Aqueduct and Short Fields - Time for changes?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by OTM Al

D = M / V

I give up.

Thanks for playing!

It's almost a racing paradox. It seems that in these slot fueled tracks, the more you do right, or attempt to do right......the more you hurt yourself

It's a damn shame.

[tzipi]

I also think as someone pointed out the 80% decline of shippers from the new drug rules hurts the fields. But it's not NYRA's fault as they are doing the right thing by trying to control the drugs but end up getting hurt in the process.

[classhandicapper]

If NYRA is not getting as many shippers because other states have more permissive drug rules, then IMO they should advertise that NY racing is cleaner to gamblers, owners, and trainers who might prefer a cleaner environment.

It's of no use to take the high rode if players don't know about it and think about it correctly. You want people to think of clean racing as an advantage for gambling purposes and possibly shift betting there instead of playing on another circuit where the drug policy is more permissive.

It's of no use to take the high rode if trainers and owners don't know about it. You want them to see NY as a more level playing field where they aren't losing races and purses to drugged up horses and cheaters.

Granted, most already probably know this (and there's also probably more work to do in that regard), but I think a little advertising could make some people rethink where they want to race and gamble and shift the dynamic.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by OTM Al

Hadn't even considered another change that happened a while back causing the shorter fields but down at the bottom of this DRF article

http://www.drf.com/news/nyra-conside...acing-schedule

it is cited that shippers are down 80% since the new drug rules went into place. Very predictable and says a lot. One must imagine some horses that also normally would have been on the grounds aren't there anymore either for the same reason.

So basically, they are saying that horse racing is bicycle racing and that if you try to run a drug free race, nobody will show up.

[Robert Goren]

Today is really bad. at least the claimers and Md races have at least 6 horses. The 75k stakes has 5. A 64k OC50k nw of 3x started with 5 horse and is down to 3. Amazing. When there is no turf racing, NYRA has problems. Even the summer, its dirt races have trouble filling and they end up with 4 or 5 turf races.

[Al Gobbi]

just 60 horses entered for Friday - so little that they all fit on one page of the overnight sheet.

[Linny]

Twice last week the pp's for AQU ran to only 17 pages. (I am saving on toner and paper!)

Someone suggested that training at AQU is hard on horses but most of the horses running in the winter are at Belmont. Yes, it's tough to train when bitter cold and other conditions can play havoc with schedules, but every trainer faces that.

PJ has really had to "gerrymander" the conditions to fill what he can. many of the "beaten" claimers include 3 different conditions of eligibility. Clearly the bigger outfits and the ones with their elite strings in FLA are picking and choosing their spots, as they do all year round. The Racing Office isn't going to "strongarm" the Motts and Pletchers or Chad Brown or McLaughlin.

Another factor is that the foal crop is down from 2007 or so levels. There are fewer to choose from.

As for the clenbuterol rules, they have a big impact. Please though, don't start saying "they took away the juice..." This is a drug that most horses train on and they have effectively blocked that pool of horses. Whoever said they should promote themselves as "cleaner," I think that they have and the trainers have spoken! Purses in PA and MD are clearly sufficient for those outfits that once shipped often to NY. remember how the holding barn was supposed to show how clean NY was and attract more horses? It inconvenienced horsemen, especially shippers in.

[jk3521]

Looks like the only day of the week we can count on decent size fields is on saturdays and only races 6 thru 9 ,the guaranteed pick4 payout races. Why does this work out this way? Are the horsemen given some kind of incentive to enter their charges in those races? Just seems funny.

[Robert Goren]

It ain't like PA and Md are having full fields of decent horses either!

[jeebus1083]

I read in DRF back in December that last year, shippers made up 10% of the horse population at Aqueduct. An 80% drop hurts a little, but I would imagine that the loss is marginal. Horses on the grounds on the other hand...

[andtheyreoff]

Originally Posted by Al Gobbi

just 60 horses entered for Friday - so little that they all fit on one page of the overnight sheet.

Just for comparison's sake, on the comparable day last year (1/27/12), there were 76 entries- a 27% decrease.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by andtheyreoff

Just for comparison's sake, on the comparable day last year (1/27/12), there were 76 entries- a 27% decrease.

And the fields weren't exactly over flowing last year.

[MightBeSosa]

Try to explain why the handle is still so high in NY. You'd think with these horrible cards, that it would be down 30%. Is it?

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by bisket

At the first whisper of a synthetic track Crist writes a column denouncing synthetics in New York. Any poker players in the house have any doubts about how weak drf's hand is when it comes to synthetics... If i were across the table from him I'd slow play him til he was broke.

Del Mar and Hollywood don't sell the DRF anymore?

Arlington?

Turfway?

Hmmm...who knew?

[bisket]

Actually drf has the best tool for synthetics... formulator. That is beside the point. I guess drf's biggest problem with this fact is a handicapper needs to have a "clue" to use the pps properly. This cuts out a good percentage of their customers. I would also like to add I admire Crist and many of the handicappers from drf. What I have a problem with is it's our job to try and figure out which horse is the fastest. It's not our place to have any input on the conditions the horses race under!!!!!! Maybe we're gonna have to learn a new trick? Crist gives broad generalizations in his article about what horseman and others in the industry think about synthetics. He doesn't even bother to interview anyone to support his statements. From the very beginning professional handicappers have taken every opportunity to complain about synthetics. It's obvious it's because they aren't confident in their picks... So they constantly take every chance they get to criticize racing on the surface.

here's a link to his article:
http://www.drf.com/news/steven-crist...it-would-solve

Why is the turf course at Saratoga turning trainers away in the mornings for training during the summer? Why are turf races always full, and tracks have to go to greater lengths to fill dirt races? A good percentage of our horses develop problems racing and training on dirt. Heck all they really might need is a synthetic track to train on!!!! Notice how many trainers race their young derby prospects on turf lately..... It's because it's easy on the hooves. Synthetics solve this problem as well. Face it our love affair with speed has taken the stoutness away needed for a good dirt horse. We're left with more horses that need to at least train on a surface other than dirt to race regularly on dirt. Cappers can piss and moan all they want.... They're eventually gonna lose this battle. How many track are gonna go under before we say uncle?