Why is the Sword Dancer scheduled the same day as the Arlington Million? Is this also hard to avoid scheduling simmilar grade 1 races on the same day?

Everything came into question after NYRA created the AIDS....

good point about the sword dancer/arl million, only one of many times that similar races vie with each other for entrants and attention. it's too bad that racing still competes with itself, instead of working together to compete against other interests.

At the risk of being blasted (I'm bored, it is pouring...) Alan's laying the blame on NYRA kind of distracts from the issue of tracks running races at the same time which IMO something that is easily solved with a minimum of effort. Is it really hard for the simulcast coordinators at various tracks to communicate when posttimes are identical? While understanding that there are various factors that come into play, would it kill these people to ask to take a minute here and there to avoid two races at the premier tracks to go off at the same time?

Am sitting in the Jockey Club Round Table presentation -- it's intermission -- and earlier the technology department talked about the enhanced InCompass Post Time Coordinator system that apparently is well on its' way to being widely installed. Would like to have heard more about it, but it was dwarfed by the important phony posturing on anti-medication...

That sounds great because with the current system it is hard for anyone to argue that Tracks are not leaving money on the table by running simultaneously at the big tracks. Especially Stakes and Graded Stakes.

Not all tracks manage times. NYRA, for example, publishes their times and goes on with it unless there is some weather. With the premiere meet in the country, they can do as they see fit... their starting time is well known, their typical pattern is also well known and tracks should adjust accordingly.

When they released their times for this summer, there were at least 8 different sets to accomodate the big days, NBC/Versus, sunset, steeplechase etc. It took me forever, but I went day-by-day to move our races at LAD to avoid theirs as much as possible.

There are a series of tracks who pay absolutely no attention to them, or simply don't understand they make a difference, and many racetrack execs who refuse to believe they play a role. Joke's on them.

The times I put in our track program are nothing more than window dressing. Yesterday we ended 2 minutes beyond the published time... the day before we finished 11 minutes before. If we're 12 minutes behind Saratoga, and they have an inquiry (and it's not too hot), I'll ask the stewards to have the horses take a minute on the track.

It's a constantly evolving process. The "best" post time management by far comes from Tampa, who are okay with making drastic adjustments to find the optimal times. Their success is not a mistake.

Listening online. Did they intentionally try to find morons to interview?

Seems like it, yes. A lot of the McKinsey results so far are skewed and self-fulfilling. The TV info was the most relevant thing I've heard so far.

:tro:

They seem more dedicated to making the system work for that reason. Estimated revenue capture of 6% alleviating overlap.

Lasix prohibition! It should be illegal immediately and I have the faulty logic to prove it! All in favor say DERP!

Or maybe TVG should show that race live rather than some crappy claimer at Del Mar.