Article by Beyer on Run-Ups and Class Complexity

[classhandicapper]

I thought this was a terrific one because both conversations came up here recently.

http://www.drf.com/news/andrew-beyer...layers-balance

[LottaKash]

A very good article that reveals how silly and frustrating the handicapping process has morphed, so much, in recent times....

excerpt:

"Does the sport ever do anything because the betting public wants it?"

[cj]

These are things bettors have been saying for a long time. I wrote a blog post on run up not very long ago. I'm glad Beyer is on board. He has a big voice in the industry. It probably won't lead to any change in a game that never changes anything for the "bettor", but it certainly can't hurt.

[thaskalos]

This is my answer to Beyer's last question in the article:

No. The game will not do anything just because the public wants it. The other entities in the game are entitled to the pursuit of profit...so their wishes must be first and foremost in the game's mind. The public is in the game merely for entertainment...so their wishes can safely be pushed to the background.

After all -- as renowned trainer Bob Baffert has already stated -- the gamblers can always move on to some other gambling game if they don't find what they like in horse racing. The horsemen and the track operators, on the other hand, are "stuck" in this game...so the game should cater to them.

Why should the Bafferts of the world have to put their lifestyles in jeopardy during uncertain times...when the risk can easily be carried by the horseplayers?

[098poi]

This is great, talking about how the conditions have become so complex in an effort to make more horses eligible for a given race. This is from Santa Anita

“For 4-year-olds and upward which have never won $10,000 three times other than Maiden, Claiming, Starter or State Bred, or which have never won four races, or which have not won $35,000 other than closed, claiming or starter at a mile or over since August 1, 2013, or optional claiming price of $80,000.”

(or horses who have never eaten an apple or carrot or those that have tried tuna melts)

[lamboguy]

probably the biggest thing that is killing racing right now are small field sizes. condition books all over have created this problem by paying to high a purses for cheaper claiming races. why would someone invest 3 years to breed and train a horse when they can claim one that is racing already for $20,000, run him back 2 weeks later for $16,000 win and get his money right back? its close to paying ZERO for the horse! the super trainer's look like genius's operating this way, and they have all the horses. also part of the reason why winning favorites are winning at higher than 33% these days.

NYRA tracks 2 years ago broke the record for daily claims. then they figured out what was going on and they had to lower the claiming purses. probably not enough though, and more than likely the game needs a much stronger re-structure to accommodate the breeders and people that develop horses that can't run in top maiden and allowance races in order to get more horses to the tracks and larger fields.

[Light]

I thought it was just me when I started redoing all my class pars a few months ago because new ones were coming up regularly that I had nothing on with 5 years of class pars from the same track! Thanks for the article, verifying my suspicion.

[cj]

http://timeformusblog.com/2013/12/17...on-final-time/

This is what I wrote back in December. Beyer described run up the same way I do, as an un-timed portion of a race. Not only is it a portion of the race, it is often the most important one.

[cj]

As for the race conditions, the Meadowlands has simplified them greatly for its harness races, and it is paying big dividends.

We need bigger fields, which would happen with less conditions. Let trainers explain to owners why the horses are not running. Why, for example, do we have claiming races for male and female horses? Why not combine them? Just run a 10k claiming race, and the rule could be it costs 50% extra to claim a female. (I realize 50% might not be the right number, just an example)

The same goes for conditioned claimers. No more NW2 lifetime, NW3 lifetime, etc. Just boost the claiming price. If a race is a 10k claimer, a horse that fits NW2 costs 20k, NW3 15k, etc. You could also build in weight concessions. But lets force more horse to run against each other.

I know I'll hear a bunch of reasons why you can't do this, but my answer will always be of course you can, if you really want to do it. There are always reasons NOT to do something, but that doesn't make the status quo the best path.

[Hoofless_Wonder]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

...Why should the Bafferts of the world have to put their lifestyles in jeopardy during uncertain times...when the risk can easily be carried by the horseplayers?

Very true. Until it isn't. Market forces seem to have a great lag when it comes to changes in racing, but any Southern California trainer should realize that the sport there is in steep decline, and there will come a point at which the circuit may no longer be relevant. Kind of like it's worked out for the NFL.

There comes a tipping point, and we're getting closer. Perhaps a national name like a Bob Baffert can rest on his laurels and past glory to survive through his end of life - but many in the sport won't have that option....

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

This is my answer to Beyer's last question in the article:

No. The game will not do anything just because the public wants it. The other entities in the game are entitled to the pursuit of profit...so their wishes must be first and foremost in the game's mind. The public is in the game merely for entertainment...so their wishes can safely be pushed to the background.

After all -- as renowned trainer Bob Baffert has already stated -- the gamblers can always move on to some other gambling game if they don't find what they like in horse racing. The horsemen and the track operators, on the other hand, are "stuck" in this game...so the game should cater to them.

Why should the Bafferts of the world have to put their lifestyles in jeopardy during uncertain times...when the risk can easily be carried by the horseplayers?

Great post Gus, couldnt agree more.

Love your last sentence, that pretty much sums up the state of the game at this point.

[magwell]

On top of the run up problem the racing form prints workouts that are called in by the the trainers at Payson Park and Palm beach downs,for horses running at Gulfstream its called the honor system........

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by cj

As for the race conditions, the Meadowlands has simplified them greatly for its harness races, and it is paying big dividends.

We need bigger fields, which would happen with less conditions. Let trainers explain to owners why the horses are not running. Why, for example, do we have claiming races for male and female horses? Why not combine them? Just run a 10k claiming race, and the rule could be it costs 50% extra to claim a female. (I realize 50% might not be the right number, just an example)

The same goes for conditioned claimers. No more NW2 lifetime, NW3 lifetime, etc. Just boost the claiming price. If a race is a 10k claimer, a horse that fits NW2 costs 20k, NW3 15k, etc. You could also build in weight concessions. But lets force more horse to run against each other.

I know I'll hear a bunch of reasons why you can't do this, but my answer will always be of course you can, if you really want to do it. There are always reasons NOT to do something, but that doesn't make the status quo the best path.

Very good point to bring up Meadowlands. They have written their conditions so that their race secretary has more power to essentially "Seed" horses to make the races more competitive. Also, by having classes such as B1, C1, etc they get rid of more of the claiming races, Meadowlands used to have many options to claim a horse for 20k, 30k and even higher claiming races of 50k and 75k but now, its hard to really claim one which i believe is good, it puts owners in a position to start from the bottom up, purchase one at a yearling sale and nurse the horse from "day 1" to the horse gets to the races.

If you have "skin" in the game, you are going to care more about the horse and the horse's welfare and the game itself, if you're just a musical claiming person, especially in tbred racing, you arent going to care as much about the welfare of the horse, you are going to run that horse first time back under the idea that you just need to win ONE race to "get out" on the horse, that mentality is certainly different from owners who purchase a yearling and raise that baby as their own.

[CincyHorseplayer]

The DRF,all websites,and us need to write the same article once a week and send it.Write 4 different versions and rotate them for 12 months a year endlessly.It's a curable problem and NO is unacceptable.

[Cholly]

When composing race conditions, Racing Secretaries should be forbidden to use the grammatical conjunction “or”.

Violators should receive corporal punishment.