Dear SA - please end the Strub series

[RXB]

No good reason to keep the 4YO's separated from the 5YO+. Merge them to create more competitive fields and better purses. Long overdue.

[v j stauffer]

No good reason to keep the 4YO's separated from the 5YO+. Merge them to create more competitive fields and better purses. Long overdue.

I think the Strub series is way cool. Totally on other side. As for more competative fields please consider that some very very nice 3's turning 4 come to Santa Anita SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE they can run against straight 4 year olds. In the case of Apr. and May foals some are not even 4 yet. Trainers would be very reluctant to run them against 5 & ups this early. One vote for keeping the series.

[ronsmac]

No good reason to keep the 4YO's separated from the 5YO+. Merge them to create more competitive fields and better purses. Long overdue.
I agree, I've felt this way for a number of years now. You make a very good point.

[BIG49010]

Do any tracks have races for 3-4 anymore?

Sportsman's in Chicago used to do it, and it was a real profit center for me back 20 years ago.

[cj]

I think the Strub series is way cool. Totally on other side. As for more competative fields please consider that some very very nice 3's turning 4 come to Santa Anita SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE they can run against straight 4 year olds. In the case of Apr. and May foals some are not even 4 yet. Trainers would be very reluctant to run them against 5 & ups this early. One vote for keeping the series.

There are way too many races with weak fields these days. The Strub series had its time, but that time is past.

[Indulto]

There are way too many races with weak fields these days. The Strub series had its time, but that time is past.Name some horses older than four on the grounds that you think should have been in the race rather than the San Pasqual or the San Antonio which is the same distance, grade, and purse, and would have accepted any 4yo willing to take on Game On Dude.

At least the Strub was a competitive race on paper this time.

[Tom]

Competitive on papaer and :sleeping: on dirt.
In SA's defense, no one has good race horses anymore - those days are long gone. That field was about as good as it gets. Enjoy it - next years it will be worse. what we need is less stakes races. FAR less stakes races. Cut the graded number in half, and the open number by more.

[cj]

Name some horses older than four on the grounds that you think should have been in the race rather than the San Pasqual or the San Antonio which is the same distance, grade, and purse, and would have accepted any 4yo willing to take on Game On Dude.

At least the Strub was a competitive race on paper this time.

What do you think about the fields for those races?

[RXB]

Name some horses older than four on the grounds that you think should have been in the race rather than the San Pasqual or the San Antonio which is the same distance, grade, and purse, and would have accepted any 4yo willing to take on Game On Dude.

At least the Strub was a competitive race on paper this time.

Early-season 4YO stakes horses are at no real disadvantage overall against 5YO's, especially on dirt. They race 4YO+ everywhere else; why not California? And considering how thin the older horse ranks are getting these days, splitting them into separate races makes no sense at all.

[senortout]

Racing a two year old for instance who has just turned 3 against older is pretty much a no-no and for good reasons. Same for a just-turned 4 year old. Period.

[RXB]

Racing a two year old for instance who has just turned 3 against older is pretty much a no-no and for good reasons. Same for a just-turned 4 year old. Period.

Completely, utterly false. They are not even remotely comparable situations.

[FenceBored]

Racing a two year old for instance who has just turned 3 against older is pretty much a no-no and for good reasons. Same for a just-turned 4 year old. Period.

If it's alright to run 3 year olds against 4-6 year olds in the Goodwood, JCGC, or Breeders' Cup Classic, why isn't it alright to run these same horses, as freshly minted 4 year olds, against the same crowd of now 5-7 year olds in the San Antonio?

[cj]

If it's alright to run 3 year olds against 4-6 year olds in the Goodwood, JCGC, or Breeders' Cup Classic, why isn't it alright to run these same horses, as freshly minted 4 year olds, against the same crowd of now 5-7 year olds in the San Antonio?

There was a time when it was fine. All drew pretty good fields when horses weren't retired as quickly. That time has passed.

[Dahoss9698]

Racing a two year old for instance who has just turned 3 against older is pretty much a no-no and for good reasons. Same for a just-turned 4 year old. Period.

There is nothing logical about it. There have been 28 runnings of the Breeders Cup Classic. 3 year olds have won 9 of them. 28 runnings of the Distaff and 3 year olds have won 8 of them. Newly turned 4 year olds are at no disadvantage.

When racing was lucky enough to have enough 4 year olds and older horses to card separate races, the series made sense. We're way past that point now.

[toussaud]

agreed.

what generally ends up happening is outside of the first leg, you have a watered down 4YO division and a watered down 5 and older division. just make it all one division. hopefully one day all that can change and we have enough good horses in training to separate them, but it's really effecting the racing right now.

[Indulto]

What do you think about the fields for those races?Do you think the Strub winner would have tried dirt against G-O-D?

Wouldn't the Strub lose its graded status by changing from 4YO to 4YO+ the way the Colonial Turf Cup did when it went from 3YO to 3YO+?

The horse shortage is indeed a real problem, but I doubt anyone is gong to beat G-O-D at SA, and this way we got to watch and wager on a competitive race while the champ continues his paid workouts until some real competition arrives.

[cj]

Do you think the Strub winner would have tried dirt against G-O-D?

Wouldn't the Strub lose its graded status by changing from 4YO to 4YO+ the way the Colonial Turf Cup did when it went from 3YO to 3YO+?

The horse shortage is indeed a real problem, but I doubt anyone is gong to beat G-O-D at SA, and this way we got to watch and wager on a competitive race while the champ continues his paid workouts until some real competition arrives.

I don't think it would lose its status, no, and I'm not sure why we should cater to horses that are ducking competition. You may doubt he could lose, but that used to be why we ran races.

[nearco]

Don't early season 4yos (like up to Apr or May) already get a weight break on the WFA scale?
Seems little need to have restricted races for them.