Oh, Omnipotent Mountain Man

[Edward DeVere]

Is there any way for you to use your enormous powers of persuasion to get Mountaineer to post its scratches, or at least "off-turf" (my main consideration), earlier in the day?

The earlier, the better, but even 4:00 or so would be a big help.

Thanks.

[Stillriledup]

Peter Berry, the announcer, also posts here....maybe he has some pull and can get that done for you!

Im with you, could you imagine how bigger certain tracks handles would be if they announced "off turf" the night before?

That would be fantastic.

[Edward DeVere]

Love me some Peter Berry. He outdid himself the other night in referring to a field "spread out like a jar of Vegemite."

(I wonder how "Brown's cows" would travel over a track slathered with Vegemite. Hmmm.)

[CincyHorseplayer]

Mountain Man is one of the most accessible,cool individuals out there,I'm sure this is no problem on his watch.Give it a minute.

[Edward DeVere]

Originally Posted by CincyHorseplayer

Mountain Man is one of the most accessible,cool individuals out there,I'm sure this is no problem on his watch.Give it a minute.

I hope you're right. Today, Penn has early scratches up seven hours before post. Indiana has scratches AND track conditions up eight hours before post.

Now, obviously, track conditions can change in eight hours. But it's nice to have a base to start from well ahead of time.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by Edward DeVere

Love me some Peter Berry. He outdid himself the other night in referring to a field "spread out like a jar of Vegemite."

(I wonder how "Brown's cows" would travel over a track slathered with Vegemite. Hmmm.)

Berry channeling his inner Wrona.

(or, Michael channeling his inner Berry, whichever you prefer!)

[Edward DeVere]

Give me John Lies & The Three AngloMigos (Berry, Geller, Wrona) and you can have all the rest.

[mountainman]

In many instances our grass races aren't officially switched to dirt until mid afternoon-a time at which there is no steward on duty to accept scratches.

Also, with no penalty for scratching in the very late afternoon, or even early evening, few horsemen bother to declare out when it could still save handicappers the effort of factoring in their horses.

There are other reasons, that relate to technical aspects of our date-preference system, for scratches not being submitted until the eleventh hour. But I won't bore you with those.

[Edward DeVere]

Thanks for your response.

Obviously, I find the policy of Indiana Downs regarding this matter considerably more customer-friendly than that of Mountaineer.

If you could pass along my comments to the proper person(s), I'd appreciate it. Surely I'm not the only bettor who feels this way.

[mountainman]

Omnipootent? lol. Look "peon" up in the dictionary and you'll find my picture next to it. In other words, though my duties are many, my pull is nonexistent.

And that's not a bad thing, at all, because being a good, versatile, soldier has enabled me to have a long, satisfying career.


One mistake I''ll never make is to think that the sum of my contributions can somehow elevate me above the lowly stature of either an ast racing sec or an in-house handicapper.

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by Edward DeVere

Thanks for your response.



If you could pass along my comments to the proper person(s), I'd appreciate it.

Absolutely.