DQ or no DQ you be the judge

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

What's the better way then? No DQs at all? Anything and everything goes? Maybe you'll get suspended later?

I mean, come up with a viable option if you want to discuss seriously.

I have done that on several occasions:

Determine the x amount of lanes the horse can move over within x amount of lengths. This can be created as a basic formula, based on real racing conditions, that everyone can agree on. Once the jockeys know exactly what they can and can't do, it will set the stage for far cleaner racing.

If the starts still prove to be too messy, you could add rails for each lane until the first turn (or wherever). This would require a different type of gate, but so what? There's a half hour between each race.

[rastajenk]

Don't forget codifying it into state law. You mentioned that, too.

[Dark Horse]

As to the explanation by the stewards. The winner is not decided at the start, but horses can sure lose a race at the start, and countless jockeys and trainers have attested to that fact through the years. Including Baffert.

So it would be great to put extra thought into creating better conditions for a clean start. I don't want the horse I bet on being cut off, nor does anybody I know. This whole idea of horses veering over sharply can be taken out if the gate situation is changed. Why not have them race like Olympic runners, where the outer lanes start ahead of the inner lanes? Could lanes be enforced in horse racing? I don't know, but it's an option. Maybe those type of lanes would have to be wider than the lanes in the stretch.

(rastajerk, since you added nothing but sh*tty comments yesterday, I put you on ignore, so you can spare yourself the trouble).

[rastajenk]

I don't suppose you'd really need jockeys, then.

[Dark Horse]

Well, well, what would rastajerk have added now? The suspense is almost unbearable. Am I missing out on a genius contribution?

Nah.

[ultracapper]

You belittle him after suggesting lanes from the starting gate to the first turn?

I have to go.

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Why not have them race like Olympic runners, where the outer lanes start ahead of the inner lanes?

A staggered start. Why bother?
A horse leaving post position #12 down the backstretch has to race 1 foot farther than a horse leaving post position #1 to get to the rail position by the first turn.
Generally after two furlongs the front runners have sorted themselves out without cutting one another off.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

You belittle him after suggesting lanes from the starting gate to the first turn?

I have to go.

Because any type thought contemplating improved lane arrangement would be below you?

Don't let the door hit you.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

A staggered start. Why bother?
A horse leaving post position #12 down the backstretch has to race 1 foot farther than a horse leaving post position #1 to get to the rail position by the first turn.
Generally after two furlongs the front runners have sorted themselves out without cutting one another off.

While true, the also have to outrun all the other horses by a few lengths to get to the rail BEFORE the turn. That is pretty substantial, because if they don't, they will obviously lose ground on the turn.

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by cj

While true, the also have to outrun all the other horses by a few lengths to get to the rail BEFORE the turn. That is pretty substantial, because if they don't, they will obviously lose ground on the turn.

Agreed.

[rastajenk]

The way I interpreted his latest brilliant suggestion was that lanes were railed off all the way around; anyone else read it that way?

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by rastajenk

The way I interpreted his latest brilliant suggestion was that lanes were railed off all the way around; anyone else read it that way?

If that were the case you would have to have staggered starts like in track and field.
What a mess those races would be to watch with every horse having it's own lane start to finish. A nightmare.

[Dark Horse]

There will always be unadventurous minds who confuse the process of coming up with ideas, as in brainstorming, with the presentation of completed ideas that are worked out into the smallest detail. The fact that they're unable to differentiate between the two, and offer only ridicule, proves one thing only: a complete lack of practice in the process of getting from A (the earliest possible idea) to Z (its completion). Yes, out of 100 initial ideas, 90 may be condemned to the trash can. Maybe more. That is understood upfront. But no reason not to participate in the process. Because those few ideas that stick can make a difference.

Of course it is preferable to invest one's creative energy into fields where one can have an immediate impact, rather than theorize about improving horse racing. Still, this being a forum about horse racing, why not come up with ideas? Because horse racing, as it is today, has failed to make the transition to the modern era. There is no need for that.

[Greyfox]

Even an unadventurous mind can recognize folly.

[Dark Horse]

That's all it does, friend.