Any info on this new second finish line at GP?
 

http://www.drf.com/news/gulfstream-p...ed-1-116-miles

I suggested this years ago. Then I did the math (perhaps wrongly), and I could not find a sweet spot that allowed both a decent run to the first turn AND a decent stretch run for mile and a sixteenth races.

As an aside, besides Oaklawn and Keeneland, what other tracks of note have alternate finish lines?

Wonder who'll be the first to screw it up?

thats a no brainer.

literally.

it will be dumbeaux

Fairgrounds

Arlington Park

Laurel

Fair Grounds actually does not use it anymore because of the horrible camera angle. That's why they started doing 1 mile and 70 yard races this meet.

The bigger issue here is that the stretch is now going to be approximately 568 feet in these 1 1/16 mile races. That's roughly 10 feet more than Los Alamitos and almost 100 feet less than Delta and Charles Town. At Keeneland and Oaklawn you still have a stretch that's a respectable length (about 880 feet at OP and a little less than that at Kee).

That is very short, speed should do well. Speed does great at the 8.5 polytrack race with the short finish here.

Like I said, when I crunched the numbers way back when, I couldn't make it work--and I think a 568 foot stretch is an example of that.

The reasons that Fair Grounds gave for offering dirt mile races beginning in 1991 were to accommodate bigger fields since the mile 40 yard races were limited to 10 runners, to have a race finish closer to the clubhouse, and to make the Lecomte and the newly minted Tiffany Lass relevant preps. The track fire in 1993 eliminated the clubhouse reason. Some horsemen liked being able to send their 3yos around two turns with a 3/16 mile stretch, but the distance change didn't have quite the impact that Fair Grounds was hoping for the Lecomte and Tiffany Lass. Finally, as you pointed out, the new mile 70 yards distance offered the best of both worlds: full fields and the quarter mile stretch.

Don't bet anything outside the 6 hole. It was bad enough at 9f but now you get the same quick into the turn and a shortened stretch.

I'll box the inside 6 horses for the super the first week and make zillions!

I thought they would start the races where they do a mile and end near the first turn?

WAY too dangerous! They want two turns for the 3YOs.