Sears, Tetrick ... Vacating M1

[The Bit]

I see Derick Giwner wrote an article for DRF confirming that Sears and Tetrick will both be going to Yonkers for Friday nights and perhaps Saturday nights after this weekend. Gingras will also be skipping Saturday nights and I'd imagine Burke will have enough power on Fridays to keep him busy at Yonkers for both nights.

Dube has also been quick to bail the last few seasons, so it wouldn't be shocking to see him do it again.

I know Pandy will say this is good for wagering at the Meadowlands and I tend to agree with that from a bettors stand point. It certainly opens the racing up and you don't have the usual suspects getting cut breaks and holes just because they are who they are. Plus, you get better prices on the horses that Sears, Tetrick etc would be driving that you still like.

However to me as a fan of the sport and the track, to the casual fan of the sport, and/or the possible would be new fan, I think this is bad. My feeling is that this is detrimental to the public perception and rebuilding that is more important to the sustainability of the product than anything else happening at M1. It is tough to argue that M1 is still the Mecca when many of the best, most well known drivers, vacate to race elsewhere. The driving colony in my mind is a huge part of the reputation that M1 once had.

Many of the guys who fill in the void are more than capable, but go to the track or your local OTB and ask a weekend warrior who they'd rather wager on, Tim Tetrick or Chris Page? Joe Bongiorno or Brian Sears?

I guess we will see. Every time I think the tide starts to go in the right direction for the Meadowlands, something seems to swing the other way.

[wilderness]

With the Levy series and that filly series coming up?
It lasts for five weeks, and the Levy will offer multiple races on the Saturday card with purses of 50k, how can anybody blame them?

Sears said in an interview last years that he was considering changing venues.

[melman]

I agree with you "Bit". I think the horsemen are being shortsighted on this. They suport tracks that very few watch and very few bet on. Dover and Meadows 15 race cards and four days a weak. Chester four days a week with 14 race cards. Very poor handle at all of them. Yonkers has the slot purses also and gets next to nothing in handle compared to purses. The BigM gets people to watch and to BET. Horsemen wake UP. Sooner or later that slot money will dry up and go away. By FAR the largest market for racing is the NY area. M1 should have no trouble in racing four days a week with full fields. Chester's handle on the win pool in R14 yesterday --just over $2,000. Pathic the BigM handle kills them. Would love to see others views on this.

[pandy]

If I were in their shoes I'd do the same thing, you have to go where your best opportunities are to drive top horses, especially since the sport is on borrowed time, may as well make the money while you still can.

Personally, I don't mind seeing the lesser-known drivers get a shot at the Meadowlands. My best meet at the Meadowlands the past few years was the fall meet they had where Jim Meittinis and Jimmy Marohn Jr. were driving regularly and doing well, there were a lot of juicy overlays that meet.

[CHeCK EyE]

After the Overbid and Four Leaf Clover this Saturday how much top notch racing will be at the Meadowlands on the weekends? The fact that those guys are going to Yonkers with the Levy and Bluechip Matchmaker is a no brainer? Why did A-Rod go New York, Prince Fielder to Detroit, and Pujols to LA...Once the championship meet returns to the Big M, they will be back and be mainstays through August.

[LottaKash]

I also, believe that each and every driver must make the decision where he is to get his bread and butter from....I agree with Pandy, I would do the same...

Still, the game is changing, and fast at that, I'm afraid....Those of us who have been around awhile could see this coming, bit by bit, for some time...Now it is here, and so the great shakeout begins....Nationwide at that...

For me tho, at my age, as long as there is an overlay or powerful play to be made, I am still grateful that there are still many chances to find them....Soon, that won't be the case....But maybe in the long run, that may not be a such a bad thing....The "shaking out" part...

I only follow quality racing, and refuse to play horses that have no class or form to speak of....So, let the chips fall where they may.... The strong will survive and I will go down swinging with the survivors, for as long as it lasts...

Greed and Jealously will continue lead the tracks down the paths of goodbye....It is too bad that there is no collaboration between the nearby tracks to each other, to share what is left of the "pie", equally.....This unwillingness and shortsightedness will utltimately spell disaster long term...Because, whether the tracks like it or not, they are all inescapably intertwined and connected to each other, and if one fails the rest will not have far to go, I think....We need the "B" tracks just as much as the "AAA" tracks...They are the testing and proving grounds, for the upcoming generations of future racehorses as well as next generation of horsemen....

The sport must respect the fact(s that there are just not enough of quality horses and owners to go around, to have year-round racing at so many tracks all at the same time.....Those days are gone, imo....Cooperation in scheduling the race calendar must be prime for the tracks to have any shot at all for a healthy future...Plus, there is only so much harness-betting money to go around...

best,

[melman]

I understand your view LottaK. I used to be the same way. It just does not work anymore. If you wait, wait, wait and a very selective and want to bet on only "classy" stock you are limited to BigM, WDB/MOH, Bal. You HAVE to consider the size of the win pool. How can you wait and then be forced to make a low bet amount or else kill your own odds.
\
Example from just now.

At Chester where they have "classy" overnight stock and I don't think ANY fair person would say they do not.
At Monticello where they have mostly low class horses.

Win Pool
R2 at Chester $5,274
R2 at Monticello $5,226

I think we are telling Jeff Gural why bother. Don't spend the money or the time and effort. The horsemen will just go to a "no attention" track and get there purse money.

But for how long????

[LottaKash]

I understand your view LottaK. I used to be the same way. It just does not work anymore. If you wait, wait, wait and a very selective and want to bet on only "classy" stock you are limited to BigM, WDB/MOH, Bal. You HAVE to consider the size of the win pool. How can you wait and then be forced to make a low bet amount or else kill your own odds.
?

Yeah Mel, I agree with you about the pool sizes and all, but "in the end" for me, it's just that, "This is ALL I've got".....So I have to play it this way right til the end....Hard as I try, I can't get the hang of cheap tracks on a steady basis...I usually end up violating and comprimising my hard earned truths (I hate to be knocked off form, and begin doubting myself)....I guess you could say that, I am no longer the "gambler", that I once was, so I only play what I know, and this is all I know...and, I am more or less content to just thankfully accept the modest profits that I accrue from that style of play at the tracks that suit my style and needs.......Retirement has me in perpetual "scared money" mode, so it's, "slow and steady wins the race", for me...I just want top quality and formful horses, the rest is pretty ez for me...I just want to bet and make enough kash to keep the pressure off, and to get the little things in life that I wouldn't be able to get, otherwise...

Besides, my piddling bets would never rock the odds at any of the tracks that I play, anyways...:cool:

best,

[melman]

I really do understand your viewpoint LK. Remember I used to be like that also. Since I went to mostly pic3/4/5 betting have done even better. That's just me however. Plus if your betting $60 to win or less your safe---even at Chester. :) BTW I'm in retirement mode also. If was using "scared money" would call a halt fast. Classy horses or no classy horses.

[LottaKash]

:) BTW I'm in retirement mode also. If was using "scared money" would call a halt fast. Classy horses or no classy horses.

Mel, by scared money, I mean that if I lose my bankroll, it would be hard to make it back up quckly as in times past...Sure, even at this stage, I could still manage that....But, since retiring, I've cut way back on my amount of a wager, is all....

I find it both "challenging" and yet "rewarding" that my bankroll has been intact and growing quite modestly for quite some time now, and this I believe is due to my re-arrangement of some of my values and priorities....STill, at some point in time, I think I might try to not take any of the steady profits, and just "re-grow" a bigger and helathier bankroll, maybe just to get that "pony" that I never had....:D

I am not "that scared".....

best,

[badcompany]

Could it be that the writing is on the wall for M1 and the drivers know it?

To leave M1, things must be pretty bleak, especially when you consider that the Racino at Aqueduct is going to take a bite out of Yonkers, eventually affecting purse sizes. So, Sears and Tetrick aren't even going into a great situation.

[The Bit]

I'm not in anyway saying the drivers shouldn't do it. You have to make a living and most racetrack operators probably have no loyalty either. I'd be lying if I thought I completely understood the current situation at the Meadowlands and what the drivers are being told off the record or behind the scenes.

I was simply saying I don't think this is helping the sport in general nor the resurgence of the Meadowlands, if one was even coming. Purely from the prospective of a fan of the sport and a fan of the racing at the Meadowlands, I don't think this helps in anyway.

[pandy]

You're right it doesn't help the Meadowlands but it is what it is.

[Oskar]

I don’tthink Sears drove in the Levy last year, but Tetrick did. He handled GallantYankee in the final, and drove River Shark in one or more of the preliminary legs. Also, Blatantly Good and One More Laugh, two horses he has a relationship with, are eligible.



Anndrovette and Krispy Apple, two of the better mares in the Matchmaker, are both regular drives for Tetrick.



What about Sears and Peelers? He drove her when Johansson didn’t last year. Is Marcus still in the picture? Other Matchmaker mares Sears has a relationship with are Myluvmylife, Ginger And Fred, Rocklamation and Royal Cee Cee.



Atochia is Levy eligible, and Sears has driven him before. Gingras can’t drive all the Burke horses, and he’ll opt for Foiled whenever possible.



There are some good possibilities for Sears and Tetrick in those upcoming Yonkers series.

[rowboat]

I WAS GOING BACK AND SAW YOUR POST.IT MADE SENSE BUT THE TRACKS NEVER COOPERATED.A FEW WEEKS AGO ON A SUNDAY I CAPPED THE SAT NITE SWAMPS PROGRAM AND THE PURSES WERE QUITE GOOD.WHY COME TO YONKERS.I AM TRYIMG TO SWITCH MY FIGURES TO GET THE EXACTA PLAY.THAT CRAP DOUBLE SAT WAS CRAP.I HAVE STARTED TO LOOK AT THE SPEED RATINGS AND GOING BY THEM THERE ARE SO FEW CONTENDERS WHY COME HERE.

THE SPORT HAS BEEN DYING A SLOW DEATH.THE IDEA OF PLAYING A CLASS HORSE AT YONKERS IS 3-4 BUCK 8 DOLLAR EXACTA.HARD TO FIND AN OVERLAY UNLESS ITS 5 BUCKS.THE SLOTS WILL NEVER DIE THE HORSES WILL DIE FIRST SAD TO SAY.BUT THOSE IN IT KILLED IT

[pandy]

I've created a new Facebook page, not for profit, www.facebook.com/harnessracingcomeback

My goal is to get a racetrack to run some races in the conventional wooden sulkies, which I feel is the only hope for the industry since the races are 100 times better in those bikes, all of which I explain on the Facebook page.

I realize now that we have been whining about the industry as a whole, and the industry has certainly failed, but the only hope for positive change and better harness racing is the tracks. The tracks have control over their own product. Any change has to come from a racetrack. For instance, Gural kicked out certain trainers, banked the turns, both good things.

[jdhanover]

Intersting read Pandy I 'Liked" it. One question though...not sure I understand your correlation between the wood sulkies and the wire-to-wire winners. Unless the wood bikes ae heavier thus the horses tire more pulling exta weight. But I dont think that is it.

[wilderness]

pandy simply believes the wood suilkies will slow the races down and make flow of the race more competitive.

If you watch the races at WEG during the 90's and early 2000's there were quite a few trotters still using the wood bikes.

Considering how the breed has developed and leans more these days towards speed horses on the lead, it may or may not prove Bob correct, however a test run is certainly worthy of consideration.

[pandy]

Intersting read Pandy I 'Liked" it. One question though...not sure I understand your correlation between the wood sulkies and the wire-to-wire winners. Unless the wood bikes ae heavier thus the horses tire more pulling exta weight. But I dont think that is it.

Thank you for viewing the facebook page and "liking" it, I appreciate it.

It's not so much the weight as much as the aerodynamic design of the steel bikes. Also, almost all sulkies that are used now are off-centered by 6 to 10 inches, so the horse is actually racing closer to the rail, which is a big reason why the races are so much faster. When I interviewed Curt Watson, who designed the Cheetah and the UFO, he made it perfectly clear that from an engineering standpoint, the bikes currently in use, such as his UFO, are much faster due to the aerodynamics, which gets complicated to explain but it is what it is. I wouldn't mind faster times if it didn't result in a speed bias and poor outside flow, but it does, which makes the majority of the races less competitive, thus you have a high percentage of winning favorites and low payoffs--doom for the harness racing business.

For full discloser, the Facebook page I created is not for profit, I'm just looking to make enough noise so that a track tries the wood bikes.

[badcompany]

Didn't Freehold once try a staggered starting gate to help the outside horses?

With regard to the bike, I would put it pretty far down on the list of reasons why harness is on its deathbed. My top two would be poor marketing and high takeout.

Half mile harness tracks were always speed favoring with first over being a nightmare trip.

[Ray2000]

pandy

In the good old days I would always give trotters special consideration to hold the lead vs pacers who can get caught more often by closers with a good brush. (Also, trotters hold their form longer than pacers, but that's a different point.)

A look at year 2011 shows this is no longer the case.

38,445 races on the Pace, 22482 won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (58.5%)
14,571 races on the Trot, 8506 won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (58.4%)

Breakdown 1/2 mile tracks

17,492 races on the Pace, 11,080 won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (63.3%)
5,745. races on the Trot, 3,654. won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (63.6%)

not 1/2 mile...(5/8, 7/8, 1, 1-1/4 mile)
20,953 races on the Pace, 11,402 won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (54.4%)
8,826 races on the Trot, 4,852 won by horse who was 1st or 2nd at the half (55.0%)

I would like to see like your experiment carried out at some track but I fear fan resistance will be a huge roadblock because "joe fan" wants to see records broke.

That's why, in the beginning, I would push for wooden sulkies with trotters where speed records are more important to owners and breeders rather than to the betting public.

Just a thought.

[Not4Love]

Maybe it's just me. I'm a casual fan and wondered if there has ever been a race meet that was a success just running two days a week. Ok the drivers are bailing. What about the gamblers? I know I have. How can any serious player devote significant time to such an abbreviated schedule? It seems like the handle has dropped quite a bit since they cut days.

[pandy]

Didn't Freehold once try a staggered starting gate to help the outside horses?

With regard to the bike, I would put it pretty far down on the list of reasons why harness is on its deathbed. My top two would be poor marketing and high takeout.

Half mile harness tracks were always speed favoring with first over being a nightmare trip.


Slanted or as you call it, staggered starting gates are used at Chester and The Meadows and do help a lot.

Marketing is poor but won't help because the racing isn't that good anymore.

I showed a flat bet profit of 25% on my Best Bets at Yonkers and Roosevelt for 7 years in a row documented in Sports Eye and then my own tout sheet back when Harness Races were competitive in the 70's an early 80's, and most of my profit came from posts 6, 7, and 8 and yes, quite a few of my longshot winners were closers. The tracks were not speed favoring and the outside posts won more than twice as often as they do now. Therein lies the problem.

Yes, first over used to be a bad trip, but now if you follow half mile racing you will see that a lot of races are won by the first over horse, because being close to the pace is key. Basically on half mile tracks now, most races are won by either a leaver (pacesetter or pocket) or the first over horse.

It's pretty simple. If the pacesetter is weak either the pocket horse will win, or the first over horse will brush past the pacesetter and hold off the pocket horse. That's half mile racing in a nutsell. Years ago many horses won from second and third over. I'm working on a new column where I will explain exactly how to grind out a steady profit just betting either a leaver or the first over horse.

[badcompany]

I started getting into harness in the 80s. One of the best horses of that era was "On the Road Again." However, at Yonkers, he couldn't beat a lesser horse by the name of "George S." Why? Because George S had gate speed and 'Road didn't.

The top driver at Yonkers at that time? Mike Lachance, the ultimate "bust out of the gate" driver.

You might make a case for Roosevelt, but, Yonkers has been strongly speed favoring for at least the last thirty years. I don't have a database, but, I'll bet the rail has won the most races, of any pp, every single year.

[mrroyboy]

Slanted or as you call it, staggered starting gates are used at Chester and The Meadows and do help a lot.

Marketing is poor but won't help because the racing isn't that good anymore.

I showed a flat bet profit of 25% on my Best Bets at Yonkers and Roosevelt for 7 years in a row documented in Sports Eye and then my own tout sheet back when Harness Races were competitive in the 70's an early 80's, and most of my profit came from posts 6, 7, and 8 and yes, quite a few of my longshot winners were closers. The tracks were not speed favoring and the outside posts won more than twice as often as they do now. Therein lies the problem.

Yes, first over used to be a bad trip, but now if you follow half mile racing you will see that a lot of races are won by the first over horse, because being close to the pace is key. Basically on half mile tracks now, most races are won by either a leaver (pacesetter or pocket) or the first over horse.

It's pretty simple. If the pacesetter is weak either the pocket horse will win, or the first over horse will brush past the pacesetter and hold off the pocket horse. That's half mile racing in a nutsell. Years ago many horses won from second and third over. I'm working on a new column where I will explain exactly how to grind out a steady profit just betting either a leaver or the first over horse.
I am very interested in your new column. Hope you write it soon

[pandy]

I started getting into harness in the 80s. One of the best horses of that era was "On the Road Again." However, at Yonkers, he couldn't beat a lesser horse by the name of "George S." Why? Because George S had gate speed and 'Road didn't.

The top driver at Yonkers at that time? Mike Lachance, the ultimate "bust out of the gate" driver.

You might make a case for Roosevelt, but, Yonkers has been strongly speed favoring for at least the last thirty years. I don't have a database, but, I'll bet the rail has won the most races, of any pp, every single year.

Keep in mind, I'm talking about the conventional wood sulky. The modified sulky (steel) started at Yonkers in 1977. Before that the track was not that speed favoring. Yes it was more speed favoring that Roosevelt, but it was not a speed favoring track as compared to today's sport. Post 1 only won about 14%, this year it's 19% so far but it has been as high as 25% in some years at Yonkers. With the warmer weather, the win percentage from the rail should climb to over 20%.

[rowboat]

IT COMES DOWN TO THE HORSE AND DRIVER.WHEN BRENNAN AND A PENA HORSE WAS ON THE OUTSIDE THEY WERE BET WELL.GB HAS THE HANDS TO GET THE SPEED FROM THE OUTSIDE.SEARS ALSO AND SMITH WILL GUN IT FROM THE 7-8.I LIKE THIS GUY BUT IT COMES DOWN TO THE QUALITY OF HORSES IN A RACE.YONKERS HAS A GREAT NUMBER OF DRIVERS BUT STILL NO GREAT COMP.AS ALWAYS THE BOARD TALKS.YOU SEE A MORNING LINE OF 5-1 THE HEAVY FAVORITE THERE IS A REASON.IF YOU DONT WATCH YONKERS LIVE YOU CANT POSIBLY BET.THE BREEDERS WILL GO CRAZY BEFORE THEY GO BACK TO THE WOOD SULKY.THE NUMBER OF HARNESS HORSES BEING BRED HAS DROPPED OFF.I LOVED THE GAME AND THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEST 2 MINUTES OF ACTION.THE PAST IS THE PAST. THE T BREDS USED TO HAVE 10-12 HORSES IN A RACE ON SAT BUT THAT HAS DROPPED OFF TOO.MUCH EASIER TO PICK A GAME TO BET RATHER THAN HANDICAP A WHOLE CARD

[rowboat]

IF NOT FOR OFF TRACK WAGERING ALL HORSE BETTIING WOULD BE GONE.WHAT DOES THE SWAMP GET ON TRACK AND OFF.THERE ARE PROS OUT THERE KEEPING THE SSPORT ALIVE.YES THERE IS SO MUCH MONEY TO GO AROND.NY HARNESS USED TO CLOSE ON NEW YEARS EVE AND OPEN ON ST PATS.BUT THEY LOOKED AT THE MONEY BEING BET ELSE WHERE AND KEPT IT OPEN.SAME REASON THE INNER TRACK AT THE BIG A WAS BULIT.A PRODUCT WAS THERE AND THEY WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE