Santa Anita delays opening two days, now the 28th

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by ubercapper

I'm not sure why everyone doesn't get the reason for the postponement.

If SA ran as planned on Thursday after rain Wed. & Wed. night, ALL the turf races would be run on dirt, likely with significant scratches. I’d rather watch/handicap/bet on 10 horse fields on turf rather than 6 horse fields in off-turf races so I applaud this decision.

I'm looking at the card for Saturday and its packed. I think attendance will probably end up around the same or even higher than it was opening on Thursday since its a weekend and there is no major conflict with other sports.

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

While tribal sovereignty over horse racing is something I wouldn't doubt, any wagering would be governed by the Indian Gaming law, which requires a written agreement between the tribe and the state government regulating the betting pools.

governments only care about their cut

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by cj

I believe there is data thai says exactly that. Almost positive I've seen it before.

You’re correct.

This is why so many move planned works up or back to avoid sloppy tracks. It’s not because the horse doesn’t like it. They might. You just don’t take the added risk if you can ovoid it.

[Tom]

When you stop and think about it, MLB cancels when it rains, so I guess this is not the end of the world.

Kudos to them for giving PLENTY of notice.
And now, for those who play SA, Saturday is a mini BC with all those takes races, and, like Ellis says, you got the turf races.

MAybe the law unintended consequences will kick and and Gulfstream will have such a huge handle on Thursday they will buy a new timer!

[jay68802]

Originally Posted by Tom

When you stop and think about it, MLB cancels when it rains, so I guess this is not the end of the world.

Kudos to them for giving PLENTY of notice.
And now, for those who play SA, Saturday is a mini BC with all those takes races, and, like Ellis says, you got the turf races.

MAybe the law unintended consequences will kick and and Gulfstream will have such a huge handle on Thursday they will buy a new timer!

Found one.

[ultracapper]

I'd rather see a 3 race-day week with 9 to 11 races per day, with a huge majority of fields in the 8 to 12 entry range than what Santa Anita has been offering in the recent past. It makes for much more constructive handicapping. The 5 and 6 horse fields are a waste of time for 'cappers most the time IMO. Even if they carded just half the races under the conditions I prefer to handicap, I'd rather handicap 5 larger fields per week than 10 smaller ones any time.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

I'd rather see a 3 race-day week with 9 to 11 races per day, with a huge majority of fields in the 8 to 12 entry range than what Santa Anita has been offering in the recent past. It makes for much more constructive handicapping. The 5 and 6 horse fields are a waste of time for 'cappers most the time IMO. Even if they carded just half the races under the conditions I prefer to handicap, I'd rather handicap 5 larger fields per week than 10 smaller ones any time.

This

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

I'd rather see a 3 race-day week with 9 to 11 races per day, with a huge majority of fields in the 8 to 12 entry range than what Santa Anita has been offering in the recent past. It makes for much more constructive handicapping. The 5 and 6 horse fields are a waste of time for 'cappers most the time IMO. Even if they carded just half the races under the conditions I prefer to handicap, I'd rather handicap 5 larger fields per week than 10 smaller ones any time.

They have only been running 4 days for quite a while now, I am not sure it would make much difference to the field size to run 3 days.

Take a look at opening day, its stakes races or mdn claiming races. Not sure there is much in the middle.

[The_Turf_Monster]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

I'd rather see a 3 race-day week with 9 to 11 races per day, with a huge majority of fields in the 8 to 12 entry range than what Santa Anita has been offering in the recent past. It makes for much more constructive handicapping. The 5 and 6 horse fields are a waste of time for 'cappers most the time IMO. Even if they carded just half the races under the conditions I prefer to handicap, I'd rather handicap 5 larger fields per week than 10 smaller ones any time.

This isn't isolated to Southern California. If I own a horse, I'm entering a race that scratches down to 5 or 6 over one that's filling at 10-12. It's the nature of the beast, and I'd rather win twice as much over a career vs giving bettors a better handicapping experience. The owners are putting the show on and are customers too

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by The_Turf_Monster

This isn't isolated to Southern California. If I own a horse, I'm entering a race that scratches down to 5 or 6 over one that's filling at 10-12. It's the nature of the beast, and I'd rather win twice as much over a career vs giving bettors a better handicapping experience. The owners are putting the show on and are customers too

That's a function of horses racing less though.

If your horse runs 15 times a year, you don't mind big fields as much because you have a lot of chances.

But if your horse runs 6 times, you want short fields.

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by Tom

When you stop and think about it, MLB cancels when it rains, so I guess this is not the end of the world.

Kudos to them for giving PLENTY of notice.
And now, for those who play SA, Saturday is a mini BC with all those takes races, and, like Ellis says, you got the turf races.

MAybe the law unintended consequences will kick and and Gulfstream will have such a huge handle on Thursday they will buy a new timer!

Agree this particular case isn't a big deal and is the right decision for all involved- players, the business and the optics. What will be interesting is what happens on a major event day for which people travel to a destination.

What happens if 2020 BC weekend at Keeneland looks like 2007 at Monmouth? Do they postpone a day, move up a day, do nothing? How does that optic look when SA (and maybe others) are postponing less significant days due to weather? The first real big one is the KY Derby and the weather always seems iffy that weekend let's see what happens.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by alhattab

Agree this particular case isn't a big deal and is the right decision for all involved- players, the business and the optics. What will be interesting is what happens on a major event day for which people travel to a destination.

What happens if 2020 BC weekend at Keeneland looks like 2007 at Monmouth? Do they postpone a day, move up a day, do nothing? How does that optic look when SA (and maybe others) are postponing less significant days due to weather? The first real big one is the KY Derby and the weather always seems iffy that weekend let's see what happens.

Nothing on network TV ever gets postponed.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Nothing on network TV ever gets postponed.

Yeah, no baseball game on Network TV has ever been postponed. It's never happened.

[theiman]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

That's a function of horses racing less though.

If your horse runs 15 times a year, you don't mind big fields as much because you have a lot of chances.

But if your horse runs 6 times, you want short fields.

Just a side note to the # of starts a year a horse gets. At GGF on Thursday card there are 7 horses who have or will have made their 15th start of the year. One horse will be making its 20th start of the year.

On Saturdays GGF card there are 9 horses who have or will be making their 15th start of the year. Again there is one horse who will be making their 20th start of the year, too.

I didnt include Fridays card in the stats because of the large number of fields of 2 year olds or 3 year old maidens.

So it might indicate the tapeta helps with the durability of the race horses.

For a small comparison on Saturdays SA card there are 7 horses with 10 or more starts this year, not the 15 that GGF shows. All of these horses are mainly turf runners. SA does have a lot of stake races and those horses dont often make 10+ starts a year.

Sample size is too small to consider, for true stats, but it might indicate horses get more starts on Tapeta than on dirt surfaces.

[cj]

Originally Posted by theiman

Just a side note to the # of starts a year a horse gets. At GGF on Thursday card there are 7 horses who have or will have made their 15th start of the year. One horse will be making its 20th start of the year.

On Saturdays GGF card there are 9 horses who have or will be making their 15th start of the year. Again there is one horse who will be making their 20th start of the year, too.

I didnt include Fridays card in the stats because of the large number of fields of 2 year olds or 3 year old maidens.

So it might indicate the tapeta helps with the durability of the race horses.

For a small comparison on Saturdays SA card there are 7 horses with 10 or more starts this year, not the 15 that GGF shows. All of these horses are mainly turf runners. SA does have a lot of stake races and those horses dont often make 10+ starts a year.

Sample size is too small to consider, for true stats, but it might indicate horses get more starts on Tapeta than on dirt surfaces.

Horses.tend to get more starts at tracks with low purses.