Quote:
Originally Posted by cj
Usually the ones in the east are different. The aren't NW2, they are for horses that have started for a designated price (or lower) in a certain timeframe, usually the last year or two. There used to be a lot more of these and trainers would often try to slip a horse through a race to get it eligible for starter races. I'm sure it still goes on, but they used to be much more prevalent.
Rapid Redux's 22 race winning streak contained 18 of these races. It started in a race where he was in for an 8k tag, and he had run for cheaper tags before that.
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Exactly. I wasn't sure if it was a big track/small track thing. Your comment implies an east coast/west coast thing.
They changed the conditions of the StAl$40KN2L a couple years ago in SoCal. They were always for horses that had
broken maiden for $40K or less and never won 2 races. They made the change a couple years ago to horses that had
started for $40K or less and never won 2 races. HUGE difference. Before the MSW winners could never get into these races. They had to go to the Cl$25Kn2l if they couldn't cut it in the Alwn2l. Now if a MSW winner can't cut it in Alwn2l, they sneak them into a $40K claimer, then wheel them into the StAl races. The Cl$25Kn2l used to be a better race, with all those MSW winners, than the StAl$40Kn2l with all those MCl$20K winners in them. It was hidden class that many handicappers didn't really pick up on. They believed that the Alw race was stronger than the Cl by definition, and usually handicapped those Cln2ls all wrong. It was a great advantage understanding conditions, a must in handicapping horse races.