Noting your stated home town....Finger Lakes is in your back yard.
Guess what? Not "weeds" there either. Fire away!

One thing is for sure, all of these NYRA scratches have made a lot of crappy horses look a whole lot better then they actually are. Oh BTW the little guy should have pointed out that Aqueduct fall/winter consistently has 5-6 horse fields. Most of the time having nothing to do with weather. Scratching at Aqueduct year after year is a natural Phenomenon.

In the winter last year, November through March, 41% of the races had fields of 6 horses or less. Not commenting either way, just putting a number on it.

Nice well thought out reply.
Thank you your great insights.
I am in your debt.

It rains plenty in England and France but they don't have nearly the cancellation of turf races we do. From what i've read, Europe has very efficient drainage systems on their turf course.

For the horsemen, the real issues with taking races off the turf are: often trainers have a schedule for their horse in preparation for a big race, and horses are being stabled but not earning.

That is a terrible analogy. Racetracks in France and England don't have extended meets the same way we do in this country. This is a major difference. Obviously there are other differences, but this is the major one. Yes, their courses are different, but not having extended continuous use like we do in this country plays a MAJOR role. They also cancel cards over there more than you may realize.

The US may have an extended racing season but in regards to NYRA its a whole different ballgame. The fields are a third the size and factor in the above average scratches the shorter seasons in Europe basically match the longer ones in the US. This is based on entrants of course. The stats dont lie.

I give you credit. You never tire of saying inaccurate and foolish things. It's a talent. It works well on the internet, that's for sure.

If you remove NYRA from my wagering universe, I am left with nothing to bet on because I do not wager on claiming races. As is, I wager only on p-4s and the universe of p-4s that does not include claiming races is very small: 1-2 plays per week at most?

There are only about 3-4 plays for me on the West Coast per year period, without SAR stake cards, KD, Kee and GP, I have no place left to wager.

That's why the situation at NYRA bothers me because from my point of view with the riches of high quality horses and purses, they should be able to put out a product that I( I reapeat I) could bet on.

Also, a lot of European courses have several different configurations and courses, so they aren't running over the same grass over and over again.

And on the extended meet issue-- by way of example, Longchamps will race 34 days next year. The other 331 days of the year, the grass will be growing back. :) Any American racetrack could probably keep its turf course in excellent shape if they had that race schedule.