I am familiar with an effect that applies in harness racing, but have not noticed it so much in thoroughbred racing.
In h-racing, since most tracks race at night, it is often difficult to get a best performance the first time over a daylight track. There may be multiple reasons for this, including the fact that the effort put forth by a horse in daylight training and qulaifying races, which are non-competitive and rarely strenuous, is sub-maximal. And so these horses have been taught, if you will, that night racing is when they must get serious.
Years ago when I was plying my craft from the betting parlor at Freehold Raceway, there was a standard operating rule regarding second-over-the-track horses who came from night tracks. They routinely improved 2-3 lengths in their second start and this effect was far greater than second-over-the-course at any other tracks. Don't know if this still holds because I don't look at Freehold anymore.
|