Its Official, Aqueduct cutting down on racing days

[mlbelang]

"In a move supported by the NY Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and NY Thoroughbred Breeders, we have reduced the racing days here at the Big A. The 6th, 13th, 14th, and 27th of February will be DARK. March 6th and 13th will also be DARK. Of course, we'll still be open for simulcasting at Aqueduct and Belmont Park."




This is a good thing for racing. Pleased and a bit surprised they made this decision.

[DeltaLover]

Originally Posted by mlbelang

"In a move supported by the NY Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and NY Thoroughbred Breeders, we have reduced the racing days here at the Big A. The 6th, 13th, 14th, and 27th of February will be DARK. March 6th and 13th will also be DARK. Of course, we'll still be open for simulcasting at Aqueduct and Belmont Park."

This is a step towards the right direction. Ideally I would like to see a three days per week racing schedule ala Monmouth for example.. An extention to December's time off to a month or month and a half would also be beneficial for BIG A racing...

[MightBeSosa]

said weeks ago the product was an embarrassment.

they really don't justify the large betting handle with the kind of racing they are putting on.

[mlbelang]

Originally Posted by MightBeSosa

said weeks ago the product was an embarrassment.

they really don't justify the large betting handle with the kind of racing they are putting on.

I tend to agree. The racing is nothing special. And I dont mean just talented horses. The betting opportunities just aren't there like they are at FG GP etc. (im biased toward grass racing anyway) . Small fields, cheap claimers, no grass....6F or 1 and 70....thats it.

They will likely lose a bit of money (a whole days worth of take-out) but the product itself will be better.

On the other hand, the handle may just redistribute into the other 4 days. So who knows. But less races = bigger fields. Something The A has been missing for quite some time.

[Stillriledup]

I'd love them to race wednesday and take Thursday off instead...this leaves Gulfstream as the only 'real' signal running on wednesdays.

[FrankieFigs]

I agree with the cutback to 4 days a week, too. Really hoping the product gets better over the next few weeks.

[Robert Goren]

It is sad that the one of premier circuits has to resort to this. Minor league tracks run 3 days a week. Major league circuits run 5 or 6. That being said, it doesn't appear they had much of a choice. Hopefully this is a one year thing.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by mlbelang

I tend to agree. The racing is nothing special.

The racing over the inner track has never been "special." Except for the rare year when a Triple Crown contender makes his mark in the winter here in NY, it's always been pretty much the same, and there are those of us who have loved every minute of it...it's different, and it's unique...

Now, I don't enjoy the smaller than usual fields this year, but let's not act as if minus the small fields, things are radically different this winter compred to the past 20+ years....

[OTM Al]

Less is less.

[iceknight]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

I'd love them to race wednesday and take Thursday off instead...this leaves Gulfstream as the only 'real' signal running on wednesdays.

It is easier to do consecutive days off, isn't it?

[rastajenk]

For whom?

[andicap]

There are too many tracks running too many dates for the horse population. Especially horses don't run as often as they used to -- the breeding. The track was pretty much forced to do this by the new drug rules or it would have been racing 4-horse fields. Even the horsemen -- who want to run every day they an -- agreed on this step.

Less is MORE. Didn't we see that during the Monmouth meet a few years ago?

[Robert Goren]

This has been tried in other places because of the short fields. I wonder how often it really works.

[Delawaretrainer]

I would have entered a horse at Aqueduct but due to the non-uniformity of drug rules, I couldn't. I support the changes they have made but the extreme withdrawl times for therapeutic medication (2weeks) made it impossible for me to enter an extra race that popped up three days before the race. Uniformity of drug rules wpuld help. Because they are the first to go this extreme, they will lose ship ins.... Even with uniformity, they will lose entries when horses are withdrawn from medication and sound but may have metabolites in their system even though the drug's effects are long gone.

[Robert Goren]

I might be wrong on this, But I don't remember that many horses shipping into AQU last year or the year before at this time of year. I like to see the numbers on ship-ins the last few years and compared it to this year before I blame the problem on that.