The racing secretary would know better, but I think the ability to run in those non graded stakes without conditions gives the connections of 2nd tier horses another way to avoid Graded Stakes. If we ran more NW3 ALW and maybe even an occasional NW4 or Classified like the old days, some of those horses would not fit the conditions of the ALW races and be forced to run in Graded Stakes. I just don't know if the ALW races would fill. Another possibility is that they would ship out and look for minor stakes elsewhere just to avoid the big guns. It's a tough problem, but I don't think it's just a horse shortage issue. There are too many top horses in the hands of too few people, too many ways to avoid the best competition, too many people looking for softer spots, and more people willing to ship around to accomplish that. I don't blame them for that, but it's impacting the bettability of major dirt stakes. The major tracks are competitors, but sometimes it's in everyone's best interests to cooperate on schedules.
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Last edited by classhandicapper; 09-29-2022 at 09:36 AM.
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