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I'm against closing betting before the gate opens. They tried that before, and it got hooted down.
What they need to do is get their totalizator system out of the 1940's and upgrade it across the board: host tracks, hubs, simulcasts, ADW's, etc. We have the technology to have updated totals, including bets from all over the world, available to end users within one second of "STOP" being sent. It isn't done because it costs money.
One simple solution is: Give end-sites, such as a simulcast center, ADW, hub in another country, etc. two choices:
1) The end site invests in the technology and/or software to instantly send all bets at OFF, so that they're in the system immediately after the STOP signal is sent.
2) For sites that can't do this or that refuse to do it, the hub will close betting at the time the first horse loads into the gate, the first dog loads into the box, or the first horse reaches the starting gate (standardbreds).
Either way, there are updated odds within a second after the OFF/STOP and no more magical changes at the eighth pole. Also, sites that don't upgrade will lose customers to sites that do, which will get the slow-pokes to join in a hurry (or lose business).
Of course, it's not as simple as throwing a switch. The system needs to be brought online in stages. It's probably a two-year process. Meanwhile, we can watch yet another sustained horse surprise everybody by getting to an easy lead at 12-1 and be 4-1 when it crosses the wire.
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