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Dirtying one up
Very common in harness racing. When a horse races above the level it can win, the human factor kicks in. Get a couple of real bad looking lines on the PPS so it looks like the horse is off form. Then when he drops to his proper level, connections get a better price.
That is the dirtying up factor.
More common in harness racin because
1. Nature of race class positioning ( unless a clamer) is based on money earned in last 4 or 5 starts so connections will look to drop in class and get to a winning spot by being off the board.
2. Harness horses typically race every week and can hold their form for months, so dirtying up becomes part of the game.
That being said, I have seen it often in thoroughbred racing as well and if you follow certain tracks you will find the connections that use this strategy.
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