AQU , death of the mid priced payoff
 

Just a gut feeling , but its either chalky or wild bombs. very little mid range.

Prob an effect of the smallish fields, but not entirely.

Maybe there's different drug rules and the horses who look great on paper are the ones who are affected most? I dont know what rules are 'new', that's up to someone who knows more about the Big A than i do (that wouldnt be hard to find :lol: )

I have come to believe that the game has become more dishonest over the past five years as the economy has soured and this is leading to the betting pattern you are noticing (and it's not just at Aqueduct!!). Insider's always have had an unfair edge but it was always most obvious and eggregious at the smaller tracks. I always avoided handicapping and betting the smaller tracks because of this. Now, however, I've noticed these patterns expanding into the top tier NY and Florida tracks.
They seem to be exploiting the betting pools by hammering favorites to excessively low prices and putting over more longshots with inexplicable form reversals after a concerted campaign of form darkening. Handicapping in this environment of deceit is becoming harder and less rewarding.
To conteract this creeping degradation I've become much more selective in the races I bet and carefully watch the tote for signs of insider moves. I suggest you do the same.

Tuffmug:mad:

Wow.

You have to love the conspiracy theories on the internet. :rolleyes: :bang:

Yeah, just like past posting and pick 6 wagering manipulation were some of those prior crazy conspiracy theories posted on the net.

I agree.

Past postings, pool manipulations, ringers, race fixes...we horseplayers have seen every form of deceit in recent years.

Who can blame us for becoming a little paranoid?

Thats funny, my complaint over the last 7-10 years is that racing has become more honest, even too much so for my type of handicapping. I used to open up the form and check the list of trainers first, Oscar(before he was outed)Murray Garren ,Pete Ferriola ,Vinnie Nocella, John Wenner etc, check out their horses and then handicap. All this stuff,but much more was always going on. Super trainers and whales have killed this sport in my opinion.Also there is too much handicapping information available to the public for anyone to get an edge. Only on Derby day, Breeders Cup day, when the uneducated bettors are involved do we regulars get an edge.

Find something else to do
 

I've loved horse racing for a long time but it's an absolutely ridiculous sport to take seriously, waste a lot of time on, or think you're going to make money at etc.

I wish I didn't love it , to be honest with you. I'd like to take back all the time I've wasted on this game in my life.

The sport is corrupt to the bone.

Nobody is going to beat this game with the corruption, the takeout, the cost of going to the track frequently.

The past performances are full of running lines from horses that were juiced at the time. That makes them meaningless.

There's probably at least one or two horses on illegal drugs in almost every race in my opinion.

You can't handicap drugs.

If you can do it, I suggest every one of you find something else to do with your time.

The guys I feel the worst for are the guys who really think you can beat this game and are spending hour after hour every day studying it, reading books and reading past performances. It's a waste.

Congrats, you just wasted 10 more minutes of your life.

I thought I was negative about the sport and I am. But I am not about the game. I have been betting horses since the mid 1960s and it is easier to make money today than it ever was. But you have to pay attention and do your homework. Betting the ponies is not for slacker. You have a ton of valuable information available to you that most bettors ignore. Figure out how to use it and then use it.

It seems every winter,there is something to complain about in regards to NY racing. While admittedly,I am not having a great winter meet so far,but I don't think it has anything to do with the low prices and high priced and no middle prices. I don't even feel that is true.Personally,I have had great winter meets and some not so great. That is horse racing. A few bad beats turned around and everything is different. In racing you have to let the game come to you and in the winter you have to be closer to perfect in your approach,but it has always been like that.
This winter,I think their has been more of an inside bias,but I'm not sure I have read the bias as well as I used to. Some horses I thought should fire haven't.That is racing. I'll just plug along and wait for my spots.

The surest sign of an inside bias is seeing horse sneak through on the rail and win when the jockey was able to easily go to the outside like they do most of time. Most of the time this shows a golden rail.

Doesn't matter what Coast your on. There will always people who hate East/West Coast racing. I find it weird that when Santa Anita went back to dirt...That calmed down. Even though Holly and Del Mar stayed with synthetic. Just an observation.

You're aware that they say the same thing about the stock market, where trillions are invested. And they are right, their are a million minefields.

All you have to do is step around them