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Have You Seen The AQU Condition Book?
Well I have - and a few observations are in order:
1. More distances are needed for turf races; specifically, 5 furlongs and 7 1/2 furlongs. Isn't the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint sometimes run at 5 furlongs? So that debunks the idea that there is anything "Mickey Mouse" about it - and the sky hardly fell when Saratoga started running 5 1/2-furlong turf races. As for 7 1/2 furlongs, I don't want to hear how the start would be "too close to a turn that's too tight" - a 617-ft. run into an 844 ft. turn, when at the Fair Grounds they've been running 7 1/2-furlong races on the grass for decades with a 480-ft. run into an 814-ft. turn.
2. The purse distribution for overnight stakes races has been changed to 60% first, 20% second, 11% third, 6% fourth and 3% divided equally among the remaining finishers; the purse breakdown for other stakes races remains the same, at 60% first, 20% second, 10% third, 5% fourth, 3% fifth and 2% divided equally among the remaining finishers. I guess we'll find out soon enough whether there has been any change in the purse division for non-stakes races.
3. This capping of purses as double the claiming price, which will continue at the Aqueduct meet, is lame and self-defeating. Times have changed; I can remember when they didn't allow the winner's share of the purse of a claiming race to be more than the claiming price. How does NYRA expect to compete with other tracks that do not observe this rule?
Why does NYRA have to be so hidebound?
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