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08-17-2016, 01:42 PM
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#1
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,047
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Where are the horses?
2nd at Saratoga today, a 32k race draws 6 and with the scratch down to 5.
So where are the horses?
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08-17-2016, 02:49 PM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,749
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dahoss9698
2nd at Saratoga today, a 32k race draws 6 and with the scratch down to 5.
So where are the horses?
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Dirt racing in general and at Saratoga in particular doesn't really draw big fields. It's been this way at Saratoga for years. The big fields will be on the grass.
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08-17-2016, 02:51 PM
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#3
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,047
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ronsmac
Dirt racing in general and at Saratoga in particular doesn't really draw big fields. It's been this way at Saratoga for years. The big fields will be on the grass.
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It was more of a rhetorical question. You'd think people would want to run more with these purses.
Did you see the field assembled for 73 thousand in the 3rd? Terrible.
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08-17-2016, 02:55 PM
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#4
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C'est Tout
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Cajunland
Posts: 13,272
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Non maiden dirt races (esp routes) are drawing paltry fields. Only exception I can recall this meet was the Saratoga Dew Stks they ran the other day.
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08-17-2016, 03:08 PM
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NJ
Posts: 3,822
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dahoss9698
2nd at Saratoga today, a 32k race draws 6 and with the scratch down to 5.
So where are the horses?
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The foal crop was 35,000 10 years ago and it's 20,000 now. The supply has decreased by 40%, so even with fewer races we can't fill fields. Pretty simple.
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08-17-2016, 03:13 PM
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,569
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A natural byproduct of the advent of racinos...IMO. What was supposed to stimulate field size because of the higher purses, has instead had the opposite effect...as trainers have realized that, since the purses remain the same regardless of field size...it makes more sense to institute the SHORT field...where their horses have a better chance at the sizable purse.
Instead of "competition" among horsemen...the elevated purses have encouraged the "cooperation" among the horsemen, as they play the "numbers game" of pursuing the higher purses with the least amount of risk.
It certainly isn't just a Saratoga phenomenon...
Last edited by thaskalos; 08-17-2016 at 03:28 PM.
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08-17-2016, 03:15 PM
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,569
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by castaway01
The foal crop was 35,000 10 years ago and it's 20,000 now. The supply has decreased by 40%, so even with fewer races we can't fill fields. Pretty simple.
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So...do we just project ANOTHER 40% decline over the next 10 years and shrug this off...or do we look for a new game to play now?
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08-17-2016, 03:33 PM
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,569
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by castaway01
The foal crop was 35,000 10 years ago and it's 20,000 now. The supply has decreased by 40%, so even with fewer races we can't fill fields. Pretty simple.
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It isn't just that the foal crop has decreased over the years. The sinister part of this development is revealed by the current nationwide epidemic known as the "late scratch". The fields are still adequate when they are initially carded...but then, the obligatory "late scratches" further reduce those fields to a totally unappetizing size. To appease the racing secretary...the trainers are obviously entering horses that they have no intention of running.
Last edited by thaskalos; 08-17-2016 at 03:35 PM.
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08-17-2016, 03:35 PM
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#9
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Veteran
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 9,047
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Maybe I need to explain myself better. They are giving lots of purse money away at Saratoga right now. I understand foal crops are down, fewer horses, etc.
But there are horses on the grounds right now to increase field size. Why aren't trainers running horses more often? The money is there.
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08-17-2016, 04:11 PM
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NJ/MD
Posts: 1,185
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by thaskalos
It isn't just that the foal crop has decreased over the years. The sinister part of this development is revealed by the current nationwide epidemic known as the "late scratch". The fields are still adequate when they are initially carded...but then, the obligatory "late scratches" further reduce those fields to a totally unappetizing size. To appease the racing secretary...the trainers are obviously entering horses that they have no intention of running.
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Does anyone have any numbers that back this up? Were there fewer scratches back in the day?
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I'm on twitter: @theyreoff
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08-17-2016, 05:01 PM
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,569
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by andtheyreoff
Does anyone have any numbers that back this up? Were there fewer scratches back in the day?
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"Back in the day"...the only late scratches you ever saw were for incidents in the starting gate. Now...you have no IDEA why all these horses become "late scratches".
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08-17-2016, 05:14 PM
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Austin, Tx
Posts: 2,752
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dahoss9698
2nd at Saratoga today, a 32k race draws 6 and with the scratch down to 5.
So where are the horses?
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They're not at Indiana Downs....Have TVG on in the background and noticed they just had a match race (two-horse race). 12 horses entered and scratched down to 2 horses.
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08-17-2016, 05:30 PM
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 8,798
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Nobody's running at Del Mar either.
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08-17-2016, 05:39 PM
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 28,569
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Track Phantom
They're not at Indiana Downs....Have TVG on in the background and noticed they just had a match race (two-horse race). 12 horses entered and scratched down to 2 horses.
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A 12-horse race gets scratched down to 2 horses...and the race purse remains the same.
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08-17-2016, 05:41 PM
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#15
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Veteran
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,428
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dahoss9698
Maybe I need to explain myself better. They are giving lots of purse money away at Saratoga right now. I understand foal crops are down, fewer horses, etc.
But there are horses on the grounds right now to increase field size. Why aren't trainers running horses more often? The money is there.
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This kind of raises an argument to reduce purses or only payout to maybe 3rd or 4th place.
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