sixteenths in the condition book for December 29th.

Race 2 on Page 23 in the following link:
MNR Condition Book (http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=CB-MNR-20091201-20091229D)

[stu]

Aqueduct has both a 12 furlong event (1/10/2010) and a 13 furlong event (1/31/2010) in the 1st condition book of 2010.

AQU Condition Book (http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=CB-AQU-20100101-20100131D)