Open Stretch
First, Australian and New Zealand bikes are indeed a small amount narrower and a little longer to help for stability and horse strikes.
Yes, the two hole benefits way too much now. But why? Say at Yonkers the stretch is something around 400 feet or so. What would the horse taking the belly trip do if ........say the Yonkers Passing Lane started 75 or 100 feet deep into the stretch? This would create many possibilities. Fearing not enough ground to get up would the two hole horse pull early? How would we know if it is not tried? Why couldn't different races on the card contest the race over (using Yonkers again) say three different length open stretches. It would only take a few minutes to set the plastic pylons to the three different lengths. Let the drivers and trainers factor in all the elements as to strategy........and, of course the bettors. For god's sake harness racing shake things up! Another point an open stretch should be wide enough to accommodate two horses, not the 7-9 feet wide they currently are.
But, nowdays, not my circus, not my monkey............that said I still sure would like someone, somewhere to shake things up. Rich Herbert
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