Originally Posted by Parkview_Pirate
Wow. If I'm reading Dave's post correctly, Chippewa Downs comes in at the top of the heap in terms of reliability?
Maybe so, but my first thought is that a track that runs four weekends a year for minimal purse values is tougher to exploit than your average circuit. That being said, I did attend the closing Sunday last year at Cpw since I lived nearby. Had a good time and made about $30 on the day, based more on the CLOSE paddock inspections than anything else. It's not Tillamook or Grant's Pass, but it was fun.
My second thought is that while speed numbers are one way to compare tracks, to answer the OP's question I would reply with - "the best tracks are the ones where I win consistently...." Back in the 1980s and 1990s this would have been NYRA, Ellis, Fairmount, Birmingham and Southern California. Today it's Sha Tin, Australia, New Zealand, Saratoga and Oaklawn.
It's one of the great mysteries for me as to why handicapping changes from track to track, and why some seem rather easy to figure out both winning and losing races, while others don't make any sense. Obviously it helps to know a circuit track more thoroughly, but over time the constant I've observed is...change. I believe Dave has some tools with his products that model factors in depth for each track, which allows him to bet across the country with confidence. My approach is just to steer for where I win, and avoid the money burners.
So, I wager almost all my handle at NYRA, GP, Kee, SA, Dmr, OP, Sha Tin, certain Aussie and NZ tracks, and Japan. I may as well take my bankroll of singles out of my pocket and use them to light cigars and campfires rather than place a wager at FG, CD, Tam or WO. The rest of the tracks are somewhere in between those extremes, but I rarely play them - even if I do cash in the Preakness once per decade.
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