Boat Race?

[michiken]

I was at the local track yesterday and overheard someone describing a race as a ' boat race '.

What exactly is a ' boat race ' ?

[mikeb]

Mich,

I don't know where the term originated,but it means that the race was set up"fixed"if you will.
Hope that helps.

hwnn.

[BIG49010]

I always thought it was a race full of untalented horses? claiming 4k, cheap maidens, etc....

[twindouble]

Originally Posted by michiken

I was at the local track yesterday and overheard someone describing a race as a ' boat race '.

What exactly is a ' boat race ' ?

I took it to mean it's a fix as said. Put a horse on the lead and let him sail home.

[keilan]

Originally Posted by BIG49010

I always thought it was a race full of untalented horses? claiming 4k, cheap maidens, etc....

ditto

[sjk]

The week of the Derby they used to have a race between the Belle of Louisville and the Delta Queen. I always thought that one was fixed too.

[Achilles]

In my experience, the term boat race is derived from sailboat racing where they use a "running" start and the first boat over the start line usually has an advantage that is maintained throughout the race. Not many sail boats can pass the boat ahead, because the leader is usually in a position where they can steal the air from a boat attempting to pass.

Similarly, in a horse race where none of the horses change their position, it's a boat race. It also implies a fix because no one appears to be trying to pass anyone.

[TimesTheyRAChangin]

Over the past 40 years,whenever I've heard/used this expression,it was always in reference to how a race just seemed to plod along,with no conscious effort by any horse following the leader to pick up the pace by attempting a pass.Though it might have seemed like a fixed race,more often than not it was just a case of determination by the driver of the frontrunner to control the fractional times for the benefit of enabling his horse to score an easy win.
To fellow long time 'equine performance investors' who relish the Dark Side,this was akin to a slowmotion version of the old 'Indian File' type of racing ages ago.

[TurfRuler]

I always thought it was a race of slow runners...usually with speed figures of below par, when they can even run 6f in 1:12, they may be able to get 1:14 or higher. My next question before I saw this was how do you determine if a horse is a slow runner? We all know what speed is 1:06 or less for 6 1/2 on the downhill turf at Santa Anita.

[TravisVOX]

Over at the new NYRA board we term boats as NY Breds. One capper feels that whenever a NY Bred makes the lead, he's clear. Bad horses. I don't agree, in fact, my studies have revealed otherwise... but I've never heard boat as a way of being fixed.

[Capper Al]

www.turfpedia.com has it as a fixed race.

[Tom]

Perhaps Charlestown and Mountaineer, in light the recent flood of cancelations, might consider carding "boat races!"

[kitts]

Fixed race. I learned that the hard way. My bookie picked up on one at HOL and told me I should get in on the good thing. I did not and the horse won and paid $100. I was 21 then and learned a lesson but never heard of a boat race again. The nearest thing to it was in the '80s in No Calif called "steamers."

[linrom1]

I have also heard the expression used to describe cheap, slow races where the race is wide open, in fact, opposite from a fixed race. Boat racing usually referred to boat rowing racing, a tradition in England.